Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
- KJV And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
- NKJV And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.”
- NASB Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
- NLT And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me.
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 rejoices that God has made her laugh, and all who hear will laugh with her. Her earlier doubting laughter turns to joy.
Overview
Sarah's words transform the laughter of disbelief at the promise into laughter of delight at its fulfillment. Her joy is meant to be shared, inviting others to marvel at God's gracious work. This reversal from doubt to praise illustrates how God turns the impossible into occasions for worship, foreshadowing the joy of redemption He brings to His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 126:2Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
- Isa 54:1“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
- Gen 17:17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
- Luke 1:58Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.
- Isa 49:21Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’”
- Luke 1:14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,
- Gal 4:27–28For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”
- Luke 1:46–55Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,
- Ps 113:9He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!
- Rom 12:15Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
- Gen 18:12–15So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- Heb 11:11By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.
- John 16:21–22A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.
- 1 Sam 1:26“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
- Isa 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!
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 21:6 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.