Genesis 21:10

Summary

Sarah speaks to Abraham, commanding him to expel the slave woman and her son. She justifies the command with a statement about inheritance: the son of the slave woman will not inherit alongside her own son Isaac.

Key words

• ga.Resh ("drive out", H1644) — piel imperative, second person masculine singular; the piel stem gives the command an intensive, forceful nuance ("drive out completely") rather than a simple removal.
• 'a.Mah ("slave woman", H0519) — feminine singular noun, repeated twice (words 7 and 19) with the definite article ha ("the") and demonstrative Zot ("this", H2063), marking her as a specific, identified woman rather than a generic reference.
• yi.Rash ("he will inherit", H3423) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular; the imperfect aspect expresses an action projected into the future, here negated by lo' ("not", H3808).
• ben ("son of", H1121) — masculine singular construct noun, used three times (words 12, 17, 23) always in construct form ("son of X"), structurally linking each male figure to his mother or father.
• ki ("for", H3588) — subordinating particle introducing the clause that gives the reason for the imperative command.

What the text says

The verse divides into two parts joined by ki ("for", H3588). The first part is Sarah's direct command to Abraham, built on the imperative ga.Resh ("drive out", H1644), followed by two objects: ha-'a.Mah ha-Zot ("this slave woman", H0519 + H2063) and, connected by ve ("and", H9002) with the object marker 'Et (H0853), be.Nah ("her son", H1121 + H9024). The repeated definite article and demonstrative Zot on "slave woman" mark her as a specific individual already known in the narrative context, not a general category.

The second part, introduced by ki, states the reason for the command using the qal imperfect yi.Rash ("he will inherit", H3423) negated by lo' ("not", H3808). The imperfect form here projects the statement into future time — the son will not inherit — rather than describing a completed or present state. The clause structure repeats ben ("son of", H1121) in construct form three times: "the son of the slave woman" is set against "my son, Isaac," using the preposition 'im ("with", H5973) twice to express togetherness or shared status, here denied. The doubling of 'im ("with") — once before "my son" and once before "Isaac" — creates an appositional emphasis, naming Isaac explicitly as the referent of "my son."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ga.Resh ("drive out", H1644) with Ἔκβαλε ("cast out"), and adds the connecting phrase "for the slave woman's son will never inherit," strengthening the negation with οὐ γὰρ μὴ (a double negative construction not present as such in the Hebrew lo'). The Vulgate's Ejice similarly conveys expulsion, and renders yi.Rash ("he will inherit") as erit hæres ("will be heir"), shifting from a verbal form to a nominal one ("heir") not present in the Hebrew verb structure.