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Genesis (American Standard Version, 1901) · 24 of 73 · tr. American Standard Version (1901)

20:13-21:16

[20:13] and it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. [20:14] And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. [20:15] And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. [20:16] And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted. [20:17] And Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children. [20:18] For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. [21:1] And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did unto Sarah as he had spoken. [21:2] And Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. [21:3] And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. [21:4] And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. [21:5] And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. [21:6] And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh; every one that heareth will laugh with me. [21:7] And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should give children suck? for I have borne him a son in his old age. [21:8] And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. [21:9] And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. [21:10] Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son: for the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. [21:11] And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son. [21:12] And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy handmaid; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. [21:13] And also of the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. [21:14] And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. [21:15] And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. [21:16] And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

God is described in embodied terms: 'fast closed up all the wombs' and 'visited Sarah as he had said,' attributing physical actions to the divine.

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Covenanttheology

A binding agreement or relationship between the divine and a people or individual, establishing mutual obligations.

The passage centers on God fulfilling His covenantal promise to Abraham regarding the birth of Isaac, and extends the covenant to Ishmael ('of the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed').

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Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

God actively orders events: closing and opening wombs, healing Abimelech, fulfilling the promise of Isaac's birth at the appointed time, and directing Abraham regarding Hagar and Ishmael.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is portrayed as actively intervening in human affairs—closing wombs, healing, speaking, and directing events—rather than as an abstract principle.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

Abraham prays unto God for Abimelech's healing, and God responds by healing him, his wife, and his maid-servants.

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