But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.
Parallel translations
- WEB But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years.
- KJV And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
- NKJV But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
- NASB And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in years.
- NLT They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very 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
Despite their faithfulness, they were childless because Elizabeth was barren and both were old. Their situation seemed humanly hopeless.
Overview
Barrenness carried deep sorrow and social stigma in that culture. Like Sarah, Hannah, and other women in Scripture, Elizabeth's barrenness sets the stage for God's miraculous intervention. God often works his greatest purposes where human possibility has run out.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 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.
- 1 Sam 1:2He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
- Gen 25:21Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
- Gen 18:11And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- 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?”
- 2 Kgs 4:14So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”
- Judg 13:2–3Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.
- Gen 16:1–2Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
- Gen 30:1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
- Rom 4:19Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.
- 1 Kgs 1:1Now King David was old and well along in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm.
- Gen 15:2–3But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
- 1 Sam 1:5–8But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 1:7 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.