| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with two wayyiqtol verbs vattahar {וַתַּהַר֩ | vattāhār} ‘and she conceived’ and vatteled {וַתֵּ֨לֶד | vattēled} ‘and she bore’, typical of Hebrew narrative sequence. The verbs precede the subject Śārāh {שָׂרָ֧ה | Śārāh}, and the indirect object ləʾăvrāhām {לְאַבְרָהָ֛ם | ləʾăvrāhām} ‘to Abraham’ marks the beneficiary. The noun bēn {בֵּ֖ן | bēn} ‘son’ specifies the offspring. The phrase lizqūnāv {לִזְקֻנָ֑יו | lizqūnāv} ‘in his old age’ emphasizes Abraham’s advanced years, and lammōʿēd {לַמּוֹעֵ֕ד | lammōʿēd} ‘at the appointed time’ introduces a temporal fulfillment clause. The relative pronoun ʾăšer {אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾăšer} begins the clause that concludes with dibbēr {דִּבֶּ֥ר | dibbēr} ‘he spoke’, ʾōṯô {אֹת֖וֹ | ʾōṯô} ‘to him’, and ʾĕlōhîm {אֱלֹהִֽים׃ | ʾĕlōhîm} ‘God’, where the placement of God at the end underscores divine agency in the promise’s fulfillment. The translation preserves the Hebrew past narrative and the focus on the divinely spoken word now realized. |