By faith also Sarah herself received strength for [the] conception of seed, and [that] beyond a seasonable age; since she counted him faithful who promised.
この節の注解
The Setting
Hebrews 11:11 places Sarah in the great roll-call of faith, recording that "by faith Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." The verse is striking because Genesis records her laughter and unbelief — yet the Spirit of God here memorialises her faith.
God's Loving Record of Faith
The commentaries draw attention to the surprising grace of this verse — that Sarah, whose unbelief is so plain in Genesis, is here named among the heroes of faith. God notices and preserves what is real, however small.
VariousIn the personal histories which the Spirit has given of the elders in the Old Testament, we meet with many notices of blame... But God keeps a record of pure praise, where all that faith has wrought in Him is carefully preserved (1 Cor. 4:5). The mention of Sarah's faith is a striking instance of this gracious jealousy of God over that which He accounts so precious.
C E StuartGod reads the heart, and He delights — we say it with all reverence — to take note of faith in any of His saints. So of Sarah we next read, and of her faith as to the birth of Isaac. Who when reading Genesis would have gathered the existence of it from the lawgiver's account? But here, centuries after Moses wrote, the Spirit of God put on record what He saw in her — namely faith as to that which naturally would have seemed impossible.
From Unbelief to Faith
Several commentaries trace the turning point — when Sarah's natural disbelief was reproved by the Lord and replaced by genuine trust in His word.
VariousHer faith had to be awakened by a censure of her unbelief (Gen. 18). The Lord rebuked her. She feared before the presence of the Searcher of her thoughts, and out of that fear there sprang a confidence which trusted God according to His name. Faith cannot act effectively until the counsels of the heart have first been disallowed... Sarah judged Him faithful who had promised when first her heart was emptied of herself.
Leslie M. GrantHer unbelief was changed into genuine faith through the plain word of God given to her, and that faith bore fruit. To take deeply to heart the truth of God's word is the very essence of faith.
Resting on God's Word Alone
The heart of Sarah's faith is captured in the phrase "she judged him faithful that had promised." This is not the natural reasoning that asks whether something is possible, but the simple confidence that what God has said He will do.
C E StuartA fine reason this for the exercise of faith. With her it was not, Can it be? but, He had said it, so it shall be. She rested as to this solely on the word of her God. For who before her had become a mother at ninety? (Gen. 17:17). "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14) was the word of God to Abraham. For a fellow-creature to have said that would be one thing; for God to say it is quite another. All power He has, and He would certainly fulfil His promise that Sarah should have a son.
Faith That Reckons on the Impossible
Sarah's case shows the very nature of true faith — it counts on God where nature can do nothing.
MagazinesIt is characteristic of faith to reckon on God, not simply in spite of difficulty, but in spite of impossibility.
The Fruit of Her Faith
The result was vast — out of one weakened couple a whole nation sprang, and ultimately the line of promise leading to Christ.
C E StuartWhat results followed! "Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable."
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIt was by faith that Sarah received strength to conceive seed "because she counted Him faithful that promised."
Summary
- God's gracious memory. The Spirit silently passes over Sarah's earlier unbelief and records only the faith He saw in her — proof that God carefully preserves whatever real faith there is in His people.
- From rebuke to trust. Her faith was awakened only after her own thoughts were exposed and emptied; faith truly acts only when self-reasoning is set aside.
- The ground of faith. Sarah did not ask whether the promise was possible, but rested on the simple word of God — "He had said it, so it shall be."
- Faith and impossibility. True faith counts on God not merely against difficulty but against natural impossibility, where means fail and only God can act.
- Vast fruit from weakness. From one couple "as good as dead" came descendants like the stars and the sand — God's reward for resting on His promise.