And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make (e) a nation, because he [is] thy seed.
(e) The Ishmaelites will come from him.

And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation,.... A great nation, as is promised, Genesis 17:20; and such the Ishmaelites and Saracens have been, and the Turks now are, the descendants of Ishmael. The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, a people of thieves, or a thieving people; as were the Saracens, and who are thought to have that name from the Arabic word "sarac" (y), to thieve; though they would have it derived from Sarah: but it is not agreeable to the promise of God to Abraham, that when for his comfort he is told that his son Ishmael and his descendants should become a great nation, that they should be described as a company of thieves and robbers; and especially when the reason of the promise is given:
because he is thy seed; or thy son; here the word "seed" is again used of a single individual; see Genesis 4:25.
(y) "furatus fuit, furto abstulit", Golius, col. 1167. Castel. col. 2626.

also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation--Thus Providence overruled a family brawl to give rise to two great and extraordinary peoples.

The casting out of Ishmael was not his ruin. He shall be a nation because he is thy seed - We are not sure that it was his eternal ruin. It is presumption to say, that all these who are left out of the external dispensation of God's covenant are excluded from all his mercies. Those may be saved who are not thus honoured.