Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 21:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 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 see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Hagar sits a bowshot away because she cannot bear to watch the boy die, then raises her voice and weeps. The verse makes grief and anticipated death explicit without telling us that she has abandoned concern for him.
Read It With
- Genesis 21:8–21
Read verses 15–17. The exhausted water and shaded boy explain her distance; her words and tears reveal the expected outcome; God's hearing and address interrupt that despair. Without verse 17, grief can be mistaken for the story's final word.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Hagar's distance, speech, and weeping make the expected death emotionally explicit immediately before divine intervention.
Read Genesis 21:14–16 together
Why these verses belong together: Sending, wandering, exhausted water, shade, distance, expected death, and weeping form one escalating wilderness crisis.
Verse 14. 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 the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
Verse 15. 15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
Verse 16. 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 see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
Follow the Context
- Isaac grows, is weaned, and is celebrated at a great feast (21:8).
- Sarah sees Hagar's son metsaheq—an ambiguous action—and demands the expulsion of the enslaved woman and her son so that he will not inherit with Isaac (21:9–10).
- Abraham is deeply distressed because Ishmael is his son; God tells him to comply, identifies Isaac as the called seed, and promises a nation from Hagar's son because he too is Abraham's seed (21:11–13).
- Abraham sends Hagar and the boy away with food and water; the water runs out in the wilderness and Hagar weeps at the prospect of the boy's death (21:14–16).
- God hears the boy, calls Hagar by name, tells her not to fear, renews the nation promise, opens her eyes to a well, and she gives him water (21:17–19).
- God remains with the boy as he grows in the wilderness, becomes a bowman, lives in Paran, and receives an Egyptian wife through his mother (21:20–21).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“Let me not see the death of the child”
In plain language: Hagar resolves not to watch him die.
She believes the crisis has reached its fatal end.
Why it matters: The statement reveals anguish rather than indifference.
How certain? very strong“lift up her voice, and wept”
In plain language: She cries aloud and weeps.
The narrative gives audible expression to her grief immediately before divine hearing.
Why it matters: Her lament remains part of the rescue scene even though verse 17 names the boy's voice.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Hagar's distance does not prove she no longer loved the boy.
Her weeping is not condemned as faithless, manipulative, or spiritually inferior.
The bowshot distance does not authorize leaving a child unattended when modern emergency help is available.
What Remains True
Lament can name unbearable reality honestly, while care may still require renewed action when help becomes available.
How It Can Shape Life
- Let people in crisis grieve without shaming their tears, and pair emotional presence with immediate practical help and safety resources.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 21:16's contribution to Genesis 21:8–21. Include why the nearby verses are required, what the verse clearly says, and one conclusion it does not justify.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 21:8–21 — Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away but PreservedSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, narrative sequence, family relations, wilderness crisis, promises, growth, and canonical reception.
Exact location: Genesis 21:8–21 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 16; 17:18–21; 21:1–7, 22–34; 22; 25:9, 12–18; and Galatians 4:21–31
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Weaning, ambiguous conduct, enslavement, expulsion, inheritance, sonship, distress, hearing, age-flexible nouns, opened eyes, and bowman wording.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 21:8–21; lemmas and morphology for gamal, metsaheq, amah, garash, zera, qara, ra'a, shama, yeled, na'ar, paqach, and roveh qashshat
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Weaning context, metsaheq alternatives, Abraham's distress, Isaac's called seed, verse 14 syntax, cast language, bowshot, Hagar and boy voices, Ishmael wordplay, opened eyes, Paran, and Egyptian wife.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 21 and translator notes 15–39, especially notes on 21:8–20
Open NET Genesis 21 ↗