Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
Parallel translations
- KJV Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
- BSB Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
- NKJV Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”
- NASB Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”
- NLT Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God tells Hagar to lift up the boy, for He will make him a great nation. The promise concerning Ishmael is reaffirmed in his hour of need.
Overview
God directs Hagar to action and renews His pledge to make Ishmael a great nation. The promise turns despair into hope, assuring her that the child has a future under God's care. This faithfulness to His word, even toward Ishmael, displays the constancy of God's character and His sovereign oversight of all the families of the earth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Gen 21:13I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.”
- Gen 16:10Yahweh’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.”
- Gen 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
- 1 Chr 1:29–31These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
- Gen 25:12–18Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 21:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.