David (turn on your parody detectors) and Suzanne can’t agree. They’re just having some fun, but I thought I’d take the opportunity for a little shameless self-promotion by quoting from my own work on this topic (the original text contained transliterations, per the request of the series editor, but here I take the liberty of restoring the Hebrew characters). The context is a discussion of Genesis 21:9, which reads:
וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת־בֶּן־הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית אֲשֶׁר־יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָם מְצַחֵק
Upon Isaac’s birth, Sarah had said (v. 6), “God has made צְחֹק לִי; everyone who hears יִצְחַק־לִי.” The basic sense of the verb צָחַק is “to laugh.” Interpreters customiarily take the initial צְחֹק (cast in a rare participial form) to refer to Sarah’s own laughter expressing her joy upon giving birth to a son (Gunkel:225; Skinner:321; Speiser:155; von Rad:231; Wenham, 1994:81; Westermann:334). “Everyone who hears [of this] יִצְחַק־לִי is accordingly taken to be an expression of shared joy, with the final words being rendered “laugh with me” (Skinner:321; Speiser:155; Wenham, 1994:81; Westerman:334; ASV, JPSV, KJV, NEB, NIV, NJB, NRSV). Yet v. 6b may also refer to “the laughter and talk that will now take place among the neighbors” (von Rad:231; cf. Alter, 1996:97; Coats, 1983:153; Gunkel:225; Hamilton, 1994:74). On this reading, Sarah is not enthusiastically anticipating the reaction of those who will laugh with her, but rather anticipating her embarrassment when the news gets around and others laugh at her. This reading of the laughter in v. 6b, however, re-opens the question of the laughter in v. 6a. In its only other biblical occurrence (Ezek 23:32), [the participial form] צְחֹק clearly takes the sense “object of ridicule.” If Sarah has this sense in mind in v. 6a, she may be anticipating that her bearing of a child will turn her into a laughingstock. Thus Hamliton’s translation of 21:6: “God has make a joke of me; whoever hears will laugh at me” (1994:72, 74). If so, the simple sight of Ishmael laughing may be enough to arouse her anger (even if she does not name Ishmael’s activity מְצַחֵק and then connect that with her son Isaac’s name). She may project her own feelings of embarrassment onto Ishmael, and imagine that he is laughing at her. (Dynamics of Diselection [SBL, 2001], p. 85)
If the “big names” of Genesis commentary in the 20th century couldn’t agree on the sense, I guess you can’t expect unaninimty from a couple of bloggers. ;-)
ok, i have an off-the-wall kind of question.
what do you think of the use of לְצַחֶק in the story of potiphar’s wife, and מְצַחֵק with the story of isaac, rebeqah, and abimelech?
the first one clearly parallels it with with לִשְׁכַּב, in a sexual sense. i’ve heard some discussion that it could be a sexual euphemism, in some cases.
but i thinl your argument, pairing it with isaac’s name and sarah’s reasoning, makes a lot more sense to me in this verse.
Thanks for some insight on this passage (and for getting the joke!) The Sarah paragraph was something of an aside and I realized half way through writing the post that if I listed ever reference to laughter that the post would be too long. So nothing from Job, Proverbs, etc.
Of course, there is a serious point behind the laughter. Is God funny/fun? Or do we just project ourselves onto him? More on that later this week I hope.
Yes, Lingamish, God has a sense of humor. Proof positive can be found in Joshua 13:1:
So there!
Hi Chris,
So Nicholas is about to turn 4. My Anna turned 4 a while back and today in church we presented Bibles to K-4 and 3rd graders. It was fun before bed to read through the summary of Genesis 1 and begin Genesis 2 with Anna in the Bible she was given (Read with Me Bible -An NIrV Story Bible for Children). She has dedicated Sunday school teachers, and it’s fun to see what she is learning.
She said flat out with great conviction that “God doesn’t make bad things.” I thought that was a nice summary of Gen 1. Since I like to ask hard questions (especially ones that stump me), I pointed to the tree with the snake in it, and asked her, “What about the tree?” “It’s bad,” she said. “What’s bad about it?” “The apples.”
I’m off subject, aren’t I? I guess I think the traditional interpretation of 21:6-7 is correct. I would translate, “A source of laughter [Isaac] God made for me. All who hear will smile on my account… Who would have cackled to Avraham: Sarah has suckled children?”
This subunit hangs together nicely in my view. The chief verb in question occurs in a positive sense elsewhere. Cf. in particular Job 29:24; Qoh 3:4.
I think the sense is positive in 21:9 as well. Sarah finds the sight of Ishmael laughing/playing disturbing. The positivity of Ishmael, his Isaac-ness if you wish (so Alter), diminishes her source of laughter, the one she named Isaac. So he, Isaac, must go.
I realize ‘laugh’ is used previously with Sarah as subject in a negative sense (skepticism), but I think the story marks the narrative pivot of the whole by using the verb now in a positive sense.
P. S.
I’m taking צחק and שחק as virtually interchangeable, a dangerous thing to do, but one that holds up if usage patterns are compared, and if it is remembered that the name Isaac is itself spelled both ways.
P. S. S.
It should read above: So he, the ersatz-Isaac, must go.
Come on, Chris. You’re just making fun of me. The joke’s on me. What’s so funny about Jos. 13:1?
Read it out loud, David. It doesn’t strike you as a bit funny? “Presenting God, Master of the Obvious …”
OK, that’s kinda funny…
[...] laughter. I expected to be quickly proven wrong. Instead, no one contradicted me. In fact, when a published Biblical scholar wanted to show me something funny from the Bible this was the best he could do: Now Joshua was old [...]