Sarah

The wife of Abraham. Sarah's name was originally Sarai (Genesis 11:29). God changed her name to Sarah (which means "princess") when God promised that she would have a son and become the mother of nations and kings (17:15–16). Sarah was both the wife and the half-sister of Abraham (20:12).

Sarah went with Abraham in his journey from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran and eventually into the land of Canaan (Genesis 11:31; 12:5). For many years, she could not have children. When God promised Abraham that he would make of him a great nation (in 12:2) and that the land of Canaan would be given to his seed (verse 7), Sarah remained unable to have children.

After 10 years, Sarah continued without children (compare Genesis 12:4; 16:16). So she gave her Egyptian slave, Hagar, to Abraham as a concubine. Hagar had a son named Ishmael (16:3–4). God promised that a nation would come from Ishmael (17:20). But God said that Ishmael was not the child he had promised. Sarah herself was to be the mother of this child, even though she laughed when the birth was predicted. The fulfillment of this prediction took place with the birth of Isaac (21:2–3). Sarah was 90 years old, 25 years after God first promised Abraham would have children (17:17; 21:5).

When Abraham and Sarah first arrived in Canaan, they had to travel to Egypt because there was not enough food in Canaan. Abraham told the Egyptians that Sarah was only his sister, not his wife. Because Sarah was very beautiful, Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) took her into his palace (Genesis 12:11–15). The Egyptians treated Abraham well instead of killing him. God protected Sarah and Abraham's marriage by sending plagues on Pharaoh's household until he released Sarah.

A similar event happened in Gerar, where King Abimelech took Sarah into his household (chapter 20). Again, God protected Sarah and kept her as the mother of the promised child. God made sure there would be no doubt that Isaac was Abraham and Sarah's son. Isaac was born soon after this event (21:1–5). This was about a year after God had promised his birth (17:21; 18:10–14). Sarah died at the age of 127. She was buried in the cave at Machpelah, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite (chapter 23).

Apart from the book of Genesis, Sarah is referred to in the Old Testament only in Isaiah 51:2. The New Testament mentions her in Romans 4:19, 9:9, Hebrews 11:11, 1 Peter 3:6, and Galatians 4:21–31, although in the Galatians text, she is not mentioned by name.

The King James Version spelling of Serah, Asher’s daughter, in Numbers 26:46. See Serah.

The heroine (main female character) of the book of Tobit. Sarah's prayer of anguish was heard by God, who sent the angel Raphael as a matchmaker to arrange her marriage to Tobias (Tobit 6:9 and following). Sarah had been tormented by a demon, who had caused the death of her previous seven husbands. Tobias exorcised the demon using a recipe of fish heart and liver that was given to him by the angel Raphael (8:2). Tobit and his wife, Anna, died in Nineveh. After this, Tobias and Sarah, and their children returned to Sarah’s family in Ecbatana (14:12 and following).