She resembled Eve, to whom God gave two-thirds of all beauty; indeed, she was so beautiful that Abraham transported her in a chest. Tribal antipathies and sympathies, and political and racial interdependence and kinship, are expressed by them; but frequently, in order to complete a system, an individual ancestor or eponym is invented. It seems to be an appellative; but it is connected with Hebron, an old center. Sarah was seventy years old when she conceived Isaac (according to Ṭabari; Baiḍawi says she was ninety or ninety-nine). "Sarah"), makes Abraham a Jerahmeelite, whose marriage with Sarah expresses the amalgamation of Israel with the descendants of Jerahmeel. As Jacob became Israel in another cycle (with Beth-el), so here Abraham (Hebron) is connected with Israel. i. i.; Hermann Guthe, Gesch. According to one, Samael came to her and said: "Your old husband seized the boy and sacrificed him. Download a high resolution PDF of your Hebrew Name Certificate to print from your home computer. Wellhausen is the main exponent of this view ("Prolegomena zur Gesch. He gave her also his own daughter Hagar as slave (ib.). Finally, the name receives a third justification in Sarah's exclamation at his birth (ib. While some of the names that occur are clearly those of clans, or of localities, Abraham = Abiram is not. Printed Certificate — $59.95. Pharaoh was so astonished at these blows that he spoke kindly to Sarah, who confessed that she was Abraham's wife. Sarah was the most beautiful woman of her time and possessed a perfect figure. This was repeated three times. After this, Sarah bore a son, Isaac, which aroused her to say, "God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me" (ib. 2, where the prophet appeals to his hearers to "look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you.". Give your Friends or Yourself a Personalized Gift. 10 et seq.). First, Abraham is the recipient of the promise, and he laughs (ib. xlv. The story of Sarah's life, brief and incomplete as it is, presents nevertheless curious repetitions, e.g., the incident with Pharaoh and a similar incident with Abimelech (Gen. xii. Sarai = Sarah, on the other hand, is the name of a clan—Israel. She was called also "Iscah" (Gen. xi. 15-21). Abraham was a witness of this interview, God causing the walls of the house to become transparent for the purpose. lviii. B. 1). 1-12). xxxii.). Moreover, a similar incident is reported in regard to Isaac and Rebecea (ib. xviii.) She was superior to Abraham in the gift of prophecy (Ex. Sarah's death is very briefly recorded as having taken place in Kirjath-arba, or Hebron, when she had attained the age of 127 years. Use this code: Print Search Again. The promise of Isaac and the explanation of the name are given in duplicate. Noun שרירות (sherirut) describes firmness in a negative sense: stubbornness. 10 et seq. The final letter י (yod) of the name Sarai gives the noun a possessive form, and would mean My Princess. Ii. According to one tradition it was when Pharaoh saw these miracles wrought in Sarah's behalf that he gave her his daughter Hagar as slave, saying: "It is better that my daughter should be a slave in the house of such a woman than mistress in another house"; Abimelech acted likewise (Gen. R. xlv. 4). Mystery verb שרה (sara) is used only to describe what Jacob did with the Angel (Genesis 32:29 and Hosea 12:4). Abraham and Sarah represent a sort of elementary monotheism, a religion standing midway between pure Mosaism and the Canaanite cults. Afterward Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham; and when Ishmael was born she became so jealous that she could no longer live with Hagar. 9). xii. The fact that now she had a son of her own augmented her displeasure with Hagar and Ishmael; and Abraham, at her solicitation, sent both away after God had quieted his scruples (ib. The king then ceased to annoy her ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.). Gen. R. liii. Finally the king restored Sarah to Abraham and loaded her with presents. She was the only woman whom God deemed worthy to be addressed by Him directly, all the other prophetesses receiving their revelations through angels (ib. During Sarah's lifetime her house was always hospitably open, the dough was miraculously increased, a light burned from Friday evening to Friday evening, and a pillar of cloud rested upon the entrance to her tent (Gen. R. lx. Such was the origin of the wearing of earrings. Put this Hebrew name on your site or blog! (1) The Patriarchs, including Abraham, so likewise his wives, were historical individuals reports of whose adventures and deeds have come down through long and differing channels of oral tradition. In that case the meaning "princess" now given to "Sarah" must be abandoned. 31). 7). She accompanied her husband from Haran to Canaan (ib. xvii.). The boy wailed and wept; but he could not escape from his father." des Volkes Israel, 1899; H. P. Smith, Old Testament History, 1903. idem, Persian version, translated by Zotenberg, Paris, 1867, Index; Weill, Biblical Legends of the Mussulmans, New York, 1846, s.v. "Sarai" is probably the more archaic form of "Sarah," though the termination "ai" is unusual in the feminine. Noun משרה (mishra) denotes the juice of grapes. My Hebrew Name: Sarai in Hebrew (Note: English names which are not derived from Hebrew names are normally represented below by Hebrew names with similar underlying meanings.) In this scheme Abraham becomes the "great ancestor" (Abram), or "the ancestor of many nations." Theirvarious views may be summarized as follows: The most likely of all these views is the one that makes Sarai an eponym for Israel. 14). Every one of the officials wished to secure possession of her, each offering a higher sum than his rival (Gen. R. xl. That matriarchy once prevailed, that blood-relationship was traced only through the mother, that marriage by capture or purchase was the rule, form probably the historical kernel involved in the repeated narratives of Sarai's marital adventures with men other than Abraham. (Note: English names which are not derived from Hebrew names are normally When brought before Pharaoh, Sarah said that Abraham was her brother, and the king thereupon bestowed upon the latter many presents and marks of distinction ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.). xx. Noun שריה (shirya) denotes a kind of weapon and noun שריון (shiryon) or שרין (shiryan) describes body armor — the link between physical, political and intellectual rigidity is obvious (see Ephesians 6:14). (7) The mythological theory makes Sarai identical with Ishtar. NAS: Sarai was barren; she had no KJV: But Sarai was barren; INT: become Sarai was barren had. The element "sarah" is identical with a part of the name "Israel," and "Sarah" and "Sarai" are appropriate names for Israel's mother (Isa. When, on that supposition, the king wished to marry her and reached out to take her, Sarah prayed God to wither his hand; and when the king promised not to touch her, she prayed God to restore it. li. She was so beautiful that all other persons seemed apes in comparison (B. The two forms of the name, "Sarah" and "Sarai," are identical in meaning; it is difficult to understand the reason for the change. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was, according to some accounts, the sister of Lot and the daughter of Aran, Abraham's paternal uncle. This accounts for the duplications and discrepancies. (4) Originally, Canaanite local eponyms connected with Israel; the Patriarchs were later ranged and ranked systematically, so as to establish an exclusive descent for Israel and disclose its distinction as the people of Yhwh. Derived noun משרה (misra) literally means "place or agent of שרה (sara)." Sarah was sterile; but a miracle was vouchsafed to her (Gen. R. xlvii. xvii. On one occasion she swore that she would not rest satisfied until her hands had been dipped in Hagar's blood, whereupon Abraham immediately pierced Hagar's ears so that the blood might be on Sarah's hands. He insisted on her choosing for herself one of his slave girls, and she selected Hagar, for whom she had conceived a liking. In the second narrative (ib. The writer of Gen. xvii. For a meaning of the name Sarai, NOBSE Study Bible Name List groups it without further comment with Sarah and seems to translate both names with Princess. 13a; Gen. R. xlvii. The promise of Jesus', that streams of living water would emerge from within (John 7:38), tells of a curing of social lymphedema, when pools of stagnant wealth (whether fat, cash or data) are re-released into society to benefit all (for more on this, see our article on the noun δουλος, doulos). The unedited full-text of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia. 2). Read about the Hebrews' powerful invention of the vowel notation — which made the writing of names such as Sarah and Sarai possible — in our article on Yahweh, the Name of the Lord. Wishing not to be involved in the quarrel, Abraham told her to do with her handmaid as she deemed best, and Hagar was soon compelled to flee by the harsh treatment accorded her; but an angel, announcing that her seed would be numerous, urged her to return to Sarah (ib.