Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

Sarah laughed and God didn''t tell the whole truth
Genesis 18:12

"Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'" (Genesis 18:12)

It has been said that the family of Abraham were full of laughter, for Abraham laughs aloud and says in his heart "shall a man of 100 and Sarah at 90 conceive a child?" (Genesis 17:17); Sarah in this incident laughs, but inwardly, and doubts in her heart that she should have אֶדְנָה ‘edhenâh "pleasure" (Strong's #5730, from the same root as the word Eden) at her ripe age. To finish off the irony of Abraham’s astonished laughter and Sarah’s doubting laughter, Sarah names the eventual child Isaac, literally "he will laugh", for "God has made me laugh" (Genesis 21:3,6).

Complete honesty is not always the best policy, even with God, for upon hearing the unspoken thoughts of Sarah, God, instead of challenging Sarah, turns to Abraham and asks rhetorically of him "why did Sarah laugh?" (Genesis 18:13).

The interesting thing here is that Sarah commented on her own age quite coarsely as "all dried up/used up, worn out like a garment" (בָּלָה bâlâh, Strong's #1086; cf. the same verb in Job 13:28, "man decays like a rotten thing, a moth-eaten garment") implying that she was "well past it"! She also described Abraham as "old" using a particular form, known as the Hiphil, of the Hebrew verb זָקֵן zâqên (Strong's #2204), elsewhere used of an old tree stump (Job 14:8)!

God softens this in reporting back to Abraham; describing Sarah instead as the venerable tree stump and not mentioning her description of Abraham as said, "aged one". It seems, therefore, that even God permits inaccurate and condensed reporting of the truth for the sake of peace, especially marital harmony!

The Jewish Babylonian Talmud comments on this event:

It is written (Genesis 18:12), "Am I to have a child with my husband so old?" but it is also written, "And Adonai said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?'" (Genesis 18:13) The School of Ishmael taught: Peace is a precious thing, for even the Holy One made a variation for its sake. (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 87a)

At the Academy of Rabbi Yishmael it was taught: Great is the cause of peace, seeing that for its sake, even the Holy One, blessed be He, changed the truth, for at first it is written (Genesis 18:12), 'My lord [i.e., husband Abraham] is old, while afterward it is written (18:13), "And I am old." (Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth 65b)

Other Talmudic passages agree that one can lie for the sake of peace, even calling it a positive mitzvah 'commandment' or obligation to do so:

Rabbi Ille'a said in the name of Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon: It is permitted for a person to deviate from the truth in the interest of peace, as it says (Genesis 50:16-17): "Your father [Jacob] commanded before his death, saying: So shall you say to Joseph, 'O Please forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin for they have treated you so wickedly.'"

Rabbi Nathan said it is a commandment [to deviate from the truth in the interest of peace], as it says (I Samuel 16:2): "And Samuel said, 'How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.'" (Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth 65b)

The famous Jewish schools of Hillel and Shammai, contemporary with Jesus' day, argued over what praise to give a bride at her wedding, and should one be truthful if she were ugly. They agreed that she should be called "beautiful and graceful", but what if she is not, what if she is "blind and lame", should one lie to protect her feelings and the joy of the groom? The Talmud concluded that the Hillel School believed that when the lie preserves life, e.g., strengthening the bond between bride and groom, lying is acceptable:

The Rabbis taught: How does one dance before the bride [i.e., what does one say in praise of her]? The School of Shammai says: We praise the bride as she is. The School of Hillel says: We say that she is a beautiful and graceful bride. The School of Shammai said to the School of Hillel: If she was lame or blind, does one say about her that she is a beautiful and graceful bride? But the Torah said (Exodus 23:7): "Distance yourself from a false matter." The School of Hillel said to the School of Shammai: According to your opinion, if someone made an inferior purchase in the marketplace, should one praise it or deprecate it in his eyes. Surely, one should praise it. From here [the latter statement of the Hillel School] the Sages said: A person's disposition should always be pleasant with people. (Babylonian Talmud, Kethuboth 16b-17a)

So, Abraham laughs, Sarah laughs and lies, even God leaves a little out in his reporting of Sarah’s thoughts, but everyone has the last laugh for, in the words of Sarah, "all who hear [of the birth of Isaac "he will laugh"] will laugh with me" (Genesis 21:7)!

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