The three phases of chapter 17 are an important starting place for our understanding of this scripture, and the involvement of Sarah is not just functionary. She is integral to the Covenant promises of God as the bearer of her child, Isaac. As we go further into the text, we will look at the meaning of her name change, the meaning of theme of laughter which surround the conception and birth of Isaac, and the relationship of the child to be born to Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar.
Sarah’s part in the Old Covenant
Sarah’s part in the origins of the Old Covenant are so important that she is the only woman in the Old Testament whose age at death and details of burial are recorded (23:1ff)! We may regret the unseemly male domination of the ancients, but it is remarkable that despite this, Sarah’s place in God’s Covenant survives to this day through scriptural texts which come from very ancient times. Whatever we think of the issue of male domination in ancient or modern times, scripture consistently affirms God’s creation of men and women as equal in His sight (Gen 1:27), as it does here. This is confirmed by the structure of chapter 17 in which God and Abraham and Sarah are in fact the three parties to the Covenant. Each of the three parts of the chapter are introduced by the words ‘as for ...’ In verse 4, God says ‘as for me, ...’ and describes His promises to Abraham. Then in verse 9, God says to Abraham ‘as for You ...’ and describes how he must be obedient to circumcision. Now in verse 15, God says ‘as for Sarai ...’ and goes on to describe her role in making the Covenant real by bearing a son!
In our passage, the first thing God does is to inform Abraham of Sarai’s new name, which is Sarah. The difference between the two has been debated for centuries, and is only a matter of a small spelling change in both Hebrew and English. Sarai means ‘one of noble birth’ and Sarah means ‘Princess’. It is best to think of the old name as pointing back to her previous life as the daughter of the nobleman, Terah; but the new name was a subtle variation on this which pointed forward to the new role she would have as the mother of nations, bearing ‘leaders’ of peoples (17:16).
The name change was also important for Sarah because it was a Covenant sign that she was now fertile, not barren. Sarah’s infertility was the reason why both herself and Abraham had waited nearly 15 years for the fulfilment of the promises they had been given when they came to Canaan from Kharan (ch12), and God told Abraham that the time was close for the child of promise to be conceived who would bear the Covenant (17:21). Sarah’s role was obviously crucial, but it is emphasised in the text by a threefold reference to her motherhood (17:15,19 and 21). In addition, the words of promise given to Abraham about Sarah in v16 echo the words of the promise first given to him at the beginning (12:2,3) ‘I will bless … I will give … I will bless ...’. We will find out a great deal more about Sarah as a real character later on, but we should be in no doubt about her significance.
Abraham laughs
Abraham’s response to all this talk about his elderly wife bearing a son was enough to send Abraham into fits of laughter (17:17)! Some think that the Hebrew text really describes worship rather than laughter, because ‘falling down’ before the Lord was normally a sign of worship in the Old Testament. However, the Hebrew verb here is different, and I see no reason for us see this as anything other than genuine laughter. Indeed the whole story of Isaac’s conception and birth is surrounded by laughter, as we shall see in the next chapter. Also, the word for laughter is closely related to a Hebrew word for ‘fondling’ in a sexual sense. We should not be surprised at this, because the whole story depends upon Sarah’s sexual relationship with Abraham. Together with Abraham’s circumcision, there are sexual implications just underneath the surface of the whole chapter!
Abraham had waited a long time for this moment, and it was hardly what he expected. He still harboured the hope that Ishmael might be his heir, an issue which persisted in Abraham’s relationship with God even after the birth of Isaac (see Gen 21:11ff). However, the conversation between Abraham and God comes across as more congenial and relaxed here than the anxious yearnings expressed earlier (15:2). The laughter could either be an expression of doubt, or of sheer humour at the manner of God’s deeds; or perhaps both. It was probably also tinged with the concern of a man who was getting on in years and viewed the birth of a son to him and his wife with scepticism.
Isaac and Ishmael
When Abraham said to God ‘I do wish you would accept Ishmael as my son’ (17:18), God’s reply was to state the work He was about to do with certainty, and give a name to the son whose birth would confirm the promise Abraham found it so hard to accept; the boy to be born to Sarah was to be called ‘Isaac’. God then sought to re-assure Abraham about what He would do for Ishmael (17:20,21).
It was natural that God should pick on the name ‘Isaac’, which comes from the Hebrew word for ‘laughter’, and means more literally, ’may he laugh!’ Many names in Genesis are constructed like a prayer; for example, Ishmael means ‘may he hear’, which may well reflect the prayer of Hagar to God in the wilderness (21:15f.). The name of Isaac’s son Jacob means ‘may he protect’, which again is a prayer which fits a number of situations relating to his life (more of this in later studies). Isaac’s name ‘may he laugh’ is a prayer which is a reminder of the announcement of his birth which made his father and mother laugh (18:12, 21:6). It was also a reminder that the Covenant was brought about by God’s sovereign authority and miraculous power, something which seems laughable as far as normal human experience goes; the birth of a child to man aged 100 and a woman aged 99! Isaac would indeed become the Covenant bearer (17:21) who would ‘keep’ the Covenant by passing it on to the next generation.
The promise to Ishmael (17:20) was also God’s gracious gift to Abraham. We should remember that at the time of this revelation to Abraham, Ishmael was around 13 years of age, and there was probably a question in Abraham’s mind as to whether he should formally bless Ishmael as his heir, as would have been normal at this age. God’s words put him straight on this (see also Gen 21:8ff), but instead of a blessing from his father, Ishmael received a blessing as a gift from God, and was not rejected. The blessing of Ishmael is a reminder to us that God has other blessings for other people, but not the same Covenant for the salvation of the world which He established with the descendants of Abraham through Sarah. The twelve princes promised to Ishmael (17:20) crop up later in scripture (25:12-16) and settle north of Canaan, not conflicting historically with the occupation of Canaan.
As Ishmael is mentioned in this passage it is worth remembering Hagar. She had been prepared to listen to God’s voice (even as a ‘foreigner’ from Egypt) and return to Abraham’s household even though she was mistreated by her mistress Sarah. We know little of the details of this apart from some unpleasant words about it in Gen 16:6. It is worth noting that along with Sarah’s own wait for a child, Hagar had been prepared to wait on God herself until such a time as her son received a blessing. Within a short time, and with the blessing secured, she left Abraham’s household (21:8ff). Sometimes, oppression must be endured for a higher purpose, and Hagar’s wait bore fruit in the blessing.
Application
This third part of the blessing of God on Abraham and his wife Sarah completed what He had to say to them about His Covenant, in both obligations and commitments. Now is therefore a good time to remind ourselves of what God’s purposes were from the beginning in choosing both Abraham and Sarah. He began by telling Abraham He would be blessed by being made into a great ‘people’ (12:2,3) but added that through him and his descendants by Sarah, ‘all the nations of the world will be blessed’ (12:3). God’s patient plan was to build a people based on Abraham and Sarah, to whom He chose to reveal himself; then through their descendants He would bless the whole world. Whilst God’s chosen people were but one family, uncertain as to how they would even proceed to the next generation, they were like the ‘smouldering wick’ which Jesus said (Matt 12:20) God would not extinguish. The family line of Abraham may have seemed to be hanging on by the thinnest of threads, God built up Abraham’s faith, developed his sense of worship, and eventually revealed His miraculous plan for the fulfilment of His promises. Through this, we can begin to see the plan unfold.
God works on a broad plan for the salvation of the world, and one which gives men and women a significant amount of time. Within this time they can consider His claims, read and study their heritage (as we are doing), look after their environment, develop it and do all that they see fit to develop the world in which they live; but God still looks for faith in those who respond to Him. In our day, this plan has reached the point where we can be assured of God’s eventual defeat of all evil and even death itself because of Jesus Christ, who Himself fulfils the Old Covenant we have been studying. He shows the way forward, but we should be careful to remember the original purpose of God’s Covenant and His later work in sending Jesus Christ into the world to remake the Covenant for our benefit and make it accessible for all. His purpose is to bring the blessing of salvation to the whole world.
© Paul H Ashby 2008
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Please go on to the DISCIPLESHIP PAGE where you will find some suggestions about the discipleship issues relating to the text, some questions for use in group study and also a final prayer
Review
The story of God’s Covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17 could give the impression that the whole thing was sorted out between Abraham and God. The chapter describes a meeting between Abraham and God, and within it, Sarai is renamed Sarah (17:15-16) as if she had little to do with it! At that time, life in general was dominated by men, and we are left to wonder what Sarai knew about it all. The second half of our passage (17:18-21) is largely a speech by God to Abraham telling him that he would indeed have a son who would be borne by Sarah and become his heir, not just of Abraham’s earthy inheritance, but of the inheritance of God’s Covenant, by which all Abraham’s descendants would be blessed. Sarah was essential to the plan of God, but she was not part of the conversation at this point because God was trying to get Abraham to take his eyes off Ishmael (see 17:18) and commit himself to the divine plan instead of his own desires.
However, if you look at the whole story of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, they generally reflect the relationship between a man and a woman envisaged by God in the first chapters of Genesis (1:27ff, 2:21ff), and this is a relationship of interdependence. God’s Covenant cannot be fulfilled without Sarai and since the Covenant was given to Abraham (12:10-20; 15:1-15), it seems wrong for us to assume anything other than that a close relationship existed between Abraham and Sarai within which most things were shared. We are simply not told how much or how often they discussed the incredible things happening to them and the great promises of God that Abraham had received; but whenever Sarai (Sarah) comes into the Biblical story she appears fully aware of what is going on and is aware of her own importance as the one who should bear him children to fulfil the Covenant promise by which Abraham would become a great nation. Sarah seems to have been made aware of the promise of a child immediately after this passage (18:1f.), as we will find out tomorrow.
Looking at Chapter 17 as a whole, the conversation between Abraham and God is the third phase of God’s Covenant promise to Abraham within the chapter. The first phase was God’s confirmation of His promise (17:1-8), the second phase was the command to Abraham that he should be obedient and seal the Covenant with the physical sign of circumcision in his male descendants (17:9-14). The third phase is our story today, in which Abraham is challenged by God to accept that Sarah will play her true role as his wife in the Covenant promise, and this is a challenge to Abraham to trust God, believe in Him and also to respect Sarah His wife, and indeed demonstrate that trust by renaming her ‘Sarah’, meaning ‘Princess’. If circumcision was a physical sign of a spiritual reality of the Covenant for Abraham, then the birth of a son would be the same for Sarah.
Of course, this Old Covenant has now been replaced by the New Covenant through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Circumcision and childbirth each have powerful meaning for people today for different reasons, but not in the same way that they did for Abraham and Sarah! The new sign of the Covenant in Christ Jesus is baptism, which does not distinguish between men and women, or Jews or Gentiles, and childbirth continues to be a blessing for parents who seek to bring up their children in God’s ways and so pass on the Christian Faith. But it is still remarkable that the first Covenant, though given in a male dominated society, is described in scripture as a partnership between God, Abraham and Sarah. Some scholarly commentaries on Genesis allude to the importance of Sarah to the Covenant, but many do not mention her significance to the Covenant at all. They sell short both women, scripture, and men.
