Hebrews 11:11, Sarah’s Faith

//Oops! That’s not the way it really happened, is it? Isn’t it true that, when the messengers of God brought news that Sarah would conceive and have a child, she laughed in their face? What is Sarah doing here in Hebrews 11, the chapter known as the “honor roll of faith?”

We don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews, and we don’t know why that writer chose to praise Sarah. So radical was this reinterpretation of scripture that many early manuscripts cut the sentences out of the book! Today’s translations, not knowing quite what to do about it, often ignore Sarah and praise Abraham alone. The NIV reads like this, for the very same verse:

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.

C’mon, guys, give poor Sarah a break. One hasty snicker, and her reputation is ruined forever?