What is the significance of the first "mi'Neged" in this verse?
Rashi: She sat, not opposite him, but at a distance, as the Pasuk continues.
Targum Yonasan: It hints at the fact that, when she saw that Yishmael was getting worse, she threw the image that she had begun worshipping far away, and began Davening to HaSh-m. 1
As Rashi hints in the following Pasuk (21:17). In other words, she returned to HaSh-m, and it explains why now HaSh-m answered their prayers.
How could Hagar think that Yishmael would die? HaSh-m had promised that he would be a great nation (16: 10-12)!
Hadar Zekenim: She had little faith. We find that she returned to the idolatry of her father's house.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "'Ki'Metachavei Keshes' - About [the distance] of two arrow-shots." How is this derived?
Gur Aryeh: The letter Yud at the end of the word shows that it is plural.
