And God was with the lad: the sense is that God protected, guarded, blessed Ishmael.

And he grew up: that is, “God protected the young boy as he was growing up,” “… as he matured,” “… as he became older.”

He lived in the wilderness: for wilderness see verse 14.

Became an expert with the bow: the Hebrew has a double expression that Hebrew Old Testament Text Project takes to mean “a shooter, an archer” and believes the Hebrew intends to say “a shooter of the bow.” There is little difference between this and Revised Standard Version‘s rendering. Note, however, that Good News Translation translates “skillful hunter.” This rendering is based on Speiser’s suggestion that the first of the two Hebrew words is to be associated with “great.” However, even this understanding makes little difference in these translations, and there is no clear reason to prefer one over the other. Accordingly we may translate, for example, as Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation. Bible en français courant says “a skillful shooter of the bow,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “a good shooter of the bow.” Note also Revised English Bible “became an archer.” If the bow is not known, translators may use the more general expression such as “became a hunter” or “became a skilled hunter.”

It should be noted that Good News Translation, like some other modern translations, restructures verses 20 and 21, so that Ishmael becoming a skillful hunter is stated after his living in the wilderness of Paran. This makes it possible to avoid the repetition of he lived in the wilderness in verse 20 and He lived … Paran in verse 21. Translators should consider doing something similar.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .