The interpretation timeline

Gen 21:21

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500

1105

A.D.

Rashi

1040–1105

“מארץ מצרים FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT — from the place where she was brought up — as it is said (16:1) “And she (Sarah) had an Egyptian handmaid [whose name was Hagar]”. That is what the popular proverb says: “Throw a stick into the air and it will fall back to (literally, stand on) its element” (Genesis Rabbah 53:15).”

PD · trans. M. Rosenbaum & A. M. Silbermann (London, 1929–1934) ↗ read in context ↗

Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.