17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 1 as he said to himself, 2 “Can 3 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 4 Can Sarah 5 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 6
49:26 The blessings of your father are greater
than 7 the blessings of the eternal mountains 8
or the desirable things of the age-old hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph
and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. 9
1 sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.
2 tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”
3 tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.
4 tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”
5 sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).
6 tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”
7 tn Heb “have prevailed over.”
8 tn One could interpret the phrase הוֹרַי (horay) to mean “my progenitors” (literally, “the ones who conceived me”), but the masculine form argues against this. It is better to emend the text to הַרֲרֵי (harare, “mountains of”) because it forms a better parallel with the next clause. In this case the final yod (י) on the form is a construct plural marker, not a pronominal suffix.
9 tn For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.