Daughter of Terah, wife of the patriarch Abraham, and mother of Isaac.
About 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.
See also Abraham; Barrenness.
Family Relationships
Key References
And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.
Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.
Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
Now Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
All Scripture References (48)
Genesis (43)
And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.
But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.
And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,
The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.
Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”
“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.
“Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he said, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I am running away from my mistress Sarai,” she replied.
Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.
Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied.
Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’
Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”
Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.
And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”
for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.
Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,
But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.
Now Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and my master has given him everything he owns.
And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.
This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.
Isaiah (1)
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.
Romans (2)
Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.
For this is what the promise stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
Hebrews (1)
By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.
1 Peter (1)
just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.