Sarah
The wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac, and the first of the matriarchs. Barren into old age, she gave her servant Hagar to Abraham to bear a child, then dealt harshly with her when Ishmael was born. She laughed behind the tent door when told she would have a son at ninety — and named him Isaac, 'he laughs', when the promise was kept. Twice she was passed off as Abraham's sister to protect him in foreign courts. She died at Hebron aged a hundred and twenty-seven, and Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah to bury her; the New Testament holds her up as an example of faith.
What we know — and how we know it
Utilisateur:Djampa - User:Djampa — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
ArchaeologyGenesis says Sarah was the first laid in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, the tomb Abraham bought when she died there. The site is marked today by a massive stone enclosure raised by Herod the Great in the 1st century BC — the oldest such structure still in use — venerated as the Tomb of the Patriarchs ever since.
Where in scripture
GenesisIsaiahRomansHebrews1 PeterAbram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah.
Genesis 11:29
Sarai was barren. She had no child.
Genesis 11:30
Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
Genesis 11:31
Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan.
Genesis 12:5
When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.
Genesis 12:11
Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
Genesis 12:17
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Genesis 16:1
Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Genesis 16:2
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
Family
In their own words — 6 recorded sayings
“And Sarai said to Abram, See, the Lord has not let me have children; go in to my servant, for I may get a family through her. And Abram did as Sarai said.” — Genesis 16:2
“And Sarai said to Abram, May my wrong be on you: I gave you my servant for your wife and when she saw that she was with child, she no longer had any respect for me: may the Lord be judge between you and me.” — Genesis 16:5
“And Sarah, laughing to herself, said, Now that I am used up am I still to have pleasure, my husband himself being old?” — Genesis 18:12
“And Sarah said, God has given me cause for laughing, and everyone who has news of it will be laughing with me. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would have a child at her breast? for see, I have given him a son now when he is old.” — Genesis 21:6-7
“So she said to Abraham, Send away that woman and her son: for the son of that woman is not to have a part in the heritage with my son Isaac.” — Genesis 21:10
“What then do the Writings say? Send away the servant-woman and her son; for the son of the servant-woman will not have a part in the heritage with the son of the free woman.” — Galatians 4:30
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
In art
