Genesis 21:1-7

God’s provision and Abraham and Sarah’s response 21:1-7

The emphasis in this brief section is on the faithfulness and power of God in keeping His promise and providing an heir miraculously through Sarah (Genesis 17:16; Genesis 18:14). Note the threefold repetition of "as He had said," "as He had promised," and "of which God had spoken" (Genesis 21:1-2). The tension of anticipation finally subsides, but only temporarily.

God "visited" Sarah (Genesis 21:1, NIV), a common metaphor that describes God’s intervention in nature and human afffairs. The Hebrew word translated "visited" (paqad) also appears when God intervened to save the Israelites from Egyptian bondage (Genesis 50:24-25; Exodus 4:31) and when He ended a famine (Ruth 1:6). It also occurs when He made Hannah conceive (1 Samuel 2:21) and when He brought the Jewish exiles home from Babylonian captivity (Jeremiah 29:10). Thus its presence here highlights the major significance of Isaac’s birth.

Abraham’s obedience in naming his son "Isaac" (Genesis 17:19) and circumcising him on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12) was an expression of worship.

Isaac’s name ("laughter") was appropriate for two reasons.

1. Isaac would be a source of joy to his parents as the fulfillment of God’s promised seed.

2. Both Abraham and Sarah had laughed in amazement and unbelief respectively when told that God had chosen to bless them by giving them a son so late in life (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 18:12). [Note: On the alternate reading of Genesis 21:6-7 as "God has made a joke of me . . . laugh at me . . .," see Isaac Rabinowitz, "Sarah’s Wish (Gen. XXI 6-7)," Vetus Testamentum 29 (July 1979):362-63. This reading has not won support from most commentators.]