The Meaning of Genesis 21:10 Explained

Genesis 21:10

KJV: Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

YLT: and she saith to Abraham, 'Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid hath no possession with my son -- with Isaac.'

Darby: And she said to Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son with Isaac.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Wherefore she said  unto Abraham,  Cast out  this bondwoman  and her son:  for the son  of this bondwoman  shall not be heir  with my son,  [even] with Isaac. 

What does Genesis 21:10 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 21:8-21 - Hagar And Ishmael Cast Out
Poor Hagar! She thought that she had given Abraham his heir, but now she found herself and her boy outcasts on the desert waste. The water was soon spent, she little dreamed that a fountain was so near. Cry to God, He will open fountains in the middle of your deserts. Beneath their sad lot a divine purpose was running. God said, "Let it not be grievous in thy sight." This is the teaching of Scripture: that our lives are being ordered and our steps prepared. All we need to be anxious about is the finding of the path. Let us ask God to open our eyes to see the fountains beside us, and the way before us. And after all, was not the wilderness a better training-ground for the lad than the comparative luxury of Abraham's tent? "He became an archer." Isaac would have been the better for a touch of the desert-life. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, gives the inner significance of this incident in Galatians 5:1. See also John 8:36. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 21

1  Isaac is born, and circumcised
6  Sarah's joy
8  Isaac is weaned
9  Hagar and Ishmael sent away
15  Hagar in distress
17  The angel relieves and comforts her
23  Abimelech's covenant with Abraham at Beersheba

What do the individual words in Genesis 21:10 mean?

Therefore she said to Abraham Cast out the slave woman this and her son for not shall be heir son of the slave woman this with my son Isaac
וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לְאַבְרָהָ֔ם גָּרֵ֛שׁ הָאָמָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את וְאֶת־ בְּנָ֑הּ כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יִירַשׁ֙ בֶּן־ הָאָמָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את עִם־ בְּנִ֖י יִצְחָֽק

וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙  Therefore  she  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לְאַבְרָהָ֔ם  to  Abraham 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַבְרָהָם  
Sense: friend of God and founder of Hebrew nation via God’s elective covenant.
גָּרֵ֛שׁ  Cast  out 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: גָּרַשׁ 
Sense: to drive out, expel, cast out, drive away, divorce, put away, thrust away, trouble, cast up.
הָאָמָ֥ה  the  slave  woman 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אָמָה  
Sense: maid-servant, female slave, maid, handmaid, concubine.
הַזֹּ֖את  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
בְּנָ֑הּ  her  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
יִירַשׁ֙  shall  be  heir 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַשׁ  
Sense: to seize, dispossess, take possession off, inherit, disinherit, occupy, impoverish, be an heir.
בֶּן־  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
הָאָמָ֣ה  of  the  slave  woman 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אָמָה  
Sense: maid-servant, female slave, maid, handmaid, concubine.
הַזֹּ֔את  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
בְּנִ֖י  my  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
יִצְחָֽק  Isaac 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִצְחָק  
Sense: son of Abraham by Sarah his wife and father of Jacob and Esau.