Sarah

At a glance

Who Sarah was

Sarah (id H8283; as Sarai H8297; Greek G4564) was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac. She is introduced in Genesis 11:29 as the wife Abram took while still among his kindred, and the narrative immediately adds the fact that governs everything after it, "Sarai was barren; she had no child" (ASV, Genesis 11:30). ISBE observes that with that one remark "the writer sounds the motif that is to be developed in all the sequel."

She was also Abraham's half-sister, "the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham," as Easton puts it, citing Genesis 11:29 and Genesis 20:12. That double relationship lies behind the two episodes in which Abraham presents her as his sister and she is taken into a royal household, first in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20) and later at Gerar (Genesis 20:1-14).

Long barren, she gave her Egyptian slave Hagar to Abraham to bear a child on her behalf (Genesis 16:1-4), a recognised legal arrangement in the ancient Near East, which ISBE connects to the Code of Hammurabi. Ishmael was born of that arrangement, and the relationship between the two women broke down badly (Genesis 16:4-6; Genesis 21:9-14). At ninety-nine, Abraham received the covenant sign and the renaming of them both: "As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah" (BSB, Genesis 17:15). She laughed at the promise of a son (Genesis 18:12), and bore Isaac (Genesis 21:1-7). She died at 127 in Kirjath-arba, and Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah to bury her (Genesis 23:1-20), Easton notes this is "the only instance in Scripture where the age of a woman is recorded."

Story arc (life, chronological + cited)

• Introduced, and barren, Sarai is named as Abram's wife; "Sarai was barren; she had no child" (ASV, Genesis 11:29-30).
• The migration, she leaves Ur with Terah's household, then Haran with Abram for Canaan (Genesis 11:31; Genesis 12:5).
• Egypt, famine drives them south; Abram calls her his sister and she is taken into Pharaoh's house until God intervenes (Genesis 12:10-20).
• Hagar given, still childless, Sarai gives Hagar to Abram; Hagar conceives and the two women fall out (Genesis 16:1-6).
• Renamed, and promised a son, God renames Sarai as Sarah and promises a son by her, adding "kings of peoples shall be of her" (ASV, Genesis 17:16).
• The laugh, hearing the promise repeated at the tent, "she laughed to herself, saying, 'After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?'" (BSB, Genesis 18:12); challenged, she denies it, and is told she did laugh (Genesis 18:13-15).
• Gerar, the sister-arrangement is repeated before Abimelech, and God warns him in a dream (Genesis 20:1-14).
• Isaac born, "God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me" (BSB, Genesis 21:6); Isaac's name carries the laughter (Genesis 21:1-7).
• Hagar and Ishmael sent away, at Sarah's insistence, and with God telling Abraham to listen to her (Genesis 21:9-14).
• Death and burial, she dies at 127; Abraham buys the field and cave of Machpelah from the Hittites as a burying place (Genesis 23:1-20).

Role & significance

Sarah is the matriarch of the covenant line: the promise to Abraham is explicitly narrowed to a son by her (Genesis 17:19, Genesis 17:21), so the covenant runs through Isaac rather than through Ishmael. Isaiah 51:2 later calls Israel to "Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you" (WEB), treating the pair as the nation's origin.

The New Testament returns to her four times, and for different purposes each time. Romans 4:19 and Romans 9:9 use the deadness of her womb and the timing of the promise in arguments about faith and election. Hebrews 11:11 lists her among those who acted by faith. 1 Peter 3:6 holds her up as an example to wives, "just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord" (BSB), a verse with its own long history of discussion. And Galatians 4:21-31 reads Sarah and Hagar allegorically as two covenants, Easton summarising that in that passage "she is the type of the 'Jerusalem which is above.'"

The laughter is the story's own device rather than a commentator's: she laughs in disbelief (Genesis 18:12), she laughs in joy (Genesis 21:6), and the son is named Isaac, "he laughs."

Key relationships

Key places

Key passages

Contested / interpretive points

Who is credited with faith in Hebrews 11:11? Every version this reference hosts credits Sarah, ASV: "By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age"; BSB: "By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child." But the Greek phrase rendered "received power to conceive seed" is an idiom normally used of the father, and this is a genuine, long-standing translation question rather than a modern doubt.

How to read Sarah's laugh. Genesis reports that she laughed and then denied laughing (Genesis 18:12-15); Hebrews lists her among the faithful. Readers reconcile this differently: some treat the laugh as unbelief later overcome, so that Hebrews commends where she ended rather than where she began; some read the laugh as astonishment rather than doubt; some hold that Hebrews commends the couple's faith without endorsing that particular moment; and some (see above) read Hebrews as speaking of Abraham. This reference sets these out without choosing.

The treatment of Hagar. The text records that Sarai dealt harshly with Hagar, "Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her" (BSB, Genesis 16:6), and later demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away, with God telling Abraham to do as she said (Genesis 21:9-14). Interpretation of these episodes varies widely and along lines readers should be told about: some read them primarily as narrative report of a legally recognised custom that the text neither praises nor condemns; some read the narrator as quietly critical, noting that God meets Hagar and gives her a promise of her own (Genesis 16:7-13; Genesis 21:17-20); and a large body of modern interpretation, including womanist and postcolonial readings, treats Hagar as the story's wronged centre. ⛔ this reference reports the events as written and names these readings; it does not pronounce a verdict on Sarah's conduct.

How Galatians 4:21-31 should be applied. Paul reads Sarah and Hagar as two covenants, and Easton follows him in calling Sarah "the type of the 'Jerusalem which is above.'" Readers differ over whether this is an allegory Paul constructs for his argument or an interpretation he understands to be latent in Genesis, and over how far the passage licenses similar readings elsewhere. The history of using this passage to characterise other peoples is itself part of what is discussed. This reference presents the passage and the range of readings without adopting one.

1 Peter 3:6 and Sarah as an example to wives. The verse points to Sarah's conduct toward Abraham. Readings range from those taking it as a standing instruction about wifely submission, to those reading it as advice addressed to a specific first-century social situation, to those emphasising the second half of the verse, "and refuse to give way to fear" (BSB), as its point. This is contested between traditions, and this reference states the views rather than one of them.

The name Sarai. ISBE offers "she that strives" as a possible derivation, from the same root as Israel, while warning "not to operate solely upon the basis of the Hebrew language," since "Sarai was the name this woman brought with her from Mesopotamia." The meaning of Sarah, "princess", is much less doubtful. This reference reports the uncertainty on the earlier name., this reference states the narrative facts as written and lays the interpretive questions out side by side, endorsing none.