And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
Parallel translations
- WEB God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.
- BSB And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.
- NKJV So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
- NASB And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer.
- NLT And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer,
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 is with Ishmael as he grows up in the wilderness and becomes an archer. The boy thrives under God's providential care.
Overview
Despite being outside the covenant line, Ishmael enjoys God's accompanying presence and grows to maturity in the desert. This fulfills the promise of God's care for him and underscores the Lord's faithfulness to His word. The verse shows that God's common grace extends to all, even as His special saving purposes proceed through Isaac.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Gen 28:15And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
- Gen 39:21But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
- Gen 16:12And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
- Gen 39:2–3And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
- Luke 1:80And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
- Gen 10:9He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
- Judg 13:24–25And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
- Gen 17:20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
- Gen 49:23–24The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
- Gen 25:27And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
- Judg 6:12And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
- Gen 27:3Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
- Luke 2:40And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
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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 21:20 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.