An Example of the Power of Faith: Sarah, the Subject of Hebrews 11:11 Christine Mary Cos
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An Example of the Power of Faith: Sarah, the Subject of Hebrews 11:11 Christine Mary Cos And by faith, Sarah, herself, a barren [woman], received power faith in the book of Genesis. Sarah is characterized either by her for the purpose of depositing sperm [by Abraham], even though “barrenness” (15:2, 16:1), by her animosity toward Hagar (16:6, [at] a time of mature age, since she considered faithful the one 21:10),r o her laughter (18:12, 21:6). Yet, Sarah is mentioned as a who promised.1 —Hebrews 11:11 modelf o faith in Hebrews 11:11.5 The following meta-analysis will examine the gamut of interpretations of this verse in Hebrews in Introduction order to identify the one that best fits with the biblical text. This past week, I learned that my friend Juliana gave birth to her Interpretive challenges first child, a beautiful son, whom she and her husband named Filip. She had not broadcast her pregnancy (even I did not know Each key figure in the book of Hebrews is introduced by the about it), but for good reason, I think: She did not want to get her prominently positioned phrase “by faith” (pistei).e Th form in hopes too high. Her first child had died in uterus, strangled by Greek, known as a dative of agency, emphasizes faithful actions.6 the umbilical cord. Chapters 11 and 12, taken together, tell the story of faith “from Several years previously, a young Korean woman in our creation (11:3) to new creation (12:28), from covenant (11:8–29), to church had miscarried her first child. The sadness in her eyes new covenant (12:24).”7 Interestingly, many of those mentioned made my heart break when she told me the news. woulde b covenant mediators, just like Jesus.8 e fTh faith o these Thinkingf o my own mother’s reproductive challenges, I individuals would center on the fact that the creator God, intro- choseo t tell my mother’s story to each of these hurting women, duced in verse 3, is also the covenant God. stressing the unassailable fact that I, my mother’s firstborn child, Accordingo t many commonly used Bible translations, such as was living proof of God’s mercy and my mother’s willingness to the New American Standard Bible, English Standard Bible, and trust despite her despair. New Jerusalem Bible, to name a few, the inclusion of Sarah in He- As I reflect on Genesis 3:16, “I will make your pains in child- brews 11:11, along with Rahab in 11:31, seems obvious, though there bearing very severe,”2 I realize that barrenness, miscarriage, and are other women of faith whom some of us might like to include, stillbirths are part of that curse; the ability to be “fruitful and had the Holy Spirit given us the chance to amend the author’s list! multiply” would be hindered for both genders and on many lev- However, there is a longstanding debate over who is the actual els.e Th same adjective in the Hebrew text describes the woman’s subjectf o Hebrews 11:11: Sarah or Abraham. Notable translations childbearing (3:16) and the man’s ability to produce and provide suchs a the New International Version, New Revised Standard food (3:17) as “anxious toil” (‘itsevon).3 Version, and New American Bible all translate Hebrews 11:11 with Throughout the book of Genesis, the covenant theme, which Abrahams a the subject, mentioning Sarah parenthetically.9 runs throughout the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob narratives, con- Scholars and translators opposed to Sarah as the subject of tainsn a element of endangerment in the form of barren wives, Hebrews 11:11 primarily argue for Abraham as the subject, based where the principal wife of each of the three patriarchs is child- upon the specific use of the term katabolē sperma (depositing less for the majority of their marriage. This motif provides an op- seed/sperm). This is a technical term for begetting children and portunityo t demonstrate God’s sovereign ability to fulfill his cov- the masculine role in procreation, which corresponds to the femi- enant promise of children or descendents, namely, “seed” (zera‘). nine role hypodochē, or reception.10 Both classical and Hellenistic In addition, it creates an element of suspense as the reader eager- sources attest to the use of this idiomatic phrase.11 Other scholars, ly awaits the birth of the next recipient of the covenant promise.4 suchs. a J Harold Greenlee, Pieter van der Horst, James Thomp- In Genesis 17:17 and 18:12, both Abraham and Sarah, respec- son, and Eileen Vennum, argue for Sarah as the subject, seeing the tively, received the promise of a son, not with sobriety of faith, passages a redeeming her reputation as a model of faith.12 but with laughter. However, while Scripture mentions Abraham’s Victor Hamilton, in his commentary on Genesis, acknowl- faith specifically in 15:6, nowhere do we see Sarah associated with edges that the Lord rebukes Sarah for her laughter, but never challenges Abraham for his laughter and doubt.13 Hermann CHRISTINE MARY COS teaches and preaches at Gunkel asserts that Sarah thinks that the men (the three visitors) the First Baptist Church of Medfield, Massachu- are joking, and they subsequently become angry.14 . eF F Bruce r - setts, and is a licensed minister with the Conser- ferso t Sarah’s “bad reputation” of faith, noting that “Chrysostom vative Congregational Christian Conference. She indeed, in dealing with this difficulty, suggests that her subse- holds MAOT and M.Div. degrees from Gordon- quent denial of her laughter was ‘by faith,’ but of course it was Conwell Theological Seminary and has served as nothingf o the kind. .”15 Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown charac- Minister of Education at Pilgrim Church in Bev- terize Sarah’s laughter as a “silent sneer.”16 erly, Massachusetts. 16 • Priscilla Papers ◆ Vol. 25, No. 1 ◆ Winter 2011 Evaluation of arguments glossd (adde later by a scribe when copying the epistle), though there is no manuscript evidence to support this position.24 So, s who i the intended subject of the verb elaben (he/shee r - Accordingo t M. Black, autē Sarah steira s i a Hebraic circum- ceived) in Hebrews 11:11? After evaluating the various arguments stantialr o concessive clause, subordinate to the principal clause pro and con, I believe that J. H. Greenlee offers up the best solu- of which Abraham is the subject.25 Subsequently, this phrase is tion given the existing textual evidence and its grammatical and translated parenthetically by the NIV and NRSV, as “[b]y faith, idiomatic limitations.17 [Abraham] even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was Greenlee’s highly nuanced argument best explains the gram- barren—was enabled to become a father. .” While this argu- marf o Hebrews 11:11. In his analysis, Sarah is the subject of the ment does overcome the difficult problem of autē Sarah steira verb elaben ([she] received power); the subject of the action of being in the nominative case (typically used for the subject of a depositing seed is not stated. Greenlee explains that most com- sentence),. J Thompson argues that the highly stylized Greek of mentaries assume that the “laying down of seed” is done by the the author does not lend itself to this kind of expression.26 subjectf o the verb. However, this is only logical when translated B. Metzger argues that autē Sarah steira eshould b taken as a withn a infinitive (as do all the translations that take Sarah as the dativef o accompaniment or association (autei Sarah steirai) based subject, e.g., the New Living Translation’s “Sarah was able to have upon the United Bible Society committee’s consensus that the iota a child”).18 n .I fact, B Gildersleeve cites numerous examples from subscripta ( tiny, shorthand form of the letter iota) was omitted classical Greek literature where a subject may be omitted, even inn a uncial script (one written in all capitals).27 This would result though there is a sudden change of subjects.19 in the translation “[b]y faith, he [Abraham], together with bar- The main verb, elaben (she received), is in the aorist indica- ren Sarah, received power. .” The 1996 New Living Translation tive, indicating summarized past action, similar to a photograph- takes this reading, highlighting their equivalent roles in their act ic snapshot.20 n I other words, all of the events that took place of faith, adding “Sarah together with Abraham. .” In addition leadingpo u t Sarah’s conception of Isaac are summarized in this to the fact that uncials did not include iota subscripts, indicating one verb. the dative singular, until the seventh century a.d., t a present there Since katabolē (depositing) is a noun and not a verb, “the areo n significant uncial manuscripts of any date that support this references i a general one, focusing on the action, not the actor. conclusion.28 . Further, J Thompson highlights the fact that the The implied actor of ‘laying down seed’ can therefore be either early church fathers, despite the obvious lexical difficulties of this Abrahamr o Sarah even though the subject of ‘received ability’ passage, never acknowledged nor proposed the datival reading.29 is Sarah.”21 n I addition, Greenlee argues for the implied sense Lastly,. W Lane also acknowledged that autē Sarah steira of purpose or result for the preposition eis (for the purpose of), coulde b taken as a dative of advantage, rendering this transla- which is recognized by many standard Greek grammars.22 tion: sy “It i b faith, to the benefit of Sarah herself, that he [Abra- As a result, the testimony of Sarah’s faith, along with Abra- ham] received power.