According to the time of life. — Heb., according to the living time. It is evident from Genesis 18:14, and 2 Kings 4:16-17, that these words denote some fixed period, but the exact rendering is in dispute. “When the season revives” = next spring, is entirely remote from Oriental thought, and the rendering of Zunz “at the living time” is poetical, but meaningless. The true rendering is probably “a year hence,” as when the year is over it dies, and a new year lives in its place. Jewish tradition is strongly in favour of this view, translating “according to this time next year,” and adding that the season was the Passover. The only other tenable rendering is “in course of time.”
Which was behind him. — The LXX. has a preferable reading, and she was behind it. The door, as we have seen, was an opening made by looping back the curtain, which would effectually conceal Sarah’s person.