Genesis - 21:16



16 She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, "Don't let me see the death of the child." She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Genesis 21:16.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
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.
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.
And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way off as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die: and sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.
and she went and sat down over against him, a bow-shot off; for she said, Let me not behold the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice and wept.
And she went, and sat her down over against him, a good way off, as it were a bow-shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and raised her voice, and wept.
And she goeth and sitteth by herself over-against, afar off, about a bow-shot, for she said, 'Let me not look on the death of the lad;' and she sitteth over-against, and lifteth up her voice, and weepeth.
And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: 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.
And she went some distance away, about an arrow flight, and seating herself on the earth, she gave way to bitter weeping, saying, Let me not see the death of my child.
And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow-shot; 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.
And she moved away and sat in a distant area, as far as a bow can reach. For she said, "I shall not see the boy die." And so, sitting opposite her, he lifted up his voice and wept.
Et abiit, et sedit e regione, elongando se quantum est jactus arcus: quia dixit, Non videbo quando morietur puer: et sedit e regione, et elevavit vocem suma, et flevit.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

And she went and sat her down over against him, a good way off,.... Not being able to bear the sight of her child in his agonies, and, as she apprehended, ready to expire, she went from the place where she had laid him, and sat down under one of the shrubs or trees to shade herself, right over against that where her child was, though at some distance, which is next expressed:
as it were a bowshot; about as far off from him as an arrow can be shot, or is usually shot out of a bow; according to the Jews this was about half a mile, for they say (i) two bowshots make a mile; here she sat waiting what would be the issue, whether life or death, which last she expected:
for she said, let me not see the death of the child; she could not bear to hear his dying groans, and see him in his dying agonies:
and she sat over against him, and lift up her voice and wept; on account of her desolate and forlorn condition, being in a wilderness, where she could get no water, and her child, as she thought, dying with thirst: the Septuagint version is, "and the child cried and wept"; and certain it is, from Genesis 21:17, that the child did lift up its voice and cry, but that is not expressed in the text; it is quite clear in the original that it was Hagar and not her son that is said to weep, since the verb is feminine.
(i) Bereshit Rabba, ut supra. (sect. 53. fol. 47. 4.)

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