She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Parallel translations
- WEB She said, “Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
- KJV And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
- NKJV She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
- NASB And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son in his old age.”
- NLT Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
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 marvels that she, in old age, now nurses a son for Abraham. She wonders aloud at God's astonishing gift.
Overview
Sarah expresses amazement that what no one could have predicted has come to pass through God's power. Her rhetorical question celebrates the sheer wonder of bearing a child long past natural hope. The verse magnifies God as the giver of life who delights to fulfill His promises in ways that leave His people astonished and grateful.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 66:8Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.
- Gen 18:11–12And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- 2 Th 1:10on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.
- Num 23:23For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’
- Deut 4:32–34Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?
- Eph 3:10His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
- Ps 86:10For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.
- Ps 86:8O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.
- 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?’”
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 21:7 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.