We saw how Abraham and Sarah initially chose to take that challenge into their own hands through the agency of Hagar. But this passage makes clear: It is God who is the “Lord and Giver of Life.” ...

Zechariah would thus have thought about Abraham in his enforced silence. For when Abraham is told that he and Sarah will have a son, he “fell on his face and laughed” (Genesis 17:17).

Sarah died in Kiriath-arba — now Hebron — in the land of Canaan; and Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her.