And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
20. And God was with the lad . There are many ways in which God is said to be present with men. He is present with his elect, whom he governs by the special grace of his Spirit; he is present also, sometimes, as it respects external life, not only with his elect, but also with strangers, in granting them some signal benediction: as Moses...
Here is, I. The casting out of the bond-woman, and her son from the family of Abraham, Gen 21:14. Abraham's obedience to the divine command in this matter was speedy - early in the morning, we may suppose immediately after he had, in the night's visions, received orders to do this.
Commenting on Genesis 21:14-21
And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran,.... So called from Paran, a city in Arabia Petraea; it reached from the wilderness of Shur to Mount Sinai: the account Adrichomius (q) gives of it is this; Paran or"Pharan is a wilderness, very large, desolate, impassable, and without water, containing, from Mount Sinai to Kadeshbarnea, a journey of eleven days; its land can neither be ploughed...