ABRAHAM AND SARAH
Sarah
Sarah, born Sarai, is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a significant figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woman, renowned for her hospitality and beauty, the wife and half-sister of Abraham, and the mother of Isaac. Sarah has her feast day on Sept 01 in the Catholic Church, Aug 19 in the Coptic Orthodox Church, Jan 20 in LCMS, and 12 and 20 December in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In the Hebrew Bible and the book of Genesis, Abraham tells Abimelech that Sarah is his sister. Sarah;??Modern: Sara, Tiberian: Sara; Arabic: Sarah. Born Sarai, a biblical matriarch and prophetess, is a significant figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a beautiful, godly woman.
In popular culture
Sarah (originally named Sarai) was one of several Bible women in the Bible who were unable to have children. That proved doubly distressing for her because God had promised Abraham and Sarah they would have a son.
God appeared to Sarah’s husband Abraham when he was 99 years old and made a covenant with him. He told Abraham that he would be the father of the Jewish nation, with descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky. God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Genesis 17:15–16, NIV)
After waiting many years, Sarah convinced Abraham to sleep with her handmaiden, Hagar, to produce an heir. That was an accepted practice in ancient times.
The child born of that encounter was named Ishmael. However, God had not forgotten his promise.
The Child of Promise
Three heavenly beings, disguised as travelers, appeared to Abraham. God repeated his promise to Abraham that his wife would bear a son. Even though Sarah was ancient, she did conceive and deliver a son. They named him Isaac.
Isaac would father Esau and Jacob. Jacob would father 12 sons who would become heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah would come to David, and finally, Jesus of Nazareth, God’s promised Savior.
Accomplishments of Sarah in the Bible
Sarah’s loyalty to Abraham resulted in her sharing in his blessings. She became the mother of the nation of Israel.
Although she struggled in her faith, God saw fit to include Sarah as the first woman named in the Hebrews 11 “Faith Hall of Fame.”
Sarah is the only woman renamed by God in the Bible. Sarah means “princess.”
Strengths
Sarah’s obedience to her husband Abraham is a model for Christian women. Even when Abraham passed her off as his sister, which landed her in Pharaoh’s harem, she did not object.
Sarah was protective of Isaac and loved him deeply.
The Bible says Sarah was exceedingly beautiful (Genesis 12:11, 14).
Weaknesses
At times, Sarah doubted God. She had trouble believing God would fulfill his promises, so she plunged ahead with her solution.
Life Lessons
Waiting for God to act in our lives may be our most challenging task. It is also true that we can become dissatisfied when God’s solution does not match our expectations.
Sarah’s life teaches us that when we feel doubtful or afraid, we should remember what God said to Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14, NIV)
Sarah waited 90 years to have a baby. Indeed, she had given up hope of ever seeing her dream of motherhood fulfilled. Sarah was looking at God’s promise from her limited, human perspective. However, the Lord used her life to unfold an extraordinary plan, proving that he is never limited by what usually happens.
Sometimes we feel like God has placed our lives in a permanent holding pattern. Rather than taking matters into our own hands, we can let Sarah’s story remind us that a time of waiting may be God’s precise plan for us.
Hometown
Sarah’s hometown is unknown. Her story begins with Abram in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Occupation
Homemaker, wife, and mother.
Family Tree
• Father - Terah
• Husband - Abraham
• Son - Isaac
• Half Brothers - Nahor, Haran
• Nephew - Lot
References to Sarah in the Bible
• Genesis chapters 11 through 25
• Isaiah 51:2
• Romans 4:19, 9:9
• Hebrews 11:11
• 1 Peter 3:6
Key Verses
Genesis 21:1
Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did what he had promised for Sarah. (NIV)
Genesis 21:7
And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (NIV)
Hebrews 11:11
Moreover, by faith, even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. (NIV)
Sarah had to wait until she was in her nineties to give birth to her son, Isaac. We can learn much from Sarah (formerly called Sarai) in the book of Genesis regarding what walking in faith in the promises of God looks like in real life.
1. In Genesis 11, we learn that Sarai is barren.
Because Sarai is barren, she cannot participate in the promise of Genesis 3:15 that God would provide the seed that would crush the head of the serpent. Abram possibly could have divorced her because of her barrenness in that culture.
Moreover, Abram and Nahor took wives. Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. (Gen. 11:29-30)
2. Sarah is not mentioned in Genesis 12-15 as the mother of the promised child of Abraham.
In God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 12 and 15, there is no mention of Sarai: The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you. Moreover, I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:1-3)
Furthermore, Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” Moreover, he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you can number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord and counted it to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:3-6)
3. In Genesis 16, Sarai tries to participate in the promise of Genesis 3:15 through her servant Hagar.
Because she is advanced in years (in her 90s) and has not yet provided Abram with an heir, Sarai gives Hagar to Abram as a wife in Genesis 16. Since nothing was mentioned in God’s promise about the heir coming through Sarai in Genesis 12 and 15, Abraham thought taking Hagar as a wife was a reasonable “plan B.”
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. Moreover, Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife. (Gen. 16:1-3)
4. Sarai is acting out of faith, but she does the wrong thing.
In Galatians 4, Paul points out that Abraham and Sarai were trying to assist God in bringing his promise to fulfillment, adding a human ingredient in redemption, but God does not need our help.
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one from a free woman. However, the son of the enslaved person was born according to the flesh, while the free woman’s son was born through promise. (Gal. 4:21-23)
5. It is not until Genesis 17:5-21 that God tells Abraham about Sarai’s future role.
In Genesis 17, God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah, which means “princess” in Hebrew. He changes her name because he is going to bless Sarah, making her part of the foundation of the covenant of grace (see Gal. 3:13-18). Regarding Sarah’s name change, the Anchor Yale Dictionary notes,
In Gen. 17:15, the Priestly version of God’s covenant with Abraham, Sarai’s name is changed to Sarah, just as Abram’s name becomes Abraham. Name changes to signify a new reality. Thus, the barren Sarah is brought into God’s covenantal promise as the mother of many nations and kings (17:16). Over and against Hagar and Ishmael, she is the lawful wife who will bear the son through whom God’s promises to Abraham will be realized.
This was God’s promise to Eve and then to Abraham—she is royalty in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham learns that Sarah would indeed be the mother of the promised child: moreover, God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her and give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” (Gen. 17:15-16)
6. God’s promise that Sarah would bear a son is delayed.
Even though God promises Abraham (this promise is not declared to Sarah directly) that Sarah would bear the heir to the promise—namely, Isaac— the fulfillment of this promise is delayed for another year: The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, shall have a son.” Moreover, Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. (Gen. 18:10)
7. Sarah laughs with joy that her faith has borne fruit.
Sarah has left her family for a man who lives in tents. This is like leaving Beverly Hills for a guy living in a broken-down camper. Her husband tells her to lie twice, but she puts up with it because she is committed to Abraham and his God. Persevering in the faith is what defines believers:
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” However, Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (Gen. 18:11-15)
8. By divine promise, Sarah eventually conceives.
God delighted to bring forth a child in Sarah’s old age so everyone would know it was the Lord’s doing. He did it to glorify his name. The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. Moreover, Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time when God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son, Isaac, who was born to him, and Sarah bore him.
Furthermore, Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Moreover, Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Gen. 21:1-7)
9. Scripture’s judgment of Sarah is one of charity, and we should do the same.
Even though she made a mistake, God had a judgment of charity for Sarah. Hebrews 11 commends her faith:
By faith, Sarah received the power to conceive, even when she was past the age since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. (Heb. 11:11-12)
Hebrews 11 helps us know how to read the Old Testament. God’s promise is not earthly in its total fulfillment. If the Old Testament saints heard the promises of God as an earthly inheritance, they could have gone back to their old land. We know their faith by what they said and what they did, and that part is the same for us today. The Old Testament saints sought the same eternal homeland we are (Heb. 11:13-16). By faith, they waited for it.
10. The Lord has that same judgment of charity toward us all.
We, too, can say, “Lord, please bless this mess I made.” Sarah had her bad moments—don’t we all? Perhaps you have been hurt by the church or individual Christians. It is good to have a judgment of charity in the church as much as possible, just as God had for Sarah. The Lord has a city that he has prepared for every believer, and one day all of God’s saints shall arrive there safely in glory:
Moreover, all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. (Heb. 11:39-40)
1. Sarah Definition & Meaning
SARAH is the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac, a kinswoman of Tobias.
2. Sarah | biblical figure |
Sarah, also spelled rai in the Old Testament, was the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. Sarah was childless until she was 90 years old. God promised Abraham that she would be “a mother of nations” (Genesis 17:16).
3. Sarah - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity
https://nameberry.com/babyname/sarah
Sarah is an Old Testament name—she was the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. According to the Book of Genesis, Sarah was initially called Sarai but had her name changed by God to the more favorable Sarah when she was ninety years old. Sarah is a timeless classic, as perpetually stylish as it is traditional.
The name Sarah is often translated as “princess”—though Sarah’s more literal meaning in Hebrew and Persian is “woman of high rank.” Ask anyone named Sarah what their name means, and you will likely get an enthusiastic response: “Princess!” you may also see the name Sarah interpreted as “noblewoman.”
See more on verywellfamily.com
4. Sar·ah
DEFINITION: (in the Bible) the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac.
More about Sarah
5. Name Meaning, What does Sarah mean? - Think Baby
Sarah is a girl’s name, which is pronounced SARE-ah. It is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Sarah is “princess.” Biblical: originally called Sarai, Sarah was the wife of Abraham. She is described as being exceptionally beautiful.
6. Who was Sarah in the Bible?
Sarah was simple, beautiful ( Genesis 12:11 ), and very human; she made mistakes as we all do. She stepped ahead of God and tried to handle His business on her own by foolishly sending her handmaid.
Born: Sarai · Ur of the Chaldees
Died: Hebron
Spouse(s): Abraham
Children: Isaac
She is the only one recorded in the Bible that God Himself renamed. Her former name Sarai means “my princess.”
Sarah was an older woman when she bore Isaac. It was apparent to all those around her that God had worked a miracle! The long wait for a fulfilled miracle was a witness to generations of Israelites.
Sarai is the original name of Sarah, the wife, and half-sister of Abraham
Most people with the Bible are familiar with the fact that Sarah was the wife of Abraham. However, some do not know that Sarah had another name before she was named Sarah. Likewise, in the light of who Abraham was, Sarah held an important position and played a significant role in establishing the Jewish people.
Sarah was born Sarai and raised in the Ur of the Chaldees, in modern-day Iraq. It was located on the Euphrates River, not far upstream from where the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers join. Sarai was married to Abram, whom we know as Abraham. Abram was the oldest of three sons of a man named Terah.
Abram had two other brothers, Nahor and Haran. However, his brother Haran died, leaving behind a son whom we know as Lot, and a daughter, Milcah, who became the wife of Abram’s brother Nahor. After Haran’s death, Terah took Abram and Sarai, along with Lot, and left Ur of the Chaldees. They traveled far upstream to the land of Haran, where they lived until Terah died. Abram, being the oldest of the sons, adopted Lot, his nephew, into his family, and not long after, they left as God directed them to what would later become Israel.
Sarai’s testimony (Genesis 16:1:1-16)
Sarai was barren (Genesis 11:30) so having Lot in the family provided her with the opportunity to be a sort of foster mother to Lot. However, for a woman not to be able to produce children on her own, it was believed to be a sign that something in the woman’s life was causing God not to bless her. This brought anguish, shame, and despair to Sarai.
Since Sarai could not produce a child for Abram, she made a decision that would affect all of humanity. She decided to give Hagar, her Egyptian maid, to Abram to produce a child. Abram accepted Sarai’s offer to produce a child through Hagar and the result was the birth of Ishmael. However, more than just a child was produced. With the pregnancy, Hagar despised Sarai, and Sarai became jealous and harsh with Hagar. Hagar then left and went into the wilderness of Shur.
Pregnant and alone in the wilderness, an angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar. The angel told her to return to Sarai. He also told her that she would bear a son, Ishmael because God heard her affliction. He said that Ishmael would be a wild man, and his hand would be against every man, and would one day have many sons and live in the presence of all his brethren in Shur. Ishmael would later become the father of all Arab peoples.
Sarai’s changed life (Genesis 17)
After this, God spoke to Abram and made a covenant with him. As part of this covenant, God told Abram that he and Sarai would have a child named Isaac. God also said that the covenant and blessings that went along with it would be established through Isaac and his descendants, not Ishmael (Genesis 17:18-21).
During this conversation, God also changed the names of Abram and Sarai. He changed Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. With these name changes would come changes to Abraham and Sarah’s life. In Sarah’s case, God would bless her with the birth of Isaac. However, He would also make her “a mother of nations,” and “kings of people” would come from her descendants.
Despite these promises, Abraham and Sarah found it hard to believe as they were 100 and 90 years old, respectively. When Abraham heard this, he laughed. Later, when Sarah heard this, she laughed (Genesis 18:9-15). However, as God had promised, Isaac, whose name means laughter (Genesis 21:3-7), was born, and the covenant was established. Sarah died at the age of 127 years and was buried in a cave Abraham purchased in Machpelah, known today as Hebron (Genesis 23).
Sarah’s legacy
Although there are many more things that happened in Sarah’s life, she has left a legacy that serves as something to consider by believers today:
• Sarah was the mother of nations: Genesis 17:15-16
• Sarah was beautiful: Genesis 12:11
• Sarah was impatient when it came to believing God’s promises being fulfilled: Genesis 15:3-4; Genesis 16:1-6; Genesis 18:12-15
• Sarah could be jealous and harsh when things did not work out how she wanted: Genesis 16:4-6; Genesis 21:9-11
• Sarah was honored by God despite her imperfections: Genesis 17:15-16
• Sarah’s faith enabled her to be strengthened to conceive and deliver Isaac in her old age: Hebrews 11:11-12
• Sarah’s faith resulted in a changed life when it came to her relationship with her husband: 1 Peter 3:1-7
Conclusion
Sarah was a beautiful woman who initially lived her life lacking faith in God’s promises and ability to do what He said He would do. Her impatience resulted in poor decisions that revealed she could be jealous and harsh. However, as her faith grew, she became a great woman of faith that God used to fulfill His plan. Sarah’s story shows us that it does not matter who we are, where we come from, our age, or any other personal strengths or weaknesses. God can produce changes in us through our faith, resulting in miraculous influence in our personal and extended relationships for generations to come.
