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.
God heard ... the angel of God called. The easy interchange of these names of the same Being is deserving of particular notice (cf. Genesis 31:11; Genesis 31:13; Judges 6:20-21; Judges 17:6-8).
The voice of the lad - i:e., the groans and vehement heavings of fevered and almost expiring nature. Though Moses speaks of the lad's voice being heard in heaven, and not the mothers loud sobbing in the violent manner of the Orientals, it was not that the son was more penitent, or uttered the prayer of faith more than the mother; but "God heard the voice of the lad" because of his relation to Abraham, and of the promise made respecting him. х Mah (H4100) laak (H3807a)] What aileth thee? But when this elliptical phrase bears this signification, it is always followed by х kiy (H3588)] that, expressed or understood (cf. Isaiah 22:1). Here it rather denotes 'what wilt thou?' as in Judges 1:14; and in that view it was the answer to her prayer.
Fear not - that the lad shall now die, and my promise be frustrated.
For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is - [Septuagint, ek tou topou hou estin.] There is perhaps an implied antithesis between that wild desert and the tent of Abraham, where was God's sanctuay, the place where prayer was wont to be made; or perhaps it simply means that God hears, when there is no other ear to hear nor arm to save. It was a striking instance of the truth of the Psalmist's declaration (Psalms 27:10).
Verse 18. Arise, lift up the lad - i:e., persuade him to rise, or assist him in the effort to rise, that he may receive the cooling draught from the spring, which will revive his spirits and re-invigorate his frame.
Verse 19. God opened her eyes. There are few springs in that extensive desert, and these are sometimes so covered by surrounding brushwood that travelers, after long and fruitless search for the precious liquid, have frequently lain down to die in the immediate neighbourhood of a well or a fountain. Incidents of this description-which are far from being of rare occurrence-illustrate the truth of the sacred narrative regarding the extreme sufferings of Ishmael from heat and thirst, and show that, instead of a well being created on the occasion, as some suppose, all that the angel did was to lead Hagar to the discovery of a spring which had escaped her notice. But in this case it was a miraculous interposition that led her to the discovery.