Looking into Sarah's Eyes: The Meaning of מְצַחֵק in Genesis 21.9

Abstract

Ambiguity surrounds the use of the term מְצַחֵק in Gen 21.9, where it is traditionally rendered “playing,” “laughing,” or “mocking.” The verb is used in the piel participle form, without any direct or indirect object. Meanwhile, the LXX’s παίζοντα μετὰ Ισαακ suggests that Ishmael was playing with Isaac, a connotation which is not evident in the MT, but which many scholars endorse. The LXX’s widely accepted rendering obscures the point of the verse; it does not portray the wordplay on the term צחק which is central in Gen 17, 18, and 21. Against this background, through a linguistic analysis of important key terms like מְצַחֵק and וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה, my aim is to demonstrate that the best approach to the translation and interpretation of מְצַחֵק in Gen 21.9 is not to disambiguate the term, but to interpret it as a narrative device which the narrator used to express the motif of separation.