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Genesis 17:16-18
New Catholic Bible
Genesis 17:16-18
New Catholic Bible
16 I will bless her and I will give you and her a son. I will bless her so that she shall become the mother of nations; kings of peoples shall descend from her.”
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?” 18 Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live in your presence!”
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- 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.
