Genesis Chapter 17 verse 17 Holy Bible
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
read chapter 17 in ASV
Then Abraham went down on his face, and laughing, said in his heart, May a man a hundred years old have a child? will Sarah, at ninety years old, give birth?
read chapter 17 in BBE
And Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?
read chapter 17 in DARBY
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
read chapter 17 in KJV
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?
read chapter 17 in WBT
Then 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?"
read chapter 17 in WEB
And Abraham falleth upon his face, and laugheth, and saith in his heart, `To the son of an hundred years is one born? or doth Sarah -- daughter of ninety years -- bear?'
read chapter 17 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - Then Abraham fell upon his face (vide Ver. 3), and laughed. וַיּצְחָק from צָחַק, to laugh. Cf. καχάζω καγχάζω, cachin-nor, German, kichern; καὶ ἀγέλασε (LXX.); rejoiced (Onkelos); marveled (Jerome, Targums); laughed for joy (Arabic version, Augustine, Calvin, Delitzsch, Keil, Murphy, et alii); not a smile of incredulity (Jerome, Chrysostom) or of diffidence (Kalisch), as partitionists assert in order to produce a contradiction between the Elohist and Jehovist of Genesis 15. And said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is (literally, to the son of) an hundred years old? A suggestion of natural reason which was overruled by faith (Calvin, Wordsworth), though better regarded as the exclamation of holy wonder, or as an illustration of believing not for joy (Inglis; cf. Luke 24:41). And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? Yes. What reason declared impossible was possible to faith. "He considered not the deadness of Sarah s womb" (Romans 4:19).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) Abraham . . . laughed.--The Jewish interpreters regard Abraham's laugh as one of joy, and Sarah's (Genesis 18:12) as one of unbelief. We may, however, well doubt whether there really was this difference between them; but our Lord confirms the View that joy was uppermost in Abraham's heart (John 8:56). Still with belief there was surprise, and the feeling that what was promised was so strange as to be well-nigh incredible. One who was ready to sacrifice his only son at God's word (Hebrews 11:19) would not be staggered by this strangeness, and yet the thought of Sarah's bearing a child at the age of ninety might easily present itself to his mind in a ludicrous aspect. As for Sarah, there is no proof that at the time when she laughed she knew or even suspected that the three travellers were more than men. She overheard their conversation, and laughed, imagining perhaps that they did not know how old she was. Really, the idea brought out by this double laughter is that Isaac's birth was contrary to nature.
