Bible Word Study
שָׂרָה
Sârâh · Sarah, Abraham's wife
שָׂרָה
Sarah, Abraham's wife
Definition
Sarah (שָׂרָה) is the name given by God to Abraham's wife, originally called Sarai (שָׂרַי). The name change from Sarai to Sarah, recorded in Genesis 17:15, signifies her divinely appointed role as the mother of nations and kings, specifically through her son Isaac (Genesis 17:16). As the matriarch of Israel, Sarah is central to the Abrahamic covenant, embodying the promise of miraculous offspring despite her old age and initial barrenness (Genesis 18:10-14). Her story illustrates God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises against all human impossibility.
Biblical Usage
The name Sarah is used exclusively in Genesis (with a single posthumous reference in Isaiah 51:2) to refer to Abraham's wife. It appears primarily in narrative passages detailing God's covenant promises (Genesis 17:15-21), the announcement of Isaac's birth (Genesis 18), and family events. The usage consistently highlights her identity as Abraham's wife and Isaac's mother, emphasizing her crucial role in salvation history.
Etymology
Sarah (שָׂרָה) is the feminine form of the noun שַׂר (sar, H8269), meaning 'chief, ruler, prince.' It is essentially identical to the common noun שָׂרָה (sarah, H8282), meaning 'princess, noblewoman, queen.' God changes her name from Sarai (likely 'my princess') to Sarah ('princess'), universalizing her status from a personal relationship to a national and royal destiny as the mother of kings.
Semantic Range
Sarah is a pivotal figure in the theology of covenant and promise. Her miraculous conception of Isaac (Genesis 21:1-7) demonstrates God's power to bring life from barrenness, a theme echoed in the New Testament (Romans 4:19, Hebrews 11:11). As the free woman in Paul's allegory (Galatians 4:21-31), she represents the covenant of promise and grace. Understanding her name ('princess') enriches the reading of God's covenant, showing her integral, dignified role in the lineage of Christ. In the ancient Near East, a name change by a deity or superior signified a change in destiny or status. God renaming Sarai to Sarah publicly established her new identity and purpose within the covenant. Her initial barrenness was a severe cultural stigma, making God's intervention and her subsequent motherhood a profound reversal of shame into honor, demonstrating Yahweh's supremacy over cultural norms and biological limits. Sarai (Śāray, H8297) — Sarah's original name, meaning 'my princess,' denoting a personal or relational status before the covenant formalization.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]