Font Size
Genesis 17:17
New Catholic Bible
Genesis 17:17
New Catholic Bible
17 Abraham bowed down to the earth and laughed[a] when he thought, “Shall a man who is one hundred years old have a son? And Sarah, who is ninety years old, can she give birth?”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 17:17 Abraham . . . laughed: here, in the Priestly tradition, Abraham prostrates himself in adoration and laughs, not out of disbelief (since he is performing an act of worship) but out of amazement at such a paradoxical announcement: the whole idea is too much for him to dare hope for it, and he declares himself satisfied if Ishmael, his son, can inherit the divine promises.
