Genesis 21:6

God hath made me to laugh R.V. marg. prepared laughter for me. Once more in connexion with the birth of Isaac the thought of laughter recurs: see Genesis 17:17 (P), Genesis 18:12-15 (J). This time we have the tradition preserved by E. It is not clear that the two clauses of this verse mean the same thing. According to R.V. text, the first clause refers the laughter to Sarah's own happiness and exultation: the second clause refers it to the merry reception of the unexpected news by those who would laugh incredulously. According to R.V. marg., the latter meaning attaches also to the first clause; and both clauses, meaning the same thing, are explained by Genesis 21:7. The R.V. text is perhaps to be preferred. It preserves two traditional explanations of the laughter associated with Isaac's birth. Certainly the laughter of Sarah's personal happiness seems to be the point of St Paul's quotation from Isaiah 54:1, "rejoice thou barren that bearest not," in a passage where the Apostle is allegorizing this chapter (Galatians 4:22-31).

with me Better, at me. The preposition "with" is hardly correct, though it is supported by the LXX συγχαρεῖται, Lat. corridebit mihi. The original represents Sarah as the object of the laughter; and amusement, not derision, as its cause.