Discovery BoxHebrews 11:11-12 
Context11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, 1 he received the ability to procreate, 2 because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children 3 were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand 4 on the seashore. 5
1 tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”
2 tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”
3 tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.
4 tn Grk a collective “the sand.”
5 sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).
