Genesis 21:6-7

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ¹  Everyone who hears about this ²  will laugh ³  with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, ⁴  “Who would ⁵  have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

Genesis 30:23-24

30:23 She became pregnant ⁶  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ⁷  30:24 She named him Joseph, ⁸  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

Genesis 30:1

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ⁹  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ¹⁰  or I’ll die!”

Genesis 1:26-27

1:26 Then God said, “Let us make ¹¹ 

humankind ¹²  in our image, after our likeness, ¹³  so they may rule ¹⁴  over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, ¹⁵  and over all the creatures that move ¹⁶  on the earth.”

1:27 God created humankind ¹⁷  in his own image,

in the image of God he created them, ¹⁸ 

male and female he created them. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 113:9

113:9 He makes the barren woman of the family ²⁰ 

a happy mother of children. ²¹ 

Praise the Lord!

Luke 1:57-58

The Birth of John

1:57 Now the time came ²²  for Elizabeth to have her baby, ²³  and she gave birth to a son. 1:58 Her ²⁴  neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown ²⁵  great mercy to her, and they rejoiced ²⁶  with her.

Galatians 4:27

4:27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ²⁷ 

break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,

because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous

than those of the woman who has a husband.” ²⁸ 

[21:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ² tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ³ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[21:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[21:7]  ⁵ tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.

[30:23]  ⁶ tn Or “conceived.”

[30:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.

[30:24]  ⁸ sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.

[30:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sons.”

[1:26]  ¹¹ sn The plural form of the verb has been the subject of much discussion through the years, and not surprisingly several suggestions have been put forward. Many Christian theologians interpret it as an early hint of plurality within the Godhead, but this view imposes later trinitarian concepts on the ancient text. Some have suggested the plural verb indicates majesty, but the plural of majesty is not used with verbs. C. Westermann (Genesis, 1:145) argues for a plural of “deliberation” here, but his proposed examples of this use (2 Sam 24:14; Isa 6:8) do not actually support his theory. In 2 Sam 24:14 David uses the plural as representative of all Israel, and in Isa 6:8 the Lord speaks on behalf of his heavenly court. In its ancient Israelite context the plural is most naturally understood as referring to God and his heavenly court (see 1 Kgs 22:19-22; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Isa 6:1-8). (The most well-known members of this court are God’s messengers, or angels. In Gen 3:5 the serpent may refer to this group as “gods/divine beings.” See the note on the word “evil” in 3:5.) If this is the case, God invites the heavenly court to participate in the creation of humankind (perhaps in the role of offering praise, see Job 38:7), but he himself is the one who does the actual creative work (v. 27). Of course, this view does assume that the members of the heavenly court possess the divine “image” in some way. Since the image is closely associated with rulership, perhaps they share the divine image in that they, together with God and under his royal authority, are the executive authority over the world.

[1:26]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word is אָדָם (’adam), which can sometimes refer to man, as opposed to woman. The term refers here to humankind, comprised of male and female. The singular is clearly collective (see the plural verb, “[that] they may rule” in v. 26b) and the referent is defined specifically as “male and female” in v. 27. Usage elsewhere in Gen 1-11 supports this as well. In 5:2 we read: “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and called their name ‘humankind’ (אָדָם).” The noun also refers to humankind in 6:1, 5-7 and in 9:5-6.

[1:26]  ¹³ tn The two prepositions translated “in” and “according to” have overlapping fields of meaning and in this context seem to be virtually equivalent. In 5:3 they are reversed with the two words. The word צֶלֶם (tselem, “image”) is used frequently of statues, models, and images – replicas (see D. J. A. Clines, “The Etymology of Hebrew selem,” JNSL 3 [1974]: 19-25). The word דְּמוּת (dÿmut, “likeness”) is an abstract noun; its verbal root means “to be like; to resemble.” In the Book of Genesis the two terms describe human beings who in some way reflect the form and the function of the creator. The form is more likely stressing the spiritual rather than the physical. The “image of God” would be the God-given mental and spiritual capacities that enable people to relate to God and to serve him by ruling over the created order as his earthly vice-regents.

[1:26]  ¹⁴ tn Following the cohortative (“let us make”), the prefixed verb form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result (see Gen 19:20; 34:23; 2 Sam 3:21). God’s purpose in giving humankind his image is that they might rule the created order on behalf of the heavenly king and his royal court. So the divine image, however it is defined, gives humankind the capacity and/or authority to rule over creation.

[1:26]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads “earth”; the Syriac reads “wild animals” (cf. NRSV).

[1:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “creep” (also in v. 28).

[1:27]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun (הָאָדָם, ha’adam). The article does not distinguish man from woman here (“the man” as opposed to “the woman”), but rather indicates previous reference (see v. 26, where the noun appears without the article). It has the same function as English “the aforementioned.”

[1:27]  ¹⁸ tn The third person suffix on the particle אֵת (’et) is singular here, but collective.

[1:27]  ¹⁹ sn The distinction of “humankind” as “male” and “female” is another point of separation in God’s creation. There is no possibility that the verse is teaching that humans were first androgynous (having both male and female physical characteristics) and afterward were separated. The mention of male and female prepares for the blessing to follow.

[113:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “of the house.”

[113:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “sons.”

[1:57]  ²² tn Grk “the time was fulfilled.”

[1:57]  ²³ tn The words “her baby” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity.

[1:58]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And her.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:58]  ²⁵ tn Grk “had magnified his mercy with her.”

[1:58]  ²⁶ tn The verb συνέχαιρον (sunecairon) is an imperfect and could be translated as an ingressive force, “they began to rejoice.”

[4:27]  ²⁷ tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[4:27]  ²⁸ tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”