וַתִּצְחַ֥ק שָׂרָ֖ה בְּקִרְבָּ֣הּ לֵאמֹ֑ר אַחֲרֵ֤י בְלֹתִי֙ הָֽיְתָה־לִּ֣י עֶדְנָ֔ה וַֽאדֹנִ֖י זָקֵֽן׃
And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “Now that I’ve lost the ability, am I to have enjoyment—with my husband so old?”
(The above rendering—and footnote—come from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for the alternative rendering in the footnote, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew text.)
The Hebrew word in question (which is, grammatically speaking, an infinitive) is obscure. Sarah’s laconic language is best construed as elliptical—as the infinitive so often is. In context, she seems to be alluding to a particular loss of function (namely, the ability to become pregnant and carry a child to term), rather than her overall state. The relevant condition of loss seems to be the infertility brought by menopause, which she has long since come to terms with.
Alternatively, others have suggested that Sarah is referring to her emotional state: she has long since given up hope of becoming a mother.
Older scholarship reflected what Prof. Carol Meyers—the consultant for Genesis while I prepared the CJPS translation—called “a stereotyped notion of dried out post-menopausal women” (pers. comm. 6/5/07).
- At 18:11 Kimḥi explained that menstruation ceases because in old age the body “dries out.”
- In the JPS Torah Commentary series, Nahum Sarna explained here that the apparently counterposed term עֶדְנָה “is now known to mean ‘abundant moisture’ and is an exact antonym of ‘withered.’”
- The HALOT lexicon says that the basic sense of the Hebrew verb in this stem is “used up, worn out”; this is the only instance where it is applied to a person.
Although ‘withered’ may well be the antonym of what עֶדְנָה means in general, that does not necessarily mean that בְלֹתִי in this context is such an antonym. And despite the apparent meaning of the verbal root, the literal meaning of Sarah’s having become impaired by use or by wear would in this case mean that she has birthed too many children. Of course, that meaning does not fit Sarah’s situation at all.
As for rendering into English, the NJPS ‘I am withered’ seems to reflect the outmoded scholarly view mentioned above. In contrast, the revised rendering allows for both of the more recent interpretations.