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b-hebrew - Re: LAUGHTER = sahaq = disbelief or sense of incongruity?

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  • From: "George Athas" <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>
  • To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: LAUGHTER = sahaq = disbelief or sense of incongruity?
  • Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 10:49:07 +1100


> It has been said (has it not?) that Sarah laughed partly from disbelief and
> partly from joy. Are there no verses that indicate laughter that springs
> from doubt? We should check into that.

I think the point of the narrative is that Sarah laughs mockingly. Her own
comments show
that she is being derisive to the messenger and his words. The messenger's
response is
somewhat irrate, showing that Sarah was implying that it was very difficult,
if not
impossible, for her to fall pregnant. There is a definite mockery in her
tone, which
eventually comes out in Gen 21:6 where Sarah exclaims, "God has made me a
mockery, and
everyone who hears it will mock me." This isn't a bad comment -- the
connotation is more
of joking. That is, God has "played a joke" on Sarah by giving her a son, and
now everyone
will joke about Sarah the old woman with a baby. This also comes up in the
name of the
baby, YCXQ ("Isaac").

Best regards,
George Athas
Dept of Semitic Studies,
University of Sydney
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