And Sarah saw—at the feast already mentioned (Knobel, Keil); probably also on different occasions since the birth of Isaac—the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Παίζοντα μετὰ Ισαὰκ τοῦ υἰοῦ αὐτης (LXX.
), ludentem cum Isaaco filio sue (Vulgate), playing like a child (Aben Ezra, Knobel, Tuch, Ilgen), playing and dancing gracefully (Gesenius); but the stronger sense of the word, implying mockery, scoffing, irritating and deriding laughter (Kimchi, Vatablus, Grotius, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Murphy), besides being admissible (cf.
Genesis 19:14; Genesis 26:8; Genesis 39:14, Genesis 39:17; Exodus 32:6), seems involved in the Piel form of the participle מְצַחֵק (Kurtz), and is demanded by Galatians 4:29. That Ishmael ridiculed the banquet on the occasion of Isaac's weaning (Malvenda), quarreled with him about the heirship (Fagins, Piseator), and perhaps made sport of him as a father of nations (Hengstenberg), though plausible conjectures, are not stated in the text.
Ainsworth dates from this event the 400 years of Israel's oppression (vide Genesis 15:13).