"OH YES, YOU DID LAUGH," Gen. 18:15 (NRSV). came the retort. Out of fear, Sarah had denied having laughed at God's statement that she, a woman of 90, would soon bear a child. But now she knew that God had found her out.
The book of Genesis tells the story of Sarah, a woman who, through her fulfillment of God's promise, became the matriarch of Israel. And it seems evident that Sarah gained her matriarchal status without the help of—and sometimes in spite of—the efforts of other people. She gained it exclusively through her relationship with God.
From the beginning, the Biblical writer seems more concerned with the spiritual implications of Sarah's life than with the mundane details. Indeed, in a tradition that valued ancestral lines, nothing about her lineage is mentioned. Virtually all that's said about Sarah's background are a couple of tidbits: For most of her life, her name was Sarai; and, she was unable to bear children.
