But Sarai was barren; she [had] no child.
See Gen 16:1-2; 18:11-12.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But Sarai was barren; she had no child. Aben Ezra observes, there are some that say that Abraham was impotent, and not Sarai barren; the very reverse of the Scriptures; but as he rightly adds, his son Ishmael and his sons by Keturah show the contrary, see
Ge 15:2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
30. But Sarai was barren. Not only does he say that Abram was without children, but he states the reasons namely, the sterility of his wife; in order to show that it was by nothing short of an extraordinary miracle that she afterwards bare Isaac, as we shall declare more fully in its proper place. Thus was God pleased to humble his servant; and we cannot doubt that Abram would suffer severe pain through this privation. He sees the wicked springing up everywhere, in great numbers, to cover the earth; he alone is deprived of children. And although hitherto he was ignorant of his own future vocation; yet God designed in his person, as in a mirror, to make it evident, whence and in what manner his Church should arise; for at that time it lay hid, as in a dry root under the earth.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
‘And Sarai was barren. She had no child.’
The matter is stated quite starkly to explain why no information is given as to Abram’s seed. Abram and Sarai stood out from the others in that they had no children, which in those days was a matter of great grief and shame. It also caused problems in the matter of inheritance (15:3). It is quite possible that this was seen by his family as being the result of Abram not worshipping the family gods. But the writer clearly has future events in mind. The starkness here brings out the wonderful joy when this is at last remedied.
Gen 11:31
‘And Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan. And they came to Haran and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years. And Terah died in Haran.’
The repetition of detail is typical of ancient narrative. The description of Sarai is interesting. Not Terah’s daughter but his daughter-in-law. She was childless! How deeply this was felt. Not even her outstanding beauty could make up for that. Alternatively it may stress her status, not just a daughter but the wife of Abram. Haran is well attested to as an ancient city existing well before this time and being on a regular trading route.
We do not know what caused Terah to determine to go to Canaan. Was it the constant urging of his son Abram who had received a divine command (Gen 12:1)? But when they arrived at Haran Terah decided to stay. Perhaps it was too nice a place to leave, or perhaps it resulted from his zeal for the moon god. So he exercised his authority as ‘prince’ of the family. Thus they settled down there and made it their home to such an extent that it was later looked on as their motherland (Gen 24:4; Gen 29:4).
We are not told at this stage what Nahor did, but certainly later he is found at Haran. The writer is not concerned with the motives and doings of Terah and Nahor. His thoughts are centred on Abram. For the covenant around which the document is written (Gen 12:1-3), which is the reason for the writing of the record, is with Abram.
“And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years. And Terah died in Haran”. Such is the detail of Terah’s life. He bore children and he died. He never reached Canaan, never even realised what he was missing, – to be a part in the greatest adventure of all time, the beginning of the long history of salvation, and to miss out. How easy it is to fail to recognise our opportunity! But the days in Haran were beneficial to Abram for he established his independence and built up his own family tribe and wealth (Gen 12:5). When it seems to us that God’s plans for us have come to a stop we must take the opportunities that are on our doorstep.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she [had] no child.
Ver. 30. But Sarai was barren. ] Till she had prayed for a child thirty years, and then she had him with abundance of joy. At first she believed not the promise, but laughed at the unlikelihood, and was checked for it. But when she had better bethought herself, “through faith she received strength to conceive seed, because she judged him faithful who had promised”. Heb 11:11 She was (when past age) delivered of a child; who was not more the child of her flesh, than of her faith. Whether she were that Iscah spoken of in the verse next aforegoing, the doctors are divided. Some say that Iscah, in Chaldee, signifieth the same that Sarai in Hebrew. Others more probably make Sarai another woman, and the daughter not of Haran, but of Terah: how else could Abram say of her, that she was the daughter of his father, but not of his mother? Gen 20:12 a
a Ea quae clavum administrationis tenet .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
barren: Gen 15:2, Gen 15:3, Gen 16:1, Gen 16:2, Gen 18:11, Gen 18:12, Gen 21:1, Gen 21:2, Gen 25:21, Gen 29:31, Gen 30:1, Gen 30:2, Jdg 13:2, 1Sa 1:2, Psa 113:9, Luk 1:7, Luk 1:36
Reciprocal: Gen 24:36 – Sarah