Hebrews 11:11

Every once in a while you come across an amazing problem with translation. This once boggles the mind.

Hebrews 11:11 (NASB95) By faith even Sarah herself received [fn]ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
And the NASB footnote reads "power for the laying down of seed."

Now take a look at the NET rendering of the very same text!

11:11 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.

So we have either Sarah or Abraham receiving the ability to either "conceive" or "procreate." Now turn your eyes back to the NASB footnote, and see that normally it is the male who has or is given the ability to "throw down" seed. But where did all these "he" references come from? Not the text of the verse.

On the other hand, women do "ovulate" or if you will "throw down the egg (female seed). Thus the verse if translated according to the Greek, might read,

"Through faith even Sarah herself received the ability to ovulate [fn], and brought forth even though beyond the prime period, since she deemed the One promising faithful.
Footnote: Greek "throw down seed"

But if we stop here, we have only addressed the tip of the shipwrecking iceberg!

The Greek word meaning "throw or cast down" is katabolEn G2602 a noun in the accusative case. The same word, in the genitive case is mistranslated as foundation the other 10 times our word appears in scripture.

 

Thanks Deacon, I had not known their was widespread support for adding the "he" to the text.

I do not think the verse is all that difficult with regard to its intended meaning.

Is it in dispute that Sarah was beyond the age of procreation, being about 90 years old? I think not.

Does scripture suggest Sarah's womb was nonfunctional? Yes Romans 4:19.

Now lets look at the text: Here are the nineteen Greek words listed in their Greek word order. with the corresponding English
Translation.

11:11
πίστει - by faith
κα - even
αὐτὴ - herself
στεῖρα - Sarah
δύναμιν - received
εἰς - to
καταβολὴν - casting down
σπέρματος - of seed
ἔλαβεν - ability
καὶ - even
παρὰ - beyond
καιρὸν - season
ἡλικίας - of prime
ἐπεὶ - since
πιστὸν - faithful
ἡγήσατο - believing
τὸν - the
ἐπαγγειλάμενον - One promising.

If we arrange the word order used in English, we get:

By faith, even Sarah herself, received ability to down casting seed even beyond season of prime, since believing the One promising. ​

There is no need to fix the text by adding "he" received!

Verse 11 simply explains the cause by which Abraham was able to father the child of the promise. No need for a rewrite.

 

Agree, and further, the idea that God not only restored Abraham's reproductive ability, but also Sarah's adds to the magnitude of the miracle of the fulfillment of the promise! I also agree, several times when confronted with an agenda driven translation, I find the good but old KJV to be spot on! James 2:5 springs to mind.