Genesis 18:11-13

18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; 1  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 2  18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, 3  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, 4  especially when my husband is old too?” 5 

18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why 6  did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really 7  have a child when I am old?’

1 tn Heb “days.”

2 tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”

3 tn Heb “saying.”

4 tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.

5 tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

6 tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the Lord’s amazement: “Why on earth did Sarah laugh?”

7 tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”