Genesis 21:5 kjv
And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Genesis 21:5 nkjv
Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Genesis 21:5 niv
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Genesis 21:5 esv
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Genesis 21:5 nlt
Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
Genesis 21 5 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 12:2-3 | "I will make of you a great nation... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." | God's initial promise of descendants. |
| Gen 15:4-6 | "...a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir." | God confirms a direct heir, faith credited. |
| Gen 17:1 | "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless." | God reveals Himself as all-powerful (El Shaddai) before specific promise. |
| Gen 17:15-19 | "...Sarah your wife will bear you a son... You shall call his name Isaac." | Isaac is specifically named and promised. |
| Gen 18:10-14 | "...about this time next year Sarah will have a son." | Specific timing of Isaac's birth predicted. |
| Gen 18:14 | "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" | Rhetorical question about God's limitless power. |
| Gen 21:1-2 | "The LORD visited Sarah as He had said... at the set time." | Immediate fulfillment of God's word. |
| Gen 21:6 | "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." | Sarah's joy, the meaning of Isaac's name. |
| Num 23:19 | "God is not a man, that He should lie... Has He spoken, and will He not do it?" | God's unchangeable character and reliability. |
| Deut 7:9 | "...He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy." | Description of God's faithful nature. |
| 1 Sam 15:29 | "The Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind." | God's truthfulness and steadfastness. |
| Ps 33:11 | "The counsel of the LORD stands forever." | God's purposes and plans are eternal. |
| Ps 105:8 | "He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded..." | God's everlasting memory of His promises. |
| Ps 126:1-3 | "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouting for joy..." | Joy and laughter from divine intervention. |
| Isa 55:10-11 | "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth... it shall accomplish what I please." | Power and efficacy of God's word. |
| Jer 32:27 | "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?" | God's omnipotence re-affirmed. |
| Matt 1:2 | "Abraham was the father of Isaac." | Isaac's position in the lineage of Christ. |
| Acts 7:8 | "Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac..." | God initiating the covenant through Abraham and Isaac. |
| Rom 4:17 | "...God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist into being..." | God's power over life and creation. |
| Rom 4:18-21 | "Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed... being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." | Abraham's faith in God's power despite physical limitations. |
| Heb 11:11-12 | "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed... she judged Him faithful who had promised." | Sarah's faith and God's faithfulness, despite "deadness." |
| Gal 3:16 | "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ." | Isaac is the specific 'seed' through whom Christ comes. |
| Luke 1:37 | "For with God nothing will be impossible." | Universal principle of God's limitless power. |
| Zech 4:6 | "'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts." | Divine accomplishment through divine power, not human effort. |
Genesis 21 verses
Genesis 21 5 Meaning
Genesis 21:5 states with precise chronology that Abraham was exactly one hundred years old when his long-promised son, Isaac, was born. This verse highlights the miraculous nature of Isaac's birth, emphasizing that it occurred through divine power, as Abraham and Sarah were well past their childbearing years. It marks the undeniable fulfillment of God's covenant promise to Abraham, validating God's faithfulness and ability to act outside of natural human limitations.
Genesis 21 5 Context
Genesis chapter 21 immediately follows a pivotal moment in Abraham's life: the covenant of circumcision and the promise of a son through Sarah, along with divine assurances and hospitality given by Abraham to the Lord. Isaac's birth (Gen 21:1-3) marks the triumphant climax of decades of waiting for the promised heir. The larger narrative context is the ongoing fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham, which began nearly 25 years earlier in Ur. Historically, Abraham lived in an ancient Near Eastern world where fertility was highly valued, and divine blessing was often measured by the abundance of offspring. Isaac's birth at Abraham's incredibly advanced age would have dramatically showcased the singular power and faithfulness of the God of Israel, challenging any contemporary pagan beliefs in other gods of fertility or the power of human rituals to bring life. It explicitly confirms the covenant line established through Abraham and Sarah.
Genesis 21 5 Word analysis
- Abraham (אברהם,
ʾAvraham): This is Abraham's name, meaning "father of a multitude." His full identity and purpose are intrinsically linked to this covenant son. His very name prophesied what would now begin to be fulfilled. - was (היה,
hayah): A simple verb for being, indicating a direct statement of historical fact and certainty. It denotes the objective truth of the precise chronological point. - a hundred years old (בֶּן מֵאָה שָׁנָה,
ben mēʾah shanah): Literally "son of a hundred years." This idiomatic expression for age highlights the precise and extraordinary timing. The round number "100" emphasizes the human impossibility of conception at this stage, thus amplifying the divine nature of the birth. It underscored Abraham and Sarah's physical "deadness" for procreation. - when (בְּ,
bə): A preposition used here to signify "at the time of" or "upon the occasion of." It tightly links the miraculous birth to Abraham's age, demonstrating God's perfect timing and exact fulfillment of prophecy. - his son Isaac (יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ,
Yitsḥāq b'nô):- Isaac (יִצְחָק,
Yitsḥāq): Meaning "he laughs" or "laughter." This divinely ordained name reflects both the initial incredulity/disbelief laughter of Abraham and Sarah (Gen 17:17, 18:12) and the subsequent overwhelming joy and laughter now experienced at his birth (Gen 21:6). - his son: Explicitly affirms Isaac as Abraham's biological and rightful heir through Sarah, establishing the true line of the promised seed, distinguishing him from Ishmael.
- Isaac (יִצְחָק,
- was born to him (בְּהִוָּלֶד לוֹ,
bəhīwālēd lô): A passive infinitive construction, literally "in his being born to him." The passive voice strongly implies that the birth was an act initiated and performed by God, not by human procreative ability. It was a gift divinely delivered "to him."
Words-group analysis:
- "Abraham was a hundred years old when...": This phrase immediately sets the context of the miraculous. It frames the entire event not as a natural occurrence but as a profound divine intervention, occurring at an age where human biology fails. This emphasizes God's sovereign power over time and natural processes.
- "...his son Isaac was born to him": This phrase emphasizes the precise identity of the long-awaited child, Isaac, the promised son. The phrasing stresses that he was born "to him," solidifying his direct link to Abraham and establishing the authentic lineage for the covenant promises, reinforcing God's faithfulness to His specific word given to Abraham.
Genesis 21 5 Bonus section
The specific mention of Abraham's age as one hundred years old for Isaac's birth highlights a theological "point of maximum human impossibility," a pattern seen throughout Scripture where God chooses weak vessels or impossible situations to magnify His own glory. This historical fact, preserved meticulously in the biblical record, serves as crucial evidence of divine supernatural activity, underpinning the validity of the covenant with Abraham. It demonstrates that the continuity of God's chosen people rests solely on His creative power and faithfulness, not on the strength or efforts of humanity. This not only provided an immediate affirmation for Abraham's faith but also established a fundamental precedent for the nature of divine revelation and the means by which God accomplishes His redemptive purposes—often against all odds, emphasizing His grace and sovereignty.
Genesis 21 5 Commentary
Genesis 21:5 stands as a powerful declaration of God's unwavering faithfulness and omnipotent power. After decades of anticipation and numerous reconfirmations of the promise, God's word is definitively fulfilled at the exact time He foretold (Gen 21:2). The precision of Abraham's age at 100 serves not merely as a historical detail, but as a theological cornerstone. It eliminates any possibility that Isaac's birth was due to human capacity, fully attributing the miracle to divine intervention. This truth dismantles any notion of reliance on human strength or external fertility rituals, which were common in Abraham's era, pointing solely to the Creator God as the ultimate giver of life. Isaac, aptly named "Laughter," transforms initial human incredulity into profound, covenantal joy. This verse anchors the future narrative in God's absolute reliability and His ability to bring life from 'deadness,' a principle that profoundly resonates throughout salvation history, pointing to God's ultimate work in Christ. It reminds us that God operates on His own timeline, often defying human expectations, and His promises are always certain.