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So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
Genesis 21:8 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
  • KJV And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
  • NKJV So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
  • NASB And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
  • NLT When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion.

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

Isaac grows and is weaned, and Abraham holds a great feast to celebrate. The household rejoices at the milestone of the promised child.

Overview

Weaning, occurring at a few years of age in that culture, marked a significant point of survival and growth, worthy of celebration. Abraham's lavish feast expresses gratitude for God's faithfulness in preserving the child of promise. The joyful gathering, however, becomes the setting for the conflict that follows, as Ishmael's mocking provokes a decisive separation.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • 1 Sam 1:22but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.”
  • Hos 1:8After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son.
  • 1 Kgs 3:15Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. So he returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.
  • Gen 26:30So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
  • Ps 131:2Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
  • 2 Sam 3:20When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.
  • Gen 29:22So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast.
  • Gen 19:3But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
  • Gen 40:20On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
  • 1 Sam 25:36When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
  • Judg 14:12“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.
  • Judg 14:10Then his father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as was customary for the bridegroom.
  • Esth 1:3In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 21:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 21:8 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.