When Is A Boy A Man?

But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.” [Genesis 21.17-18]

If Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born and 100 when Isaac was born, then "the boy" discussed here would have been at least 15 years old, and maybe older (depending on what age was the age of weaning in Isaac's case).

I always pictured "the boy" of this passage as a toddler for some reason. In fact, the following context of this story would "sort of" lend itself to that end...

And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt. [Genesis 21.20-21]

I suppose my question here is, when is a boy a man?

We could also consider some of the facts about Isaac. We know he could not have been very old when he was weaned and Hagar and Ishmael were sent away (maybe not more than three years old?). And, we know Isaac was referred to as "a boy" when Abraham set out to sacrifice him. So, here is another question, how old does "a boy" have to be to be able (big and strong enough) to carry enough wood to burn his entire body on?

So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. [Genesis 22.6a]

"A boy" in my mind is simply not strong enough to carry a sufficient quantity of wood to completely burn his body! It very well could be that Isaac was what we would call "a young man" of 15-20 years old.

This opens up a whole new realm of parent-child relationship consideration. Certainly, this other realm is foreign to our thinking today. It is one thing to consider that Abraham would offer Isaac, then another altogether that the story gives no indication whatsoever that Isaac resisted. Imagine that - a human big and strong enough to carry enough firewood to burn his body not resisting his demise!

We could also think back then to Ishmael, sitting and crying under the shade of a bush when he was at least 15!

Not that it will ever change, but are we teaching our children today to grow up too fast? Hmm.

Father, thank you for speaking through Your Word every day... Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand ALL that Your Word speaks to me.