But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced 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.
- BSB But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along 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, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.
- 1 Sam 1:2He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
- Gen 25:21Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
- Gen 18:11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- Gen 17:17Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?”
- 2 Kgs 4:14He said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”
- Judg 13:2–3There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.
- Gen 16:1–2Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
- Gen 30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”
- Rom 4:19Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
- 1 Kgs 1:1Now king David was old and advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he couldn’t keep warm.
- Gen 15:2–3Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
- 1 Sam 1:5–8but to Hannah he gave a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.