Genesis 21:9

Summary

The verse reports that Sarah observed the son of Hagar the Egyptian — identified through a relative clause as the one Hagar had borne to Abraham — engaged in an action described by the participle metzachek ("mocking", H6711). The Hebrew sentence builds Sarah's perception through a chain of identifying clauses before reaching the final verbal form that describes what she saw.

Key words

• Te.re' ("she saw", H7200G) — qal narrative verb, opens the clause and establishes Sarah as the one perceiving the scene that follows.
• ben ("[the] son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct noun, links directly to Hagar to form the phrase "son of Hagar," beginning the description of who is being watched.
• asher ("whom", H0834A) — relative particle introducing a subordinate clause that further specifies which son is meant, namely the one born to Abraham.
• yal.dah ("she had borne", H3205) — qal perfect, a completed action prior to the main narrative moment, clarifying Hagar's role as mother.
• me.tza.Chek ("mocking", H6711) — piel participle, masculine singular, describing an ongoing or characteristic action; the piel stem intensifies the root's basic sense, and the participle form presents it as something observed in progress, without naming a grammatical object in the Hebrew.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is built around a single main verb, Te.re' ("she saw"), followed by a complex direct object: "et-ben-Hagar-ha.mitz.rit" ("the son of Hagar the Egyptian"). This noun phrase is then expanded by a relative clause introduced by asher ("whom"), which states that this son is "the one she had borne to Abraham" (yal.dah... le.'Avraham). Only after this extended identification does the sentence reach its final element, the participle me.tza.chek ("mocking"), which describes the action Sarah perceived. Grammatically, the participle stands at the very end of the verse with no stated object — the Hebrew text does not specify at whom or what the action is directed; this is left for the reader to infer from context.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the final word with an added phrase, παίζοντα μετὰ Ἰσαὰκ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἑαυτῆς ("playing with Isaac her son"), specifying an object and a companion not present in the Hebrew me.tza.chek. The Vulgate follows this expansion with ludentem cum Isaac filio suo ("playing with Isaac his son"). Similarly, the BSB ("was mocking her son") and SBLIBRE ("se burlaba de Isaac") supply an object for the action, where the Hebrew leaves the participle without one.