Ari Lamm

Wait, I hear you say, the answer's obvious! You know why God, in Genesis 18, gets upset when Sarah laughs at the news that she'd miraculously give birth? Because her laughter was totally inappropriate—it signaled disbelief. She should have just gravely said thank you, right? 2

Okay, but here's the problem. Flip back literally one page in your Bible—to Genesis 17. This is where God first reveals to Abraham that he's going to grant him a child with Sarah. Remember how Abraham reacts to that news? "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed" (17:17). 3

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Wait, wait, the Bible must use different Hebrew words for those two reactions, right?" Nope. Literally exactly the same word. So why does God get upset when *Sarah* laughs, but when *Abraham* laughs, God seems totally cool with it?! 4

In order to answer this question, we'll first need to define exactly what the verb "laugh" means in the Bible. Is it derisive, dismissive? Does it reflect a lack of faith? And in order to answer *that* question...we'll need to learn some Hebrew together! (YAAAAYYYY!!!) 5

Okay so the Hebrew word for “laugh” comes from the EXTREMELY rare three letter root tz-ch-k. It only appears 15 times in the entire Bible. Thirteen are verbs like ours—and the overwhelming majority are actually clustered in the Abraham narrative! Now here's the thing... 6

Biblical Hebrew verbs mean different things depending on how you conjugate them. I know that sounds SUPER boring so just remember this: The Bible has two forms of tz-ch-k verbs: “tzachak” (the “simple” form) and “tzichak” (the “intensive” form). That's all you need to know! 7

Okay, so let’s start with the intensive form, "tzichak". A good example is from the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife: "She called to her household and said to them: See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us!" (Gen 39:14) The word for "insult"? Tzichak! 8

Or consider the case of Samson after he was captured by the Philistines: "They called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them" (Judges 16:25). The word translated as "performed" is also that exact same intensive form of "laugh"! 9

Ditto for Abimelech finding out Isaac and Rebecca are actually husband and wife! "Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife" (Gen 26:8). "Sporting"? Yeah, that's just the intensive "tzichak"! 10

So in sum: the basic meaning of the intensive form (tzichak) is something like: “to jest”. It has connotations of clownishness—sometimes intimate (eg Isaac and Rebecca); sometimes humiliating (eg Samson); and sometimes mocking (eg Joseph). ...Okay, so problem solved, right? 11

Sarah's laughter was derisive—a jesting response to God’s promise of a child. Her laughter signaled disbelief. That's why God gets mad. Only one problem. ...The Bible does NOT use the intensive form to describe her laugh. It uses the simple form: "tzachak"! 12

Wait, so what does the simple form, “tzachak”, mean?! Well, here’s where all the translations go haywire. They all just assume it means the same thing as the intensive form: “to jest”. But...there’s no evidence for this whatsoever! 13

In fact, in the *entire Bible*, the simple form is only ever used...by or about Abraham and Sarah! So if we want to know what the simple form means...we kinda need Abraham and Sarah *themselves* to tell us! Fortunately we do have one good hint: Abraham in Genesis 17! 14

Gen 17 is so helpful because it's actually super straightforward! God tells Abraham that He's granting him and Sarah a son, and Abraham responds by laughing. The fact that God doesn't chastise Abraham suggests not only that laughter is okay...it's actually the right response! 18

Think about it. God just gave Abraham incredibly good news. So he reacts by celebrating joyously! The simple form "tzachak" just means...laughing happily! But then aren't we back to square one? Why is God angry at Sarah if she reacted positively—*exactly* like Abraham?! 19

To answer our question, we actually need to understand precisely what God is doing in Genesis 17 when He first tells Abraham that he'll have a child with Sarah. Because if you recall, that's actually NOT the only thing God tells Abraham. Remember what else He tells him?... 20

"As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her and also give you a son by her. I will bless her and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her" (17:15-16). God blesses Sarah and changes her name! 21

What does this mean, and why is it so important? Well, the meaning of the name-change and blessing is easy to figure out...because God does the same thing for Abraham a few verses earlier. And He makes the significance crystal clear: "This is my covenant with you" (17:4). 22

So God makes clear His covenant is with both Abraham AND Sarah. They're equal partners in it, which is why both get new names and a blessing! Why does God go out of His way to do this? Because so far, in Genesis, this has actually been what Abraham struggles with the most. 23

From the very outset, Abraham understood God's covenant to be specifically with him. So for example when God says "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing" (Gen 12:2), Abraham sees the "you" as himself. 24

And look, you can understand why! Every great civilizational work prior to the Bible (and most after) featured a hero at its center. I mean, think about the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Epic of Gilgamesh. And later on think of Beowulf, Arjuna, King Arthur... 25

The Bible is the first tradition to come along and reject the idea of the classical hero. The Bible has no Hercules, no Aeneas. The closest thing it has to characters like that are either deeply ambiguous (Samson, Jephthah) or outright villains (Goliath). 26

But all the way back in Gen 12, when Abraham first encounters God? None of this was clear yet! So Abraham, very naturally, falls into the role of heroic main character. Everyone else is supporting cast. For example, what happens right after God blesses Abraham in Gen 12? 27

There's a famine in Canaan, so Abraham and Sarah go to Egypt to find food. Abraham is worried about his safety there, so what does he tell Sarah to do? "Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you and my life may be spared on your account" (12:13). 28

There are a bunch of ways to understand this episode—but the basic point is the same either way: right after God first speaks to Abraham the Bible immediately tells us about how when Abraham and Sarah find themselves in a perilous situation, Abraham focuses on his *own* fate. 29

Does this mean Abraham doesn't care about Sarah? God forbid! But the Bible wants us to see that he doesn't yet take Sarah seriously as his partner in the covenant with God. He doesn't yet see this as "The Abraham And Sarah Story". At this point, it's still "Abraham and Co." 30

Now, Abraham knows God's covenant will be with his descendants. So doesn't that mean he needs Sarah? Well, no. Because eventually Abraham has a son with Hagar, named Ishmael (Gen 16)...and Abraham just assumes the covenant will be passed to him, cutting out Sarah entirely! 31

How do I know this? "And Abraham said to God: O that Ishmael might live in your sight!" To which God has to respond: "No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant" (17:18-19). 32

God is telling Abraham: my covenant is not with you alone. It's not with the family you built apart from Sarah. It's with you AND Sarah. It's with the family and legacy you will build together. God's message to Abraham is: remember that Sarah is your covenantal partner! 33

Okay, so now we're ready to get back to Genesis 18. Why did God get angry at Sarah for laughing? Well...who says He did?! Think about it. Why does Abraham laugh in the previous chapter? It's not *just* because he's joyful. It's also because...he's surprised! 34