John Calvin Commentary Genesis 21

And the Lord visited Sarah. In this chapter not only is the nativity of Isaac related, but because, in his very birth, God has set before us a vivid picture of His Church, Moses also gives a particular account of this matter. And first, he says that God visited Sarah, as He had promised. Because all offspring flows from the kindness of God, as it is in the psalm,

The fruit of the womb is the gift of God; (Psalms 127:3)

Therefore, the Lord is said, not without reason, to visit those to whom He gives children. For although the fetus seems to be produced naturally, each from its own kind, there is yet no fecundity in animals, unless the Lord puts forth His own power to fulfill what He has said, Increase and multiply.

But in the propagation of the human race, His special benediction is conspicuous; and therefore, the birth of every child is rightly deemed the effect of divine visitation. However, Moses, in this place, looks higher, since Isaac was born outside the accustomed course of nature.

Therefore, Moses here commends that secret and unusual power of God, which is superior to the law of nature. And not improperly, since it is of great consequence for us to know that the gratuitous kindness of God reigned, both in the origin and in the progress of the Church, and that the sons of God were born in no other way than from His mere mercy.

And this is the reason why He did not make Abraham a father until his body was nearly withered. It should also be noted that Moses declares the visitation he mentions to be founded upon promise: Jehovah visited Sarah, as He had promised. In these words he connects the effect to its cause, so that the special grace of God, of which an example is given in the birth of Isaac, might be more perceptible.

If he had merely said that the Lord showed regard for Sarah when she brought forth a son, some other cause might have been sought. None, however, can doubt that the promise by which Isaac had been granted to his father Abraham was gratuitous, since the child was the fruit of that adoption, which can be ascribed to nothing but the mere grace of God. Therefore, whoever wishes rightly and prudently to reflect upon the work of God in the birth of Isaac must necessarily begin with the promise.

There is also great emphasis in the repetition, The Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken. For he thus retains his readers, as if laying his hand upon them, so that they may pause in considering so great a miracle. Meanwhile, Moses commends the faithfulness of God, as if he had said: God never feeds people with empty promises, nor is He less true in granting what He has promised than He is liberal and willing in making the promise.

She bare Abraham a son. This is said according to the customary way of speaking, because the woman is neither the head of a family nor gives birth, strictly speaking, for herself, but for her husband.

However, what follows is more noteworthy—that it was in his old age, at the set time that God had predicted—for the old age of Abraham greatly illustrates the glory of the miracle. And now Moses, for the third time, directs us back to the word of God, so that the steadfastness of his truth may always be present to our minds.

And though the time had been predicted both to Abraham and to his wife, yet this honor is specifically attributed to the holy man, because the promise had been especially given for his sake. Both, however, are clearly mentioned in the context.

And Abraham called the name. Moses does not mean that Abraham was the inventor of the name; but that he adhered to the name which had previously been given by the angel. This act of obedience, however, was worthy of commendation, since he not only ratified the word of God, but also executed his office as God’s minister. For, as a herald, he proclaimed to all, what the angel had committed to his trust.

And Abraham circumcised his son. Abraham pursued his steady course of obedience by not sparing his own son. For although it would be painful for him to wound the tender body of the infant, yet, setting aside all human affection, he obeyed the word of God. And Moses records that he did as the Lord had commanded him, because there is nothing of greater importance than to take the pure word of God for our rule and not to be wise above what is lawful.

This submissive spirit is especially required in reference to sacraments, lest people should either invent anything for themselves, or transfer those things which are commanded by the Lord to any use they please. We see, indeed, how inordinately the capricious inclinations of people prevail here, inasmuch as they have dared to devise innumerable sacraments. And to go no further for an example, whereas God has delivered only two sacraments to the Christian Church, the Papists boast that they have seven. As if it were truly in their power to forge promises of salvation, which they might sanction with signs imagined by themselves. But it would be superfluous to relate with how many figments the sacraments have been polluted by them. This is certainly manifest, that there is nothing they are less careful about than observing what the Lord has commanded.

And Abraham was an hundred years old. Moses again records Abraham's age to better draw his readers' attention to the miracle. And although only Abraham is mentioned, let us still remember that he is here presented to us, not as a man of lust, but as Sarah's husband, who obtained through her a lawful offspring in extreme old age, when the strength of both had failed.

For the power of God was most clearly seen in that, after their marriage had been fruitless for more than sixty years, they suddenly obtained offspring. Sarah, truly, to make amends for the doubt to which she had yielded, now exultingly proclaims God's kindness with fitting praises. And first, she says that God had given her reason for joy—not common joy, but such as would cause everyone to congratulate her. Secondly, to amplify this, she assumes the character of an astonished inquirer: ‘Who would have told this to Abraham?’ Some explain the phrase in question, ‘will laugh at me,’ as if Sarah had said, with shame, that she would become a byword among the people. But the former meaning is more suitable; namely, ‘Whoever hears it, will laugh with me;’—that is, to congratulate me.