Abraham's wife: biblical history, etymology of the name Sarah, biography, family and divine destiny

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The Bible tells its readers many interesting and soul-stirring stories. We meet interesting characters who perform feats, sometimes finding themselves in fantastic or difficult circumstances, but with the help of God, remain unscathed.

The story of Abraham, the progenitor of the Jewish race, and his wife is a story of deep trust in the Almighty. The life of these ancient people was full of trials, difficulties, passions, mistakes, but they always followed God, even when it was hard and did not believe that the Lord would fulfill his promises.

One of the most striking female characters of the Old Testament was the wife of the forefather of the Jewish people. What was the name of Abraham's wife, the story of her life, behavior, character, purpose and fate will be shown in this article.

How it all started

The Bible tells that Abram lived with his father and brothers in the Sumerian city of Ur, located on the banks of the Euphrates River. Ur was famous for its ports, in which there were many ships. This large city quickly grew rich in trade withother lands, including Canaan. Abram's father, Terah, decided to leave Ur and go the hard way to Canaan. When they reached a place called Haran, the father died, and Abram became the head of the clan.

At this time, God appeared to Abram and said that he must leave the house in Haran and follow the lands that the Lord will show him. This choice was difficult for Abraham. He loved life in the city, but did not want to run away from God, he listened to the voice of the Creator and trusted Him. The Lord said that Abram would become the forefathers of an entire nation if he obeyed Him. God changed his name to Abraham, which means "parent of many". In the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis we read the following lines:

And the Lord said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your kindred, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you; and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will magnify your name, and you will be a blessing.

In Harran, Abraham left the farm to his brother, Nahor, and he chose the path of a Bedouin cattle breeder. With Abraham, his nephew Lot and his faithful wife left the rich lands. The name of Abraham's wife is Sarah.

The meaning of the name and appearance of Sarah

Let's dwell on the image of Abraham's wife. Abraham's wife in the biblical tradition was called Sarah. Translated from the Hebrew name Sarah means "princess", "mistress of many". At birth, Sarah had a different name - Sarah or Sarai, which meant "noble." But God, when he added the second letter a to Abram, did the same with Sarah, only added the second r to the name. This came to mean that Sarah would be the mother of a large nation.

Sarah became Abraham's wife in Ur of the Chaldees, where they grew up and lived until they decided to go to the land of Canaan. She was the half-sister of her husband. Abraham's wife Sarah accompanied her husband on all his travels and was about 10 years younger than him. Sarah is considered the founder of the Jewish people. But at the time when she left Ur, the nationality of Abraham's wife was not yet Jewish. Jews began to call their descendants. With a greater degree of probability, we can conclude that Sarah was a Chaldean, as she grew up in Mesopotamia, on the right bank of the Euphrates River, where the Chaldeans lived in those days.

It is evident from Scripture that Sarah was a very beautiful woman. There are no verses in the Bible that would praise the beauty of Sarah, however, if we take the narrative context, we can conclude that Abraham's wife was beautiful.

Looking ahead, let's say that his girlfriend was so beautiful that Abraham, fearing for his life, tried to pass Sarah off as his own sister when they lived at the court of the Egyptian pharaoh and the king of Gerara - Abimelech. Abraham had something to fear. Then there were many cases when the rulers, without hesitation, could kill a person, and take a beautiful wife to him. Abraham's wife dutifully followed her husband's orders and obeyed him in everything.

Character of Sarah

Abraham's wife Sarah was not an obedient puppet in the hands of her husband.

Yes, she obeyed Abraham, but she had a harmful, and at times stubborn character, thanks to which she could insist on her decision. In Genesis 21, verse 12, God personally speaksAbraham to obey the voice of his wife:

whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice.

Abraham regularly asked his wife for advice or advice, and also considered it important for him to get Sarah's approval in order to make this or that decision.

As described in the Bible, Sarah, Abraham's wife, pointed out what her husband needed to do, and he fulfilled her requests. An example is the relationship between Sarah and Hagar. Sarah asked Abraham to cast out the maid who bore him a son. Abraham did not want to expel Hagar, but Sarah showed a tough character, and he was forced to obey his wife. Abraham sent a servant girl and son into exile, even though he did it against his will.

Sarah in Egypt

When Abraham left his home in Haran and wandered through the land of Canaaan, there was a severe famine in these parts, there was no food. So he went to Egypt to provide for his family and servants.

When Abraham ended up in Egypt, he gave Sarah to Pharaoh's palace. A logical question arises. Why did Abraham give his wife to Pharaoh? The answer lies in the character of Abraham. He was afraid that he would be killed. Even in Canaan, from travelers who met on his way, he heard that the Egyptian pharaohs, if they see a beautiful wife with her husband, they will do everything so that the woman becomes an adornment of their court. Many men suffered from the desire of the rulers to possess their wives, and were killed. For this reason, Abraham gave his wife to Pharaoh - to stay alive.

In the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis, we read that on the way to Egypt, Abraham asked Sarah not to tell anyone that theyspouses. He persuaded him to say that she is his sister, then he will be left alive and the pharaoh may well give him gifts:

and when the Egyptians see you, they will say: this is his wife; and they will kill me, and let you live; tell me that you are my sister, so that I may be well for your sake, and that my soul may live through you.

Sarah obeyed her husband, as she had done before. She realized that such a move could lead to family enrichment and prosperity. Abraham was a savvy man, before his cunning brought them only benefits.

So it happened. In Egypt, the pharaoh's nobles liked the beauty of Sarah, they took her to serve in the palace, and "brother" Abraham was given small and large cattle, slaves and slaves.

But God did not want Abraham to live in deceit, and did not fulfill his destiny. The Lord struck Pharaoh and his family with a terrible disease, and then Abraham's deceit was revealed.

One day Pharaoh summoned Sarah and Abraham. He asked why they deceived him, because soon the pharaoh thought to marry Sarah and take her as his wife. The ruler of Egypt was very upset, but was merciful and drove the deceivers out of the palace, and his servants escorted them to the border with Canaan.

Sarah and Hagar

After Egypt, Abraham returned to Canaan with his family, livestock, and slaves. Between Bethel and Ai, at the sacrificial stone he made long ago, Abraham thanked God for keeping him on the road and keeping him from Pharaoh's wrath. At this point, Abraham parted ways with his nephew Lot, who decided to separate fromuncles and live independently.

Abraham settled in Hebron, near the oak forest of Mamre. God's promise that Sarah would give birth to a child from whom Abraham's offspring would come was still not fulfilled. The Lord repeatedly confirmed his covenant with Abraham that he would give them a child. Time passed, Sarah grew old, and no heir was born. Then Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands and thought that if she was not destined to give birth to a child, let the maid give them offspring with Abraham.

Sarah brought a maid to her husband, whom she brought with her from Egypt. The maid's name was Hagar. She told Abraham to spend the night with her so that Hagar could conceive a child. Interestingly, Abraham obeyed Sarah. In Genesis 16:2 we read:

behold, the Lord has closed my womb so that I would not give birth; come in to my maid: perhaps I will have children by her. Abram listened to Sarah's words.

Sarah assumed that when Hagar gave birth to a child, she would be able to take the child with her so that her husband could have a long-awaited heir to whom he could leave all his property.

Abraham followed his wife's advice without question and went to the maid's tent in order to conceive a child. They spent a pleasant night, after which Hagar realized that she was carrying a child.

When Hagar found out she was pregnant, she hated her mistress, Sarah. It follows from the biblical context that Sarah ran to her husband and began to scold him, express her claims to him, declare Abraham guilty of her position: what is it, I let you spend the night with my maid, and she despises me. Of course, a very strange female act: she herself became the organizer, allowed her husband to cheat with a maid, and then looks for the guilty on the side. In verse 6 of chapter 16 we read Abraham's answer:

here, your maid is in your hands; do with her what you please.

Abraham washed his hands and left the fate of Hagar to his wife, because she is her servant, let Sarah deal with her herself. And Sarah began to oppress, insult and humiliate Hagar. Most likely, the maid was brought to such a state that she could no longer endure the insults of the mistress, and left the oak forest of Mamre, ran away.

When Hagar was in the desert, an angel of God appeared to her. He told her to return to Abraham and Sarah and become obedient to her mistress. An angel delivered a message to Hagar from God that a great nation would come from her (Genesis 16:10):

multiplying I will multiply your offspring, so that it will not be possible to count them from the multitude.

Hagar returned to Sarah and gave birth to a son, whom she named Ishmael. He is considered the ancestor of the Arab tribes.

Sarah in this episode is a grumpy, vindictive woman with a sinful human nature. Sarah is an ordinary person. She does not see her mistakes, but tries to blame others for the misfortunes that occur in her life.

Guests of Abraham

When Abraham was sitting at the entrance to the tent, like a true Bedouin, he noticed that three people were approaching him. Abraham ran up to these people and bowed, he somehow knew that one of the guests was the Lord. He rejoiced that God had come to visit him. The owner of the house began to fuss tofeed the guests. Women were in charge of the household. Abraham ran to Sarah and asked her to bake unleavened cakes for dear guests, and asked the servant to take the best calf and cook it.

The guests told Abraham that God would give him offspring, fulfill His covenant, what He promised would be fulfilled. Sarah overheard her husband talking to the guests and laughed. It was funny to her that she could still have a baby. Sarah understood that she was old, and usually all the reproductive functions of the body are already inactive at this age.

The Lord did not understand Sarah's laughter. The answer is described in the Bible: Abraham's wife, Sarah, shared her doubt that it was impossible to give birth to a child in old age. To which the Lord told Abraham that the child would be born next year.

When Sarah, Abraham's wife, heard what one of the guests said, she lied about not laughing. But nothing can be hidden from the Lord, He knows the heart of every person. Sarah was afraid that she doubted the words of God, and therefore she told a lie.

Abraham, Sarah and Abimelech

Abraham wandered through the land of Canaan and on his way stopped in the city of Gerar, whose king was Abimelech.

The same scenario happened to Abraham in Gerar as in Egypt. Abraham does not learn from mistakes, or vice versa, he realized that passing off his wife as a sister, one can benefit.

When they saw in Gerar that Abraham's wife was a very beautiful woman, they told the king about it, and he, in turn, ordered to bring her to the palace along with her man. Abraham, appearing before Abimelech, deceived the king, declaring that this was not his wife, but his sister. Sarah remained silent and obeyed her husband in everything.

The Lord came to Abimelech in a dream at night. He warned Abimelech not to touch Sarah and sent her back to her husband in the morning. God warned the king that if he did otherwise, He would kill him and all of Abimelech's family.

At dawn, the king called Abraham and his wife to him. Abimelech was indignant why Abraham did this to him, he asked him what prompted him to such an act. Abraham stood before the king and honestly confessed everything. He said that he was afraid that for the beautiful Sarah he might be killed. Abraham explained to Abimelech that he and his wife agreed that wherever they came, Sarah should say that Abraham was her brother. The forefather of the Jewish people partly lied. Sarah was his wife, but they were brother and sister by father, but their mothers were different.

Abimelech returned his wife to Abraham, gave him money (silver shekels), livestock and slaves. Sarah the king of Gerar said that she was now justified before the people and clean.

Fulfillment of the covenant

As God promised, the following year Sarah gave birth to a child, and they named him Isaac. The birth was not easy, Sarah was old.

After the birth, Sarah looked at the baby and grumbled that people would laugh when they learned that the old woman not only gave birth to a child, but also was able to breastfeed. In the 21st chapter of the book of Genesis we read:

And Sarah said: Laughter made meGod; whoever hears of me will laugh. And she said: who would say to Abraham: Sarah will breastfeed her children? for in his old age I gave birth to a son. The child has grown and weaned; and Abraham made a great feast the day Isaac was weaned.

Abraham rejoiced that an heir promised by God was born, a child from whom a large nation will come. On this occasion, when Sarah stopped breastfeeding, he gave a rich feast.

Farewell Hagar

Sarah began to notice that Ishmael, the son of Hagar from Abraham, loved to mock the young Isaac - tease and laugh at him. Sarah did not like this behavior of Ishmael. She came to Abraham and sternly declared that her husband should drive out the slave and her son.

Sarah was crafty. She took advantage of the moment to get rid of the hated maidservant, Abraham's first-born Ishmael, so that her son would receive all the property that he would get from his father.

Abraham obeyed his wife. He remembered the words of the Lord that he should listen to the voice of Sarah.

Early in the morning, Abraham gathered bread, water, gave it all to the maid and sent her and Ishmael away from his tent. It was hard for Abraham to part with his firstborn, whom he loved, but he did not want to go against the will of his wife and God.

Hagar and her son wandered in the desert and got lost. When water and food ran out, Ishmael was close to dying. Desperate, Hagar laid her son under a tree, and she herself went away so as not to see the death of her beloved child. Hagar sat down on a rock and wept. But God did not leave the Egyptian. Came an angeland pointed to the source of water. Happy Hagar and Ishmael ran and drank from the well. They settled near a water source. When Ishmael grew up, Hagar found him an Egyptian wife, with whom he had 12 sons.

Death and burial of Sarah

There is a hypothesis that says that Sarah died before Abraham, because the mother's heart could not stand it when she learned that her husband almost sacrificed his son. Abraham passed the test from God, his faith was strong, but Sarah could not survive such an act of her husband, she was old and her heart began to hurt a lot. But this is just the opinion of a number of Bible scholars.

Genesis 23 tells us how Sarah died and where she was buried.

Sarah died at the age of 127 in Kiriath Arba, this area is now called Hebron. Abraham wept for a long time that his beloved wife was gone, and when the time came to bury Sarah, it turned out that the land for her burial could not be found anywhere.

Abraham went to the sons of Heth and began to ask them for a place to bury his wife. They gave a positive answer, saying that Abraham could choose the best piece of burial ground for Sarah. Abraham wanted to bury his wife in the cave of Machpelah, which belonged to Ephron. But Ephron sold Abraham not only the cave, but also the field for 400 shekels. Sarah was buried in Machpelah, and Abraham said goodbye to his wife.

Abraham had a second wife after Sarah - Keturah, from whom he had other children. But Abraham gave his we alth, cattle and slavesIsaac.

Abraham died at 175 and was buried next to Sarah.

Now we know the name of Abraham's wife, it is clear from the Bible what kind of character she had. She lived a long life, fulfilled her destiny on earth, giving birth to an heir to Abraham - Isaac. Sarah was an ordinary person: an obedient wife, economic, grouchy, vindictive, envious, proud, but strong and faithful to God and her husband.