Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Parallel translations
- WEB Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
- BSB So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- NKJV Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
- NASB So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
- NLT So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”
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
Sarah laughs to herself in disbelief at the thought of bearing a child in old age.
Overview
Her inward laughter mingles doubt with the sheer improbability of the promise. Though her response is flawed, Scripture later commends her faith (Hebrews 11:11), showing God's grace toward weak believers. The episode reminds us that God's promises often outrun our ability to imagine them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 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?
- 1 Pet 3:6Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
- Luke 1:18–20And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
- Luke 1:34–35Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
- Gen 18:13And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
- Gen 21:6–7And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
- 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.
- Ps 126:2Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
- Eph 5:33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 18:12 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.