But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,
Parallel translations
- WEB Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
- KJV And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
- NKJV And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.
- NASB Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac.
- NLT But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac.
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
Sarah sees Ishmael, Hagar's son, mocking. His scorn toward Isaac triggers the coming separation.
Overview
Ishmael's mockery, which Paul later describes as persecution of the child of promise, reveals hostility toward Isaac and threatens the household. The conflict dramatizes the tension between the son born of the flesh and the son born of promise. Paul draws on this scene to teach that the children of promise, born by the Spirit, must not be enslaved by works of the flesh.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Gal 4:29At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.
- Gen 16:15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
- Gal 4:22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
- Gen 16:1Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
- Prov 20:11Even a young man is known by his actions—whether his conduct is pure and upright.
- Ps 22:6But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
- Lam 1:7In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands she received no help. Her enemies looked upon her, laughing at her downfall.
- 2 Chr 36:16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- 2 Chr 30:10And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people scorned and mocked them.
- Ps 44:13–14You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.
- Ps 42:10Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Gen 16:3–6So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.
- Heb 11:36Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
- Neh 4:1–5Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews
- Gen 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
- 2 Kgs 2:23–24From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
- Job 30:1“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
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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 21:9 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
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