Genesis 21:5-7

21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) ¹ 

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

[21:5]  ¹ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).

[21:6]  ² tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ³ tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “said.”

[21:7]  ⁶ tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.