Genesis 21:16
New International Version
Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

New Living Translation
Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears.

English Standard Version
Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.

Berean Standard Bible
Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

New American Standard Bible
Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept.

NASB 1995
Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept.

NASB 1977
Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see when the child dies.” And she sat opposite him and lifted up her voice and wept.

Amplified Bible
Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And as she sat down opposite him, she raised her voice and wept.

Christian Standard Bible
and went and sat at a distance, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die! ” While she sat at a distance, she wept loudly.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she wept loudly.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And she went and she sat far off; she removed about the shot of a bow because she said, “I will not see the death of the boy”, and she sat far off and she lifted her voice and she wept.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And she departed and sat down opposite him at a distance, as it were a bow-shot, for she said, Surely I cannot see the death of my child: and she sat opposite him, and the child cried aloud and wept.

Contemporary English Version
Then she sat down a long way off, because she could not bear to watch him die. And she cried bitterly.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

English Revised Version
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 lift up her voice, and wept.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then she went about as far away as an arrow can be shot and sat down. She said to herself, "I don't want to watch the boy die." So she sat down and sobbed loudly.

Good News Translation
and sat down about a hundred yards away. She said to herself, "I can't bear to see my child die." While she was sitting there, she began to cry.

International Standard Version
Then she went and sat by herself about a distance of a bowshot away, because she kept saying to herself, "I can't bear to watch the child die!" That's why she sat a short distance away, crying aloud and weeping.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Literal Standard Version
And she goes and sits by herself opposite [him], far off, about a bow-shot, for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the boy”; and she sits opposite [him], and lifts up her voice, and weeps.

Majority Standard Bible
Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.

New American Bible
and then went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away; for she said to herself, “I cannot watch the child die.” As she sat opposite him, she wept aloud.

NET Bible
Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, "I refuse to watch the child die." So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

New Revised Standard Version
Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.

New Heart English Bible
She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, "Do not let me see the death of the boy." So she sat across from him, and he wept loudly.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
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 opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Sarah Turns Against Hagar
15When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.…

Cross References
Genesis 21:15
When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

1 Kings 17:12
But she replied, "As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die."

Jeremiah 6:26
O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.


Treasury of Scripture

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.

Let.

Genesis 44:34
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

1 Kings 3:26
Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

Esther 8:6
For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

lift.

Genesis 27:38
And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

Genesis 29:11
And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

Judges 2:4
And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

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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.














(16) Let me not see the death of the child.--The whole story is most touching. Day after day the mother, with her child, had wandered in the wilderness, using the water in the skin sparingly, ever hoping to come to some spring, but with too little knowledge of the locality to guide her steps wisely. At last the water is spent, and the young life withers first, and the mother knows that soon they both must die. They had made their last effort, and with that hopelessness which travellers have so often described as stealing over the lost wanderer in the desert, they yield themselves to their doom. The boy is entirely passive; but not so the mother. A softer nature would have remained with him to soothe him, but the agony of the wild Egyptian will grant her no rest. She casts his fainting body almost angrily under a shrub, and withdraws to a bowshot distance, because she cannot bear to see him die. She there gives way not to tears only, but to unrestrained outcries of grief. But it is not her loud lamentation, but the mute prayer of Ishmael that is heard, and an angel of God comes to her relief.

Verse 16. - And she went, and sat her down - וַתֵּשֶׁב לָהּ, the pronoun being added to the verb, as an ethical dative, to indicate that the action was of special importance to her, meaning, "she, for herself, or for her part, sat down" (vide Ewald's 'Hebrews Synt. ,' § 315, a.; and Glass, 'Phil Tract.,' 1. 3. tr. 2. c. 6; and cf. Genesis 12:1; Genesis 22:5) - over against him a good way off. The hiph. inf. of רָחַק, to go far away, to recede from any one, is here used adverbially, as in Joshua 3:16 (Gesenius, Furst, Kalisch), though by others it is understood as explaining the action of the previous verbs, and as equivalent to a gerund in do, or a participle, elon-gando se (Rosenmüller), or simply" removing to a distance" (Ewald; vide 'Hebrews Synt., § 280 a.). As it were a bowshot. Literally, as those who draw the bow, i.e. as far off as archers are accustomed to place the target (Keil). The sense is correctly given by the LXX.: μακρόθεν ὡσεὶ τόξου βολήν. For she said, Let me not see - i.e. look upon with anguish (cf. Numbers 11:15) - the death of the child - τοῦ παιδίου μου (LXX.). And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. The verbs, being feminine, indicate that it is Hagar's grief which is here described, and that the rendering, "and the child lifted up his voice and wept" (LXX.), is incorrect; although the next verse may suggest that Ishmael, like his mother, was also dissolved in tears.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then she went off
וַתֵּלֶךְ֩ (wat·tê·leḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

and sat down
וַתֵּ֨שֶׁב (wat·tê·šeḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

nearby,
מִנֶּ֗גֶד (min·ne·ḡeḏ)
Preposition-m
Strong's 5048: A front, part opposite, a counterpart, mate, over against, before

about a bowshot
כִּמְטַחֲוֵ֣י (kim·ṭa·ḥă·wê)
Preposition-k | Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2909: To stretch a, bow, as an archer

away,
הַרְחֵק֙ (har·ḥêq)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 7368: To be or become far or distant

for
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

she said,
אָֽמְרָ֔ה (’ā·mə·rāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“I cannot
אַל־ (’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

bear to watch
אֶרְאֶ֖ה (’er·’eh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common singular
Strong's 7200: To see

the boy
הַיָּ֑לֶד (hay·yā·leḏ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3206: Something born, a lad, offspring

die!”
בְּמ֣וֹת (bə·mō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4194: Death, the dead, their place, state, pestilence, ruin

And as she sat
וַתֵּ֣שֶׁב (wat·tê·šeḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

nearby,
מִנֶּ֔גֶד (min·ne·ḡeḏ)
Preposition-m
Strong's 5048: A front, part opposite, a counterpart, mate, over against, before

she lifted up
וַתִּשָּׂ֥א (wat·tiś·śā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

her voice
קֹלָ֖הּ (qō·lāh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 6963: A voice, sound

and wept.
וַתֵּֽבְךְּ׃ (wat·tê·ḇək)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1058: To weep, to bemoan


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OT Law: Genesis 21:16 She went and sat down opposite him (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 21:15
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