MPV Commentary

Expulsion of Ishmael.

Abraham rose early to ensure that his family could reach their destination before noon. He packed bread and other provisions into a leathern vessel called a bottle, which was made from an entire skin sewn up with legs for handles. This was a common practice among Arab chiefs, who often sent their sons out at the age of seventeen to fend for themselves, usually with only a few days' worth of food in a bag.

As they wandered through the wilderness of Beer-sheba, a vast desert region in southern Palestine, they became lost and ran out of water. Ishmael, exhausted from fatigue and thirst, collapsed under a bush, while his mother sat nearby, overcome with sorrow.

God intervened by opening Hagar's eyes to see a nearby fountain, which was likely hidden among the brushwood. The waters revived her almost lifeless son.

God remained with the young man as he grew up in Paran, a region of Arabia where his descendants would eventually settle (compare Genesis 16:12; Isaiah 48:19; 1 Peter 1:25). As Ishmael's mother, Hagar, looked out for her son's well-being, she arranged for him to be married. In ancient cultures, it was customary for a mother to find a wife for her son after his father's death, and in this case, Hagar took on that role, likely selecting a bride from among her relatives.