ותהר ותלד, “she conceived, became pregnant and gave birth.” The reason why both stages are mentioned is that just as conceiving-becoming pregnant was painless, so her giving birth was also painless.

בן שמונת ימים, “when eight days old;” Nowadays (author’s time) the parents are in the habit of bringing the baby to the Synagogue where he is welcomed with the words: ברוך הבא, “blessed be the new arrival.” The reason why this formula has become popular is that the numerical value of the word הבא=8. The benediction therefore is meant to say: “blessed be he who is being circumcised on the eighth day.”

'ותאמר: מי מלל וגו, she said: “who would have dared predict, etc.” This was a way of giving thanks to the Lord. It is similar to Isaiah 3,10: אמרו צדיק כי טוב, “tell the righteous that he has done something good.” Sarah here gave thanks to whosoever had foretold her husband Avraham that she would bear him a son in her old age and would even be able to nurse not only him but also other babies. In other words: she thanked the Lord. An alternate interpretation of this exclamation of Sarah: “Who would have foretold that Avraham was still virile enough still to have impregnated Sarah so that she could produce a healthy son.” According to this interpretation the word מלל is similar to the word מלילות in Deuteronomy 23,26: “(plucking) ears of corn.”

ויכלו המים, “the water was used up;” Rashi adds that it is the custom of sick people to drink a lot of water, so that the water was not used up as it had been insufficient for the journey to start with. This interpretation is somewhat puzzling, as we have been told in the Talmud, tractate Baba metzia, folio 87, that prior to the report in the Torah about Yaakov falling sick shortly before his death, sickness as we know it did not exist. We would have to conclude therefore that what the Talmud meant that until Yaakov fell sick, for no visible cause, no one fell sick without visible cause. Yishmael’s “sickness” was not a sickness in the accepted meaning of the word but was the result of Sarah having used the “evil eye” to cause this.

רובה קשת, “an archer.” He was hunting by shooting arrows at his prospective victims. The word רובה is used here in the same sense as Genesis 49,23, where Yaakov uses it in his blessing for Joseph, i.e. ורובו, implying that his brothers, or Potiphar and his wife, had hunted him. Some commentators understand the word as a Hebrew alternative for the Aramaic word: רביא, translation of Isaiah 9,5: כי ילד יולד, “for a child has been born;” We find in the Talmud, tractate Chulin folio 20, the expression: יקבלו הרובים את תשובתן, “let the children (of Rabbi Chiyah) receive their reply.”

אלוקים עמך, “G–d is on your side.” Originally, they had thought that if Avraham was such a righteous individual he would not have expelled his firstborn son. After observing Avraham’s lifestyle, his success, and good deeds, they had come to the conclusion that his G–d had approved all of what he had done.