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The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Genesis 21:8 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
  • BSB So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day 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 didn’t go up; for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before Yahweh, and stay there forever.”
  • Hos 1:8Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son.
  • 1 Kgs 3:15Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
  • Gen 26:30He made them a feast, 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 3:20So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. David made Abner and the men who were with him a feast.
  • Gen 29:22Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.
  • Gen 19:3He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
  • Gen 40:20On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cup bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
  • 1 Sam 25:36Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing, until the morning light.
  • Judg 14:12Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. If you can declare it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing;
  • Judg 14:10His father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men used to do so.
  • Esth 1:3in the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him.

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.