Answers
- Sarai (later called Sarah) gave her maid, Hagar, to her husband Abram (later called Abraham) in the hope of having children through her. Ishmael was the result. Later, however, God would re-affirm his covenant commitment to Isaac, the son that Sarah eventually bore (Gn 16:1,2, 21:1-3, 26:24).
- Hannah named her son 'Samuel', which sounds like the Hebrew for 'heard of God', because she had asked God for a son while infertile, and was granted one (1 Sa 1:11,20).
- Zechariah doubted that his wife Elizabeth could become pregnant because he himself was an 'old man' and she was 'well on in years'. She later conceived and gave birth to John the Baptist as promised by God (Lk 1:11-24, 57-79).
Know Your Bible 8
- How did the Israelites guard against gastroenteritis?
- Who were described as 'you cows of Bashan' and why?
- Why is there no temple in the city of the new Jerusalem?
