John Calvin Commentary Genesis 21:17

"And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is." — Genesis 21:17 (ASV)

God heard the voice of the lad. Moses had said before that Hagar wept. How is it then that, disregarding her tears, God only hears the voice of the lad? If we should say that the mother did not deserve to receive a favorable answer to her prayers, her son, certainly, was in no way more worthy.

As for the supposition of some that they both were brought to repentance by this chastisement, it is only an uncertain conjecture. I leave their repentance, of which I can see no sign, to the judgment of God.

The cry of the boy was heard, as I understand it, not because he had prayed in faith, but because God, mindful of his own promise, was inclined to have compassion on them. For Moses does not say that their vows and sighs were directed towards heaven; it is rather to be believed that, in bewailing their miseries, they did not resort to divine help.

But God, in assisting them, regarded not what they desired of him, but what he had promised to Abraham concerning Ishmael. In this sense, Moses seems to say that the voice of the boy was heard, namely, because he was the son of Abraham.

What aileth thee, Hagar? The angel reproves Hagar for her ingratitude because, when reduced to the greatest straits, she does not reflect on God’s former kindness toward her in similar danger, so that, as one who has found him to be a deliverer, she might again cast herself upon his faithfulness.

Nevertheless, the angel assures her that a remedy is prepared for her sorrows if only she will seek it. Therefore, the clause What aileth thee? is a reproof for her having tormented herself in vain with confused lamentation. When he afterward says, Fear not, he invites and exhorts her to hope for mercy.

But what, we may ask, is the meaning of the expression which he adds, where he is? It may seem that there is a suppressed antithesis between the place where he now was and the house of Abraham, so that Hagar might conclude that although she was wandering in the desert as an exile from the sanctuary of God, she was not entirely forsaken by God, since she had him for a Leader in her exile.

Or else, the phrase is emphatic, implying that though the boy is cast into solitude and counted as one forsaken, he nevertheless has God near him. And thus the angel, to relieve the despair of the anxious mother, commands her to return to the place where she had laid down her son.

For (as is usual in desperate circumstances) she had become stupefied through grief and would have lain as one lifeless, unless she had been roused by the voice of the angel. We perceive, moreover, in this example, how truly it is said that when father and mother forsake us, the Lord will take us up.