Genesis 18:11
in Genesis 18And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
KJV
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
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This verse in Genesis 18
Commentary
4 notes on this verseIt ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women - And consequently, naturally speaking, conception could not take place; therefore if she have a son it must be in a supernatural or miraculous way.
This site's exposition
well along in years
on Genesis 18:11-12
Sarah had passed the age of childbearing, the narrator says plainly. Her barrenness was announced at 11:30, and twenty-five years stand between the promise of 12:2 and the birth at 21:2. She laughed to herself and said nothing aloud, and Peter picks up her words, my master is old, at 1 Peter 3:6.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
They were both old and advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. To highlight the growth of heavenly power, he says that both were old, and moreover that Sarah, having been barren, was now also deprived …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
‘BA’IM BAYAMIM’ (ADVANCED IN DAYS). In his youthful days a man is called “standing in days,” and they are referred to as “his days” because they belong to him, just as in verse The number of thy days will I fulfill. 97 Exodus:26.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Rashi comments, “The angel was not announcing that he would return to him, but he was speaking to him as G-d’s agent, [meaning that G-d would return]. This is similar to the verse: And the angel of the Eternal said to her [Hagar], I will multiply thy seed exceedingly.
עדנה, a form of the skin becoming elastic and the wrinkles straightening out.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַבְרָהָ֤ם | veavraham | and Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
| וְשָׂרָה֙ | vesarah | and Sarah | H8283 → | 38 times |
| זְקֵנִ֔ים | zekenim | [were] old | H2205 → | 178 times |
| בָּאִ֖ים | baim | [having] come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בַּיָּמִ֑ים | baiyamim | in <the> days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| חָדַל֙ | chadal | it had ceased | H2308 → | 58 times |
| לִהְי֣וֹת | lihyot | to be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְשָׂרָ֔ה | lesarah | to Sarah | H8283 → | 38 times |
| אֹ֖רַח | ʾorach | a way | H734 → | |
| כַּנָּשִֽׁים׃ | kanashim | like <the> women | H802 → | 781 times |
וְאַבְרָהָ֤םand Abraham
veavrahamH85 →175 times
וְשָׂרָה֙and Sarah
vesarahH8283 →38 times
זְקֵנִ֔ים[were] old
zekenimH2205 →178 times
בָּאִ֖ים[having] come
baimH935 →2568 times
בַּיָּמִ֑יםin <the> days
baiyamimH3117 →2304 times
חָדַל֙it had ceased
chadalH2308 →58 times
לִהְי֣וֹתto be
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
לְשָׂרָ֔הto Sarah
lesarahH8283 →38 times
אֹ֖רַחa way
ʾorachH734 →
כַּנָּשִֽׁים׃like <the> women
kanashimH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 17:17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
it leads to
- Genesis 18:12
So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- Genesis 21:6
Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
- Revelation 11:16
And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,
- Genesis 17:3
Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
- John 8:56
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
- Genesis 18:12
Through
Hebrews 11:19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death.
it leads to
- Matthew 9:28
After Jesus had entered the house, the blind men came to Him. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” He asked. “Yes, Lord,” they answered.
- Romans 4:17–21
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead…
- Genesis 22:13
Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of…
- Matthew 9:28
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsSarahAbraham's wife — barren, then bearing Isaac by promise “past age” through faith; Paul's allegory of the covenant of promise (Gal 4…
- PersonPatriarchsAbrahamCalled out of Ur, the father of all who believe, justified by faith, and the friend of God through whose seed all nations are bles…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).