Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- BSB And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- NKJV Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- NASB Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.
- NLT Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The narrator stresses that Abraham and Sarah were far too old, naturally, to have children.
Overview
By noting Sarah is past childbearing, the text makes clear that the coming birth will be miraculous, resting wholly on God's power. The natural impossibility magnifies the grace and faithfulness of God. This sets the stage for the question, 'Is anything too hard for Yahweh?' and points forward to other God-given births culminating in the virgin birth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 17:17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
- Heb 11:11–12Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
- Luke 1:36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
- Rom 4:18–21Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
- Gen 17:24And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
- Luke 1:7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
- Luke 1:18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
- Lev 15:19And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
- Heb 11:19Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
- Gen 31:35And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 18:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.