Genesis 21:20
New International Version
God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.

New Living Translation
And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer,

English Standard Version
And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.

Berean Standard Bible
And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

King James Bible
And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

New King James Version
So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

New American Standard Bible
And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

NASB 1995
God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

NASB 1977
And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness, and became an archer.

Legacy Standard Bible
And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and was an archer.

Amplified Bible
God was with Ishmael, and he grew and developed; and he lived in the wilderness and became an [expert] archer.

Christian Standard Bible
God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer.

American Standard Version
And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And God was with the boy and he grew and he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran and he did learn the bow in the wilderness of Paran.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And God was with the child, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.

English Revised Version
And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became a skilled archer.

Good News Translation
God was with the boy as he grew up; he lived in the wilderness of Paran and became a skillful hunter.

International Standard Version
God was with the boy as he grew up. He settled in the wilderness and became an expert archer.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

Literal Standard Version
and God is with the youth, and he grows, and dwells in the wilderness, and is an archer;

Majority Standard Bible
And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.

New American Bible
God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert bowman.

NET Bible
God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

New Revised Standard Version
God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.

New Heart English Bible
God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.

Webster's Bible Translation
And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

World English Bible
God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up, he became an archer.

Young's Literal Translation
and God is with the youth, and he groweth, and dwelleth in the wilderness, and is an archer;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Sarah Turns Against Hagar
19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer. 21And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.…

Cross References
Genesis 28:15
Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Genesis 39:2
And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.

Genesis 39:3
When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did,


Treasury of Scripture

And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelled in the wilderness, and became an archer.

God.

Genesis 17:20
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Genesis 28:15
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Genesis 39:2,3,21
And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian…

an archer.

Genesis 10:9
He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

Genesis 16:12
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

Genesis 25:27
And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

Jump to Previous
Archer Bow Bowman Boy Desert Dwelleth Dwelt Expert Grew Groweth Lad Strong Tall Waste Wilderness Youth
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Archer Bow Bowman Boy Desert Dwelleth Dwelt Expert Grew Groweth Lad Strong Tall Waste Wilderness Youth
Genesis 21
1. Isaac is born, and circumcised.
6. Sarah's joy.
8. Isaac is weaned.
9. Hagar and Ishmael sent away.
15. Hagar in distress.
17. The angel relieves and comforts her.
23. Abimelech's covenant with Abraham at Beersheba.














(20) He grew.--Literally, became great, that is, grew to manhood.

And dwelt in the wilderness.--He sought no refuge in Egypt, where so large a Semitic population was gathering, nor in any Canaanite town, but took to the wandering life in the desert, such as is still usual with the Arabs.

An archer.--Heb., a shooter of bowshots. Another explanation, from a verb signifying to multiply, or be great, is not tenable.

Verses 20, 21. - And God was with the lad. Not simply in the ordinary sense in which he is with all men (Psalm 139:3-9; Acts 17:27, 28); not, certainly, in the spiritual sense in which he had promised to be with Isaac (Genesis 17:21), and in which he is with believers (Genesis 26:24; Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 28:20); but in the particular sense of exercising towards him a special providence, with a view to implementing the promise made concerning him to Abraham and Hagar. And he grew (literally, became great, i.e. progressed towards manhood), and dwelt in the wilderness (i.e. led a roving and unsettled life), and became an archer. Literally, and he was ׃ך׃ך רֹבֶה קַשָּׁת deriving רֹבֶה from רָבַה, to grow great or multiply, either

(1) when he grew up, an archer, or man using the bow (Gesenius, Keil);

(2) growing an archer, or acquiring skill as a bowman (Kalisch, Wordsworth); or

(3) growing, or multiplying into, a tribe of archers (Murphy). With the first of these substantially agree the renderings καὶ ἀγένετο τοξότης (LXX), and factus est juvenis sagittarius (Vulgate). Others, connecting רֹבֶה with רָבַכ, in the sense of to cast arrows (cf. Genesis 49:23), read, . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And God
אֱלֹהִ֛ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

was
וַיְהִ֧י (way·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

with
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Preposition
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

the boy,
הַנַּ֖עַר (han·na·‘ar)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5288: A boy, lad, youth, retainer

and he grew up
וַיִּגְדָּ֑ל (way·yiḡ·dāl)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1431: To grow up, become great

and settled
וַיֵּ֙שֶׁב֙ (way·yê·šeḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

in the wilderness
בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר (bam·miḏ·bār)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

and became
וַיְהִ֖י (way·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

a great
רֹבֶ֥ה (rō·ḇeh)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7235: To be or become much, many or great

archer.
קַשָּֽׁת׃ (qaš·šāṯ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7199: A bowman


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OT Law: Genesis 21:20 God was with the boy and he (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 21:19
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