Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”
Parallel translations
- KJV Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
- BSB Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- NKJV Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
- NASB Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
- NLT Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
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
God asks, 'Is anything too hard for Yahweh?' and reaffirms the promised son.
Overview
This rhetorical question is a cornerstone declaration of God's omnipotence, echoed throughout Scripture (Jeremiah 32:17; Luke 1:37). It answers Sarah's doubt by pointing to God's limitless power rather than human capacity. The fixed timetable and renewed promise display the certainty of God's word, which finds its yes in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 30
- Luke 1:37For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”
- Matt 19:26Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Mark 10:27Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
- Jer 32:27“Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
- Eph 3:20Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
- Job 42:2“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be restrained.
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
- Jer 32:17“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
- Rom 4:21and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
- Num 11:23Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
- 2 Kgs 4:16He said, “At this season, when the time comes around, you will embrace a son.” She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your servant.”
- Deut 7:21You shall not be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is among you, a great and awesome God.
- Matt 14:31Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
- Gen 18:10He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.
- Luke 1:13But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
- Deut 30:3that then Yahweh your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you.
- Zech 8:6Yahweh of Armies says: “If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Ps 95:3For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods.
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
- Gen 17:21But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
- Job 36:5“Behold, God is mighty, and doesn’t despise anyone. He is mighty in strength of understanding.
- Luke 8:50But Jesus hearing it, answered him, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe, and she will be healed.”
- Heb 11:19concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
- 1 Sam 14:6Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few.”
- Luke 1:18Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
- Matt 3:9Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
- Ps 93:1Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved.
- Phil 3:21who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.
- 2 Kgs 7:1–2Elisha said, “Hear Yahweh’s word. Yahweh says, ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’”
- Ps 90:13Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
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 18:14 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.