Where was Sarah in the Bible talked about?

Answer 1

I. The Book of Genesis

Sarah, originally named Sarai, was the wife of Abraham, originally named Abram. We first encounter Sarai in Gn 11:29 as the wife of Abram and as being barren with no children.

Abram's Call and Migration

Their story begins in Genesis 12 with Abram's call from God (cf. Gn 12:1-9) and their leaving their homeland to set out for the land of Canaan.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

After settling in Negeb, a severe famine struck the land, so he and Sarai travelled to Egypt for relief. (cf. Gn 12:10-20).

Birth of Ishmael

Because Sarai was unable to bear children for Abram, Sarai requests that Abram raise a child through her maidservant Hagar, who gave birth to Ishmael. (cf. Gn 16:1-16)

Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was very old, God established a covenant with him in which Abram shall become a "father of a host of nations." (cf. Gn 17:1-27) God signifies this covenant through

a) the requirement of circumcision,

b) renaming Abram as Abraham, and

c) renaming Sarai as Sarah.

The New American Bible has the following commentary: Abram and Abraham are merely two forms of the same name, both meaning, "the father is exalted"; another variant form is Abiram (Nm 16:1; 1 Kgs 16:34). The additional -ha- in the form Abraham is explained by folk etymology as coming from ab-hamon goyim, "father of a host of nations."

Thus, God changed Abram's name to Abraham so that his name would signify what he would become, namely, a father of a host of nations.

The New American Bible has the following commentary: Sarai and Sarah are variant forms of the same name, both meaning "princess."

Abraham's Visitor's

Three visitors come to Abraham and Sarah and foretell that despite her being barren and her old age, Sarah will give birth to a child. She later names this child Isaac. (cf. Gn 18:1-15)

Abraham at Gerar

While in Gerar, Abraham and Sarah refer to each other as brother and sister rather than husband and wife. Nevertheless, God kept Abimelech from sinning against the marriage of Abraham and Sarah. The story is very similar to the account of their visit to Egypt in Gn 12:10-20. (cf. Gn 20:1-18)

Birth of Isaac

At the birth of Abraham and Sarah's son Isaac, Isaac was circumcised and difficult feelings arose between Sarah and her maidservant Hagar who gave birth to Ishmael. (cf. Gn 21:1-21)

Purchase of a Burial Place

Sarah finally died in Kiriatharba in the land of Canaan at the age of 127. Although the Hittites generously offered Abraham the best burial grounds for Sarah, Abraham nevertheless insisted on paying for a field rather than receiving it as a gift, so as to establish a small land right in the land that God had promised him. (cf. Gn 23:1-18)

II. The Book of Tobit

There is another Sarah who is a central figure in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit. In the story, Tobiah is accompanied by the archangel Raphael to bring back a sum of money for his father Tobit, and also to marry a young woman named Sarah.

Tobiah was at first hesitant to marry Sarah, because she had been married seven times before, and all seven husbands had died in their bridal chambers:

Then the yong man answered the Angel, I have heard, brother Azarias, that this maide hath beene given to seven men, who all died in the marriage chamber. Tobit 6:13 KJV (quoted from an exact photographic replica of existing original 1611 print)

Theologians and scholars have indicated that this story of Sarah is later alluded to when the Sadducees question Jesus about the resurrection:

On that day Sadducees approached him, saying that there is no resurrection. They put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies without children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up descendants for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died and, having no descendants, left his wife to his brother. The same happened with the second and the third, through all seven. Finally the woman died. Now at the resurrection, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had been married to her." Jesus said to them in reply, "You are misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven. And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. Matthew 22:23-33 NAB (see also the other synoptic accounts in Mark 12:18-27 and Luke 20:27-40)

This story of the marriage of Sarah and Tobias is also a commonly chosen Old Testament reading for the liturgy of the Word during the Sacrament of Marriage (cf. Together for Life by Joseph M. Champlin, Ave Maria Press: Notre Dame, IN, pp.16-19)

Moreover, through this story, theologians and scholars have indicated the proper attitude of spouses toward each other in sexual intimacy, as well as the necessity of a couple's reliance on God through every adversity:

And after that they were both shut in together, Tobias rose out of the bed and said, Sister, arise, and let us pray, that God would have pitie on us. Then began Tobias to say,

Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers, and blessed is thy holy and glorious Name for ever, let the heavens blesse thee, and all thy creatures. Thou madest Adam, and gavest him Eve his wife for an helper & stay: of them came mankind: thou hast said, It is not good that man should bee alone, let us make unto him an aide like to himselfe.

And now, O Lord, I take not this my sister for lust, but uprightly: therefore mercifully ordeine, that wee may become aged together. And she said with him, Amen. Tobit 8:4-8 KJV (ibid.)

III. The Book of Isaiah

The prophet Isaiah recalls the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah at the beginning of chapter 51:

Listen to me, you who pursue justice, who seek the LORD; Look to the rock from which you were hewn, to the pit from which you were quarried; Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth; When he was but one I called him, I blessed him and made him many. Isaiah 51:1-2 NAB

IV. The Letter of St. Paul to the Romans

St. Paul also recalls the covenant God established in Abraham and Sarah when he writes about Abraham:

He believed, hoping againsthope, that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what wassaid, "Thus shall your descendants be." He did not weaken in faith when heconsidered his own body as (already)dead (for he was almost a hundred yearsold) and the dead womb ofSarah. Romans 4:18-19 NAB

St. Paul again recalls the covenant in Abraham and Sarah, recalling that God's covenant and plan for salvation history shall continue through their son Isaac (as opposed to, say, Abraham's son Ishmael):

But it is not that the word of Godhas failed. For not all who are ofIsrael are Israel, nor are they all children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but "It is throughIsaac that descendants shallbear your name." Thismeans that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children ofGod, but the children of thepromise are counted asdescendants. For this is the wordingof the promise, "About this time I shall return and Sarah will have ason." Romans 9:6-9 NAB

V. The Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians

In Galatians, St. Paul refers to Sarah as a freeborn woman (cf. Hagar, her maidservant). He compares and contrasts the child of Sarah - Isaac, with the child of Hagar - Ishmael, through an allegory:

For it is written that Abrahamhad two sons, one by the slavewoman and the other by the freebornwoman. The son of theslave woman was bornnaturally, the son of thefreeborn through a promise. Now this is an allegory. These womenrepresent two covenants. One was fromMount Sinai, bearing childrenfor slavery; this is Hagar.Hagar represents Sinai, amountain in Arabia; itcorresponds to the presentJerusalem, for she is in slavery along with her children. But the Jerusalemabove is freeborn, and she is ourmother. Galatians 4:22-26 NAB

VI. The Letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews

In Hebrews, St. Paul again recalls the covenant God established with Abraham and Sarah while discussing the significance of faith:

By faith he received powerto generate, even though he was pastthe normal age - and Sarahherself was sterile - for he thoughtthat the one who had made the promise wastrustworthy. So it was that there cameforth from one man, himself asgood as dead, descendantsas numerous as the stars in thesky and as countless as thesands on the seashore. Hebrews 11:11-12 NAB

VII. 1st Letter of Peter

St. Peter recalls Sarah's disposition toward Abraham when writing on the conduct and dress of women:

Your adornment should not be anexternal one: braiding thehair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of theheart, expressed in theimperishable beauty of a gentleand calm disposition, which isprecious in the sight of God. For this is also how the holy women whohoped in God once used to adornthemselves and were subordinate to theirhusbands; thus Sarah obeyedAbraham, calling him "lord." You are her children when you do what isgood and fear nointimidation. 1 Peter 3:3-6 NAB