Tag: laughter

Translation Commentary

Posted on by jovial_cynic

She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart

So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
Genesis 21:7-8 (NKJV)

Some Bible translation include their own commentary by way of section headings. The NIV and the NKJV both include a “Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away” header, but this shifts the focus and loses the story.

The entire point of this bit is that a very old woman is nursing a child!

Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son in his old age.”

And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac.
Genesis 21:6-9 (NASB)

The NASB inserts “Sarah Turns against Hagar” after verse 8, keeping the nursing and the weening segments together, but then it breaks up the *laughter* from v6 from the connected laughter in verses 9 and 10.

The story is much clearer without the section headings.

Laughter and Faith

Posted on by jovial_cynic

And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’
Genesis 18:13 (NKJV)

Perhaps God asks Abraham why Sarah laughed because she shouldn’t have been startled at this point in the story. She should have laughed when Abraham first told her about it back in chapter 17 when God said Sarah would have a son.

This means that Abe never told her.

The rebuke or teaching opportunity is for Abraham, not Sarah. He is the one with something to learn.

And perhaps the lesson is here in verse 17.

And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?”
Genesis 18:17 (NKJV)

In the previous chapter, the text introduced the two-way Covenant and a new relationship of oneness with God, where God shares both His glory and his heartache with Abraham. So shouldn’t that be how Abraham views his wife, too? Shouldn’t she be privy to his hopes, dreams and fears?

Perhaps we are seeing the last moment of lack of faith on Abraham’s part regarding the promised son: he believes God, but not enough to tell his own wife about it.

So God gently nudges him here in chapter 18. With Sarah’s laughter.