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Easton's Bible Dictionary
princess, The wife and at the same time the half-sister
of Abraham ( Genesis 11:29 ; 20:12 ). This name was given to her at the time that
it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother of the promised child.
Her story is from her marriage identified with that of the patriarch till the
time of her death. Her death, at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years
(the only instance in Scripture where the age of a woman is recorded), was the
occasion of Abraham's purchasing the cave of Machpelah as a family burying-place.
In the allegory of Galatians 4:22 - 31 she is the type of the "Jerusalem which
is above." She is also mentioned as Sara in Hebrews 11:11 among the Old Testament
worthies, who "all died in faith." (See ABRAHAM)
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
lady; princess; princess of the multitude
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(princess)
(1) The wife and half-sister, ( Genesis 20:12 ) of Abraham, and mother of Isaac.
Her name is first introduced in ( Genesis 11:29 ) as Sarai. The change of her
name from Sarai, my princess (i.e. Abrahams), to Sarah, princess (for all the
race), was made at the same time that Abrams name was changed to Abraham, --on
the establishment of the covenant of circumcision between him and God. Sarahs
history is of course that of Abraham. [ABRAHAM]
She died at Hebron at the age of 127 years, 28 years before her husband and was
buried by him in the cave of (B.C. 1860.) She is referred to in the New Testament
as a type of conjugal obedience in ( 1 Peter 3:6 ) and as one of the types of
faith in ( Hebrews 11:11 )
(2) Sarah, the daughter of Asher. ( Numbers 26:46 )
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
sa'-ra, sa'-ri:
(1) In Genesis 17:15 the woman who up to that time has been known as Sarai (Saray;
Sara) receives by divine command the name Sarah (Sarah; Sarra). (This last form
in Greek preserves the ancient doubling of the r, lost in the Hebrew and the English
forms.)
The former name appears to be derived from the same root as Israel, if, indeed,
Genesis 32:28 is intended as an etymology of Israel. "She that strives," a contentious
person, is a name that might be given to a child at birth (compare Hosea 12:3
, 4 , of Jacob), or later when the child's character developed; in Genesis 16:6
and 21:10 a contentious character appears. Yet comparison with the history of
her husband's name (see ABRAHAM)
warns us not to operate solely upon the basis of the Hebrew language. Sarai was
the name this woman brought with her from Mesopotamia. On the other hand there
can be little doubt that the name Sarah, which she received when her son was promised,
means "princess," for it is the feminine form of the extremely common title sar,
used by the Semites to designate a ruler of greater or lesser rank. In the verse
following the one where this name is conferred, it is declared of Sarah that "kings
of peoples shall be of her" (Genesis 17:16).
We are introduced to Sarai in Genesis 11:29. She is here mentioned as the wife
that Abraham "took," while still in Ur of the Chaldees, that is, while among his
kindred. It is immediately added that "Sarai was barren; she had no child." By
this simple remark in the overture of his narrative, the writer sounds the motif
that is to be developed in all the sequel. When the migration to Haran occurs,
Sarai is named along with Abram and Lot as accompanying Terah. It has been held
that the author (or authors) of Genesis 11 knew nothing of the relationship announced
in 20:12. But there can be no proof of such ignorance, even on the assumption
of diversity of authorship in the two passages.
Sarai's career as described in Genesis 11 was not dependent on her being the daughter
of Terah. Terah had other descendants who did not accompany him. Her movements
were determined by her being Abram's wife. It appears, however, that she was a
daughter of Terah by a different mother from the mother of Abram. The language
of Genesis 20:12 would indeed admit of her being Abram's niece, but the fact that
there was but 10 years' difference between his age and hers (Genesis 17:17) renders
this hypothesis less probable. Marriage with half-sisters seems to have been not
uncommon in antiquity (even in the Old Testament compare 2 Samuel 13:13).
This double relationship suggested to Abraham the expedient that he twice used
when he lacked faith in God to protect his life and in cowardice sought his own
safety at the price of his wife's honor. The first of these occasions was in the
earlier period of their wanderings (Genesis 12). From Canaan they went down into
Egypt. Sarai, though above 60 years of age according to the chronology of the
sacred historian, made the impression on the Egyptians by her beauty that Abraham
had anticipated, and the result was her transfer to the royal palace. But this
was in direct contravention of the purpose of God for His own kingdom. The earthly
majesty of Pharaoh had to bow before the divine majesty, which plagued him and
secured the stranger's exodus, thus foreshadowing those later plagues and that
later exodus when Abraham's and Sarah's seed "spoiled the Egyptians."
We meet Sarah next in the narrative of the birth of Ishmael and of Isaac. Though
14 years separated the two births, they are closely associated in the story because
of their logical continuity. Sarah's barrenness persisted. She was now far past
middle life, even on a patriarchal scale of longevity, and there appeared no hope
of her ever bearing that child who should inherit the promise of God. She therefore
adopts the expedient of being "builded by" her personal slave, Hagar the Egyptian
(see Genesis 16:2 margin). That is, according to contemporary law and custom as
witnessed by the Code of Hammurabi (see ABRAHAM,
iv, 2), a son born of this woman would be the freeborn son and heir of Abraham
and Sarah.
Such was in fact the position of Ishmael later. But the insolence of the maid
aroused the vindictive jealousy of the mistress and led to a painful scene of
unjustified expulsion. Hagar, however, returned at God's behest, humbled herself
before Sarah, and bore Ishmael in his own father's house. Here he remained the
sole and rightful heir, until the miracle of Isaac's birth disappointed all human
expectations and resulted in the ultimate expulsion of Hagar and her son.
The change of name from Sarai to Sarah when Isaac was promised has already been
noted. Sarah's laughter of incredulity when she hears the promise is of course
associated with the origin of the name of Isaac, but it serves also to emphasize
the miraculous character of his birth, coming as it does after his parents are
both so "well stricken in age" as to make parenthood seem an absurdity.
Before the birth of this child of promise, however, Sarah is again exposed, through
the cowardice of her husband, to dishonor and ruin. Abimelech, king of Gerar,
desiring to be allied by marriage with a man of Abraham's power, sends for Sarah,
whom he knows only as Abraham's sister, and for the second time she takes her
place in the harem of a prince. But the divine promise is not to be thwarted,
even by persistent human weakness and sin. In a dream God reveals to Abimelech
the true state of the case, and Sarah is restored to her husband with an indemnity.
Thereupon the long-delayed son is born, the jealous mother secures the expulsion
of Hagar and Ishmael, and her career comes to a close at the age of 127, at Hebroni
long time her home. The grief and devotion of Abraham are broadly displayed in
Genesis 23, in which he seeks and obtains a burying-place for his wife. She is
thus the first to be interred in that cave of the field of Machpelah, which was
to be the common resting-place of the fathers and mothers of the future Israel.
The character of Sarah is of mingled light and shade. On the one hand we have
seen that lapse from faith which resulted in the birth of Ishmael, and that lack
of self-control and charity which resulted in a quarrel with Abraham, an act of
injustice to Hagar, and the disinheriting of Ishmael. Yet on the other hand we
see in Sarah, as the New Testament writers point out (Hebrews 11:11 ; 1 Peter
3:6), one who through a long life of companionship with Abraham shared his hope
in God, his faith in the promises, and his power to become God's agent for achieving
what was humanly impossible. In fact, to Sarah is ascribed a sort of spiritual
maternity, correlative with Abraham's position as "father of the faithful"; for
all women are declared to be the (spiritual) daughters of Sarah, who like her
are adorned in "the hidden man of the heart," and who are "doers of good" and
"fearers of no terror" (1 Peter loc. cit., literally rendered). That in spite
of her outbreak about Hagar and Ishmael she was in general "in subjection to her
husband" and of "a meek and quiet spirit," appears from her husband's genuine
grief at her decease, and still more clearly from her son's prolonged mourning
for her (Genesis 24:67 ; compare Genesis 17:17 ; 23:1 with Genesis 25:20). And
He who maketh even the wrath of man to praise Him used even Sarah's jealous anger
to accomplish His purpose that "the son of the freewoman," Isaac, "born through
promise," should alone inherit that promise (Galatians 4:22 - 31).
Apart from the three New Testament passages already cited, Sarah is alluded to
only in Isaiah 51:2 ("Sarah that bare you," as the mother of the nation), in Romans
4:19 ("the deadness of Sarah's womb"), and in Romans 9:9, where God's promise
in Genesis 18:10 is quoted. Yet her existence and her history are of course presupposed
wherever allusion is made to the stories of Abraham and of Isaac.
To many modern critics Sarah supplies, by her name, a welcome argument in support
of the mythical view of Abraham. She has been held to be the local numen to whom
the cave near Hebron was sacred; or the deity whose consort was worshipped in
Arabia under the title Dusares, i.e. Husband-of-Sarah; or, the female associate
of Sin the moon-god, worshipped at Haran. On these views the student will do well
to consult Baethgen, Beitrage, 94, 157, and, for the most recent point of view,
Gressmann's article, "Sage und Geschichte in den Patriarchenerzahlungen," ZATW,
1910, and Eerdmans, Alttestamentliche Studien, II, 13.
(2) The daughter of Raguel, and wife of Tobias (Tobit 3:7,17, etc.).
See TOBIT, BOOK OF.
J. Oscar Boyd
Tags:
abimelech, barren, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, half-sister of abraham, mother of isaac, only woman whose age is recorded, sara, sarah, sarai, wife of abraham
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