Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Genesis 18:13

in Genesis 18

And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Jehovah said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, who am old?

KJV

And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

⋯

This verse in Genesis 18

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And the Lord (Jehovah) said, etc. - So it appears that one of those three persons was Jehovah, and as this name is never given to any created being, consequently the ever-blessed God is intended; and as he was never seen in any bodily shape, consequently the great Angel of the covenant, Jesus Christ, must be meant. See note on Gen 16:7.

This site's exposition

Why did Sarah laugh

on Genesis 18:13-14

The LORD repeats her thought back to her husband, and she learns who is at the tent. Abraham had laughed at the same promise in 17:17, and the son is to be named Isaac, which is laughter. Is anything too difficult for the LORD is the question the chapter turns on. Jeremiah asks it again at 32:27.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

"Wherefore did I laugh?" Again, Our unbelief and distrust are a great offence to the God of heaven. He justly takes it ill to have the objections of sense set up in contradiction to his promise, as Luke i. Here is a question asked which is enough to answer all the cavils of flesh and blood: Is any thing too hard for the Lord?
And the Lord said unto Abraham,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Where, upon a prudent and impartial judgment, we see no cause to suspect ill, charity teaches us to hope well and to show kindness accordingly. It is better to feed five drones, or wasps, than to starve one bee. How Abraham entertained those strangers, and how kindly his entertainment was accepted.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

This is the explanation of Sarah’s words, after I am waxed old. 98 Verse 12 here.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 18:13:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
IS ANYTHING TOO HARD (‘HAYIPALEI’) FOR THE ETERNAL? Is anything too hard and improbable for G-d to cause to happen? This expression is similar to the verse, For all things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee. 99 I Chronicles:14.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 18:14:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
עדנה, a form of the skin becoming elastic and the wrinkles straightening out.
Rashbam: France, c. 1085–1158 · Rashbam on Genesis 18:12:1, via Sefaria, Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash

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

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַבְרָהָ֑םAbraham

    ʾavrahamH85 →175 times

  • לָ֣מָּה<to> why?

    lamahH4100 →752 times

  • זֶּה֩this

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • צָחֲקָ֨הdid she laugh

    tzachakahH6711 →13 times

  • שָׂרָ֜הSarah

    sarahH8283 →38 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הַאַ֥ף¿ also

    haafH637 →134 times

  • אֻמְנָ֛םreally

    ʾumnamH552 →

  • אֵלֵ֖דwill I bear a child

    ʾeledH3205 →496 times

  • וַאֲנִ֥יand I

    vaaniH589 →874 times

  • זָקַֽנְתִּי׃I am old

    zakantiH2204 →27 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

4 stops

Each 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

    John 2:25

    He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

    it leads to

    • John 13:11

      For He knew who would betray Him. That is why He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

    • Matthew 9:4

      But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts?

    • John 6:64

      However, there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.)

    • John 6:61

      Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you?

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

Abraham and the Three Angels — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Abraham and the Three Angels — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 18 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 18 →