Introduction
In Hebrews 11, the “faith chapter,” there is a discussion on Abraham’s faith. His wife Sarah is also mentioned in this passage, just once, in verse 11.
This is how the English Standard Version (ESV) translates this verse.
By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered [God] faithful who had promised.
(I’ve made some pronouns bold to make them easy to compare between this and the following two translations.)
The New English Translation (NET) makes verse 11 primarily about Abraham.
By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.
The 1984 edition of the New International Version adds Abraham’s name and makes Sarah almost parenthetical.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age―and Sarah herself was barren―was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
Which is the correct way to understand this verse?
There are a few things to consider when interpreting Hebrews 11:11. In this article, I briefly look at some of these factors to determine who the subject is. Is it Abraham or Sarah?
Who is the Subject?
Abraham is not named in the Greek of verse 11, but because he is the focus of the passage, in verses 8-19, some translators and commentators think verse 11 is also about Abraham more so than Sarah.
Sarah is named in verse 11, and her name is given in the nominative (subject) case in most critical Greek texts of this verse. This marks her as the subject. Plus there is the nominative feminine pronoun autē (usually translated as “herself” in Heb. 11:11) which adds emphasis to Sarah’s name and identity (See NA28; THGNT, etc.) However, the SBLGNT and the 1904 Nestlé edition have Sarah’s name and the feminine pronoun in the dative case.[1] In these Greek texts, she is not the subject.
Furthermore, Greek verbs are not gendered, so the verbs behind the words “received” and “considered/ regarded” in the ESV and NET might be understood as applying to either Abraham or Sarah.[2]
Sarah’s or Abraham’s Seed?
Another challenge in understanding Hebrews 11:11 is the phrase dynamin eis katabolēn spermatos elaben (“received the ability to deposit seed”), which the ESV translates as “received power to conceive.”
“Deposit” (katabolē) + “seed” (spermatos) is used in other ancient Greek texts where it refers to men ejaculating.[3] Because of this use, some translators believe verse 11 can only be about Abraham. We don’t usually think of women as depositing “seed.” However, the Hebrew and Greek of Numbers 5:28 speaks of a woman being “able to sow seed.” This is usually translated as “able to conceive.”[4]
In the third century BC, it was discovered that women, as well as men, had testes (i.e. ovaries) which were believed to produce “seed.” The same Greek words were used for testes and ovaries.[5] Still earlier, some Greek philosophers, such as Parmenides and Empedocles, taught a double-seed theory where both the mother and father contribute an equal part, or an important part, to the formation of an embryo.[6] Furthermore, Pieter Van Der Horst has shown that first-century literature indicates the belief that women had “seminal emissions.”[7]
With these ideas in mind, we can’t be certain that the expression “received the ability to deposit seed” in Hebrews 11:11 cannot apply to Sarah.
The Structure of Hebrews 11
I believe the author of Hebrews was highlighting Sarah’s faith in verse 11. I believe this because putting the spotlight on Abraham in verse 11, and making Sarah parenthetical, breaks the pattern in Hebrews chapter 11 where faith heroes, and a significant event involving faith, are introduced with the repeated “by faith” (pistei) followed by a subject given in the nominative case.
By faith … Abel … (v. 4)
By faith Enoch … (v. 5)
By faith … Noah … (v. 7)
By faith … Abraham … (v. 8, etc)
By faith also Sarah herself … (v. 11)
By faith … Isaac … (v. 20)
By faith Jacob … (v. 21)
By faith Joseph … (v. 22)
By faith Moses … (v. 23 & 24, etc)
By faith the walls of Jericho fell (v. 30)
By faith Rahab … (v. 31)
It is not completely clear who the subject is in Hebrews 11:11, but I lean towards the understanding expressed in the ESV and many similar translations that highlight Sarah’s faith. I think the author of Hebrews mentions Sarah, her faith and her role in conceiving Isaac, before resuming his discussion on Abraham’s faith in verse 12.
Sarah’s Faith
Sarah’s faith is sometimes questioned. Using Hagar to have a child with Abraham (Gen. 16:1ff), and laughing when it was announced a second time that she would bear her own child (at the age of 90!), have been interpreted as Sarah displaying a lack of trust.[8] However, Sarah is presented in other parts of the Bible, not just in Hebrews 11:11, but also in Isaiah 51:1-2 and 1 Peter 3:6, as an example of faith. It was faith that enabled Sarah to conceive the promised child.
This is how the current edition of the New International Version translates this verse.
And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. Hebrews 11:11 (NIV 2011)
Footnotes
[1] Hebrews 11:11 in the Tyndale House Greek New Testament (THGNT) and Society of Biblical Literature Greek New Testament (SBLGNT) can be viewed online on Bible Gateway here.
The Nestle-Aland 28th edition (UBS 5th) can be viewed here.
The 1904 Nestle edition and other Greek texts can be viewed at the bottom of this page at Bible Hub.
Sarah’s name and the pronoun autē in the dative case (in SBLGNT and Nestle 1904) have an iota subscript under the final vowel of each word. These words in the nominative case (in other critical texts) do not have an iota subscript.
Ancient manuscripts, however, would not have had iota subscripts even if the dative was intended. Hebrews 11 in P46, the older surviving manuscript that contains Hebrews, can be viewed here. Verse 11 begins at the second word of line 5. There are no iota subscripts anywhere on this page as they were a later development in the written language.
[2] There are some variants in different Greek manuscripts of Hebrews 11:11, but none decisively clarify the subject, Abraham or Sarah.
[3] For example, Philolaus of Croton, Fragment, 13 (5th-4th cent. BC), and Lucian, Amores, 19 (2nd cent. AD). These two texts are cited by LSJ in their entry on καταβολή. (See here.) LSJ also cite Arrian’s Discourses of Epictetus, 1.13.3 (2nd cent. AD). Here the words καταβολή and σπέρματος occur in the same paragraph but not in the same phrase or sentence.
[4] “Seed” is often used with the sense of “descendants” or “children” in the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments (e.g., Gen. 3:15). The “sow seed” phrase in Numbers 5:28 is, in Hebrew, וְנִזְרְעָ֥ה זָֽרַע, and in Greek, ἐκσπερματιεῖ σπέρμα. LSJ translate ἐκσπερματιεῖ σπέρμα with the Latin phrase semen emitto. (See here.) The sense is that the woman will be fertile and able to produce children, and the phrase is often translated in English Bibles as “able to conceive children.” (I have more on the bitter water ordeal in Numbers 5 here.)
[5] For example, Herophilus of Alexandria, an anatomist who lived 335–280 BCE, is praised by Galen as the first to discover that women had testicles. Galen quotes from Herophilus’s third book of anatomy.
Testicles also grow on the sides of the uterus, one from each part, differing little from the testicles of the male. … Testicles in females grow at each shoulder of the uterus, one from the right, one from the left, the two of them not in a single scrotum, but each apart by itself … easily damaged flesh, as are also the testicles of males.
Quoted in Galen, On Semen, 2.1.15–16
I have more on this in a footnote here.
[6] In the fifth century BC, “Empedocles suggested that the mother and father both provided half of the necessary seed for conception, while Parmenides suggested that each parent provided a single seed that battled for dominance in the conception.”
Prudence Allen, The Concept of Woman: The Early Humanist Reformation, 1250-1500, Vol. 2, Part 1, (Eerdmans, 2002), 96. This is elaborated on in Allen’s first volume of The Concept of Woman.
[7] Pieter Willem Van Der Horst’s “Did Sarah Have a Seminal Emission?” Bible Review (Feb. 1992): 35-39. (Online at BiblicalArchaeology.org)
[8] Sarah’s laughter after hearing the second announcement of the birth of the promised son in Genesis 18:10-15 is often interpreted as a display of disrespect or lack of faith, but her laughter may have been an expression of surprise and delight. This idea becomes more apparent when we realise her son’s name Isaac means “laughter.” And Abraham laughed too (Gen. 17:17). Laughter is not necessarily negative, even if Sarah was embarrassed by being caught laughing.
© Margaret Mowczko 2025
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Further Reading
Christine Mary Cos, “An Example of the Power of Faith: Sarah, the Subject of Hebrews 11:11” in Priscilla Papers 25.1 (2011). (Online at CBEInternational.org)
Explore more
Submission and Respect from Women (1 Peter 3:1-6) which discusses Sarah
Saving Faith in Action: James 2:14-26
3 Formidable Bible Women with Strange Stories
Is it he, she, they or we who crush the serpent’s head? (Gen. 3:15)
Image Credit
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
13 thoughts on “Sarah’s or Abraham’s Faith in Hebrews 11:11?”
Good one, Marg.
Since the Bible typically describes the male as depositing his sperm/seed in the female to make a baby. Is this a solecism, in which improper Greek grammar points back to Genesis 3:15 (“the seed of woman”)?
Jack Hairston
Which Bible verses are you thinking of, Jack? I can’t think of a verse that actually describes a male depositing sperm (apart from Onan’s story and some passages in Leviticus about emissions and ritual purity).
Often it just says that a husband “knew” (yada) his wife and they had a child (Gen. 4:1; 17, 25, etc).
On the other hand, Numbers 5:28 speaks about a woman being able to “sow seed,” as in, be fruitful and bear children.
I don’t think there’s anything amiss with the Greek grammar of Hebrews 11:11.
I think he must be referring to Genesis 3.15 referring to the seed of the woman as opposed to the seed of a man
Jack references Gen. 3:15, as do I in a footnote. However, I don’t know of Bible verses that plainly refer to men “depositing seed” in order to make a baby. There could be such verses, but I’m not aware of them.
In many ancient agricultural societies, the male was considered to sow the seed in the fertile field of the female. The Man was active, the female was passive. He had seed, but she didn’t. I have found the Biblical passages concerning conception very interesting. Have always been blessed by Eve having “seed.”
We learned this when teaching natural family planning in the early 80’s long before the Internet! I will need to do some more reading!
I think the word “seed” (zerah) in Genesis 3:15 simply means “offspring.” Zera often means descendants or children in the Hebrew Bible.
Regarding whether Sarah laughing was a negative or positive thing . . . check out this excellent thread by Ari Lamm => https://x.com/AriLamm/status/1821894354635546736
Essentially Lamm suggests that the Hebrew of this passage in Genesis indicates that God made his covenant with both Abraham and Sarah but there is no evidence that Abraham told Sarah she was included or about the promise of a child, and that the reason Sarah laughed (with genuine surprised joy and delight) is because this was the first time she heard and understood the promise. Lamm points out that God never asks Sarah why she laughed (as if scolding her for doing something wrong) but instead God asks Abraham why Sarah laughed, as if asking Abraham why Sarah was surprised to learn something she should have been told previously.
Anyway — thanks for an informative article and an enjoyable several minutes of comparing multiple translations (including multiple editions of the same translation) to see how this verse is rendered.
Dan, Thanks for the link! I like how Ari pushes the point, “So God makes clear His covenant is with both Abraham AND Sarah. They’re equal partners in it, which is why both get new names and a blessing!”
Yes…I have recently taken note how adamant God was that SARAH be the mother of the promised child. It would have been easy enough for her to be bypassed, and even though Abraham did produce a son with Hagar that wasn’t good enough. And it think there is also a verse about “God caused HER to wander” meaning with Abraham to Canaan.
I liked your insight and offer more fuel for the fire; i.e. more translation differences.
NRSV – 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised.
ASV – 11 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised:
Youngs Literal Translation – 11 By faith also Sarah herself did receive power to conceive seed, and she bare after the time of life, seeing she did judge Him faithful who did promise;
KJV – 11 Through faith also Sara 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.
Thanks Tom. I was debating whether to include the NRSV and KJV in the article.
The following English translations highlight Abraham’s faith in Hebrews 11:11:
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB),
Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT),
EasyEnglish Bible (EASY),
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV),
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV),
Expanded Bible(EXB),
God’s Word (GW),
Good News (GNT),
International Children’s Bible (ICB),
Mounce’s Reverse Interlinear,
New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)
New Catholic Bible (NCB),
New Century Version (NCV),
New English Translation (NET).
Names of God (NOG),
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) in its various iterations.
I sourced this from Bible Gateway. I hope I didn’t miss any.
This is an appreciable number of translations that focus on Abraham. The majority, however, focus on Sarah and her faith in Hebrews 11:11.
The EHV makes this peculiar statement, “By faith Abraham also received the ability to conceive children …” We usually don’t speak about men conceiving children.
Great article as always! All I would add is since Hebrews is written specifically to Jewish believers, we ask a Jewish scholar (such as Amy Levine perhaps) what they think of the phrase and verse. Unfortunately, in her Jewish Annotated New Testament she doesn’t discuss any of this, maybe since she used the NRSV as her base translation, and it just goes with Abraham as the subject.
As for me, I think the whole tenor of the story where God was very adamant that SARAH be the mother of promise is another reason why your take is probably the correct one. The emphasis seems to be on Sarah being able to concieve, making her the subject of the thoughts.
I was also delighted to see the quote from classical Greeks about ovaries and women contributing genetically, since we are often told the official story that they thought the man planted a mini-baby into the woman. Since any normal person can see that children and animal offspring take after the female side of the family as often as the male side, often extremely strongly, and since most all ordinary people were animal breeders, I’ve never believed that most ancient people would have accepted such a silly view, even if some Greek author did. I never accept the idea that some document that was preserved actually represents the mainstream opinion of the time. In fact, especially when it comes to the patristics, for instance, it’s definitely usually because later generations liked what was said that they bothered to copy and preserve it. I think it often says a Iot more about the later period that venerated it than it proves what was commonly accepted at the time of composition. In fact, writings often are witness to how much opposition an idea has. Like since the Council of Laodicea bans women’s service at the “altar,” congregational singing, and Jewish/Nazarene customs of worship, we therefore know that such things were common for centuries and still in existence at that era.
Hi Angela, It can be helpful to hear a Jewish perspective on certain passages and ideas in the Bible, but I don’t think a Jewish perspective is helpful in understanding who the subject of Hebrews 11:11 is. I think it has more to do with the grammar and understanding the flow of the author’s argument.
There were a few different ideas in the ancient world about how human procreation worked. Here’s another idea to throw into the mix.
Drawing on the research of Thomas W. Laqueur, presented in his 1990 book Making Sex, Susan Hylen states that “authors like the fourth-century B.C.E philosopher Aristotle and the second-century C.E. physician Galen understood male and female reproductive anatomy to be identical–except that the female’s was interior instead of exterior to the body.”
Susan E. Hylen, Women in the New Testament World (Oxford University Press, 2018), 6.