Looking at Genesis chapter 18, the Hebrew says וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה: I have examined over 20 translations, and all but one completely fail to translate the words שְׁנֵ?י חַיֵּ?י שָׂרָֽה. My email is [email protected] In one translation, the Orthodox Jewish Bible at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2023&version=OJB , I found this, which is not a translation at all: 3 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty shanah old: these were the shnei chayyai Sarah. How do we understand the words shnei chayyai?

Shalom, Thank you for your question. You are correct in noticing that the Hebrew of the verse uses the word “shana” many times, giving the translation literally: "one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years - the years of Sarah's life." The reason these are words are not usually translated is because in English we would never form a sentence like that. As to the deeper meaning of why the Torah repeats the word “years” so many times, let me refer you to the classical commentators, such as Rashi, drawing off Bereshit Rabbah 58:1, Radak, and Ramban. (A good website to see these commentators, with many English translations, is alhatorah.org) Blessings