Genesis18:14-15: “Is anything too hard for the Lord…Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.”
When God told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a child at the age of ninety, she laughed. The word used here in the Hebrew for laugh is sachaq. Lexicographers have debated the nature of this word to determine what type of laughter Sarah had. Was it mockery? Was it just the idea of a ninety year old woman having a child that struck Sarah’s funny bone? Was it laughter of unbelief?
God’s response that nothing is too hard suggest that it was laughter of unbelief and possibly mockery. Yet the word hard is pala’ which really means something wonderful or marvelous. It is in a niphal form. As a niphal it would more correctly be rendered as; “ A wonderful thing from the Lord.” Note that the word thing is devar which in its Semitic root has the idea of an expression of the heart. Thus, another rendering of this passage would be, “This is something wonderful coming from the heart of God.”
You see, what makes the syntax so difficult here is the fact that there is no verb in this sentence. You can have a sentence without a verb in Hebrew but you can’t do it in English. So we have to make up our own verb which the translators did by using the verb is. I am not certain that the sentence really needs to be interrogative or in the form of a question, but let’s just keep it that way. What I do find disturbing is that the preposition from in front of God’s name is completely ignored.
I would suggest an appropriate rendering to be: “Is anything that comes from the heart of God too wonderful or marvelous? As the interrogative is uncertain, we could also render this as: “There is nothing more wonderful than an expression of the heart from God.”
Now let’s look at that word laughter which is sachaq. It is spelled Sade, Chet, and Quf. The Sade shows humility and submission to God. The Chet shows a joining with God and the Quf represents a new beginning with God. The Sade and Chet would suggest that Sarah was laughing with God not at God. The word here would suggest that this laughter springs from the joy of the Lord. That God Himself was laughing. Perhaps her fear at admitting that she was laughing was the fear that her laughter was out of context or inappropriate when she overhead God tell Abraham she would have a child. It was sort of like that old Mary Tyler Moore TV episode where Chuckles the Clown was killed in a parade by being stepped on by an elephant. When it was explained that he was dressed as a peanut, everyone broke out laughing and then felt guilty because the laughter did not seem appropriate.
I think the reason she was fearful, however, was that she broke protocol. You see Sarah was not a part of the conversation and in oriental culture she should not have been listening to the conversation of the two men. When God pointed out her laughter she denied it. If she did not deny it would be admitting to breaking protocol, a violation of a cultural standard, but God was and is above all cultural standards so what may seem inappropriate in one’s culture may be alright from God’s standpoint. I remember one time I was teaching a Hebrew class in the basement of an inner city church. Suddenly from the sanctuary I hear joyful singing, handclapping and feet shuffling as if there was dancing. I asked one of the pastors who was in my class what was going on and he said it was a funeral. Now in my cultural background you did not singing joyful songs, clap your hands or dance as that was inappropriate, you were supposed to be sad and quiet. But to these people someone had just entered into the presence of God and it was a time of joyful expression.
I think God was reminding Sarah that He had given her a word, a promise. Perhaps God was encouraging Sarah to laugh, to continue to laugh with the joy of His wonderful promise. Is anything more wonder than a promise or Word from God? “Nay, thou did laugh” could also be rendered as: “No, just keep laughing.” Maybe this passage is suggesting such a thing as holy laughter. Laughter which comes from God but to our minds or our cultural norms it seems inappropriate for the moment. Yet God does not live in a Western or Eastern culture, He is not subject to any culture. So He may just laugh at what to us seems an inappropriate moment. If we happen to enter God’s heart at that moment we discover ourselves also laughing at such an inappropriate moment.
It is curious that God said to name the child Isaac. You see Isaac is the same word as sachaq (laughter) and literally means he will laugh. The only difference in this word is the Yod that is placed in front of it. The Yod represents a message from heaven. In other words this message from heaven brings laughter. Perhaps God told Abraham and Sarah to name the child laughter with a Yod to describe this heavenly holy laughter. In other words, God has a sense of humor and sometimes when you enter God’s heart He is laughing. We are, after all, made in His image and laughter is a part of that image. I believe the name Isaac was more than just a memorial to that moment of revelation, it was a reminder that God wanted to share His joy with Abraham and Sarah.
That use of the word davar suggest that Sarah entered God’s heart at that moment and began to laugh. Not realizing that God was laughing and that she was really laughing with God she realized her cultural indiscretion and stopped laughing and felt embarrassed. But God said, “Hey forget your petty cultural norms, come on laugh it up with me.”
In my journey to discover God’s heart I have learned that when you enter God’s heart you begin to mimic what God is feeling. If he is weeping you weep, if he is dancing you dance and if He is laughing you laugh, even if it seems inappropriate or culturally wrong in your mind, God is saying, “It’s ok, I want you to share with me what I am feeling.” When you love someone you want to share you most emotional times with that person whether it be joy or sorrow.
You see what was inappropriate was not Sarah laughing but that she stopped laughing.
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