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Genesis 21:18

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 21:18 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him a great nation.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him a great nation.
Genesis 21:18 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
15And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16And 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.
17And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him a great nation.
19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
20And God was with the lad, and he grew. And he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.
21And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Arise, lift up the lad, etc.] She had set herself down at some distance, and now she is bid to rise up and go to the place where she had left her son, and raise aim up from the ground, on which he lay along: and hold him in thine hand: or take hold on him with thine hand, and hold him up with it, he being so weak that he could not sit up without being supported: for I will make him a great nation: which is a renewal of a promise before made both to her and to Abraham, (<011610>Genesis 16:10 17:20 21:13); and by this Hagar is assured that he would recover and live, and become a man and the father of children, who in time would become a great nation; (see Gill on “<011610>Genesis 16:10”), (see…”
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Sources and verification