Introduction

Sarah, born Sarai, is the mother of Isaac and the wife of Abraham. She is a pivotal figure of the old testament. Abraham is often called the father of many nations, thus as his wife and the mother of the son that produced God's chosen nation, she is the mother of His chosen nations. Sarah is one of the few women for whom we receive lots of details about their life and death. We are even provided a euology of sorts that Abraham gives when she dies.

Character

Disclaimer: Liberty taken with the depiction of Sarah.
Please remember the Bible does not
specify a description for most individuals.

Sarah is one of the most spotlighted women in the book of Genesis. We are given a whole chapter on Abraham dealing with her death and preparing her gravesite. The first trait we glean from the pages about Sarah, is eagerness to provide Abraham a child; so much so that she gives her handmaid, Hagar, to Abraham as a wife. When Hagar gives birth to Ismael, Abraham's first and only son at time, Hagar feel "above" Sarah leading to tension between the two. Sarah confronts Abraham about Hagar's treatment of her and having more allegiance to Sarah than to Hagar, Abraham demotes Hagar back to handmaid status, allowing Sarah to deal with the situation as she pleased. We are told that Hagar is so distraught from Sarah's wrath that she flees. Thus we must conclude that Sarah was both a loving wife and a bit of a hot head.

Being "barren" during that time period would have been very difficult for a woman, as their worth was often determined by their ability to produce male heirs. People would have likely talked about her and may have suggested that she was cursed. Yet this seems to be a trend amongst God's chosen women. Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel all have "trouble" conceiving. God promised Sarah that she would have a child, but neither Sarah nor Abraham believed Him. When Sarah does have a child at 90 years old, she once again has Hagar removed so that Ishmael cannot continue to taunt Isaac. Sarah was given much power in terms of decision making by both Abraham, and God (who agreed that Abraham should listen to Sarah the second time she asked to send Hagar away).

Aside from Sarah laughing at God's promise to grant her a son, we don't see much of Sarah's relationship with God. However, her action of giving her handmaid to Abraham to provide him with children suggests that she at least believed God meant great things for his descendants. Also, the fact that we are told so much about both Abraham and Isaac mourning her death suggests that she was a very beloved person.

Descendants

Sarah is the mother of Isaac. She is the grandmother of Jacob (Israel), and thus the Israelite nation.

15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Genesis 17:15-16 KJV

Origins

Sarah is Abraham's half sister, so part of her ancestry is shared with him, but we aren't told which parts. I found variying information online with some even claiming that she might have been part Hittite (which may be supported by the fact that she was buried in Hittite territory). This question about Sarah's origins also appears in the discussion of her name and name change. Some believe that Sarai, her birth name, was a Hittite deity. I could not find conclusive evidence however.[1][2][4]

Questions

About the Passages

1. How did Sarah feel about being taken by other men when she pretended to only be Abraham's sister?
   • Was Abraham not jealous?
   • Did she have to sleep with Pharaoh and Abimelech?
   • Is this the obedience she is praised for?
   • How old was Sarah during these events?
   • What was Sarah's routine that she was being fought over at that age?[3]
2. How did Sarah feel about the name change?
   • Did she forget her new name at times?
   • Did Abraham actually call her by her new name?
3. What did Sarah say to Hagar to get her to sleep with Abraham?
   • What was their relationship like before?
   • Did Hagar feel obligated?
   • Did Sarah reassure Hagar she could say no?
   • Was Sarah jealous of their relationship before the pregnancy?
   • Did Abraham care about Hagar?
   • Why didn't Abraham take a new wife before that moment?
4. How did Sarah cope knowing her attempt to "solve" the problem made it messier and more complicated?
5. Sarah requested Hagar be sent away, what other requests did Sarah make to Abraham?
6. What was it like being pregnant at 90 years old?
   • Were there any complications
   • Was it hard raising a child being that old?
7. Why did Sarah deny laughing at the angel's proclamation?
8. Did Sarah believe/have fiath that God would keep the promise?
9. Did she blame herself? Especially after Hagar got pregnant?
10. Did she have any friends or support?
11. Did she send letters back to Ur to their family?
12. What role did Sarah play in the household?
13. Did Isaac ever tell her what happened when Abraham almost sacrificed him?
    • What was her reaction?
    • Did she know when Abraham left?
    • Would she have let him go if she knew?

If I could talk to Sarah

Sarah is probably one of the most "all over the place" women in the Bible—she's beatiful (despite being old), barren, a mother, a match maker-ish, hot tempered, and obedient. We see lots of sides to her, which makes her the most relatable to me because she's not just one thing. But how did she balance all that? Lots of her experiences mirror things I've experienced too.

• How did she feel about traveling and leaving family behind?
• Did she feel like she let Abraham down or that he was disappointed in her leading up to the whole mess with Hagar?
• Did she ever forgive herself for suggesting Abraham sleep with Hagar?
• How much did her experiences with Pharaoh and Abimelech play in to her decision?
• Sarah died before Isaac married, but what advice would she have given Rebekah knowing she went through the same struggle and pain?
• Did Sarah regret anything about how her life played out?
• Would she have encouraged Rebekah's faith or anger/disappointment?

Phototheology

Phototheology is a way of learning the Bible taught by Ivor Myers.[5] I am employing this technique in my weekly Woman of God study journal. The following three prompts are the ones I drew from the card deck while studying Sarah.

How does the text relate to me?

Sarah asked for something very specific from God: a child. Whether she married Abraham as a teenager or in her 20s, it took half a century for her desire to come to fruition. That's a huge test of patience. Every time I feel frustrated about something I have asked God for, I remind myself how long Sarah had to wait. I also remind myself that she didn't keep the faith the entire time—she brought in Hagar—and yet God still gave her the desires of her heart. I take comfort in knowing that even if I don't have perfect patience, if I repent I can still obtain what God has in store for me.

Connect with the mathematics of the 120 year Noahic prophecy

People often debate about whether the 120 years mentioned to Noah was in reference to how long before the flood or a new lifespan for people. Sarah lives quite a few generations after the flood and lives to be 127 years old, so I lean toward the 120 years referencing how long it would be until the flood. If you do the math (after reading all the "so and so begat so and so"s of Genesis, you'll discover that Noah's son Shem was still alive during Abraham and Sarah's lifetime. Someone who was on the ark and survived the flood was able to give a first hand account of the events during their life time. She may have heard the story of the flood straight from Shem's mouth, not as a story passed down and possibly altered through multiple generations. Why is that important? Imagine waiting 120 years for one of God's promises to come true? If God promised Noah a flood was going to occur in 120 years and kep that promise, surely He would keep His promise to Sarah and Abraham. More importantly, Sarah should have known that some of God's miracles take time. We often get impatient with His timing, but in comparison to Noah, Sarah didn't have to wait the long to receive her promise from God.

How does the text relate to temperance?

Temperance is the same as self control. We usually associate this with the ability to moderate ourself with things like alchohol. We never see Sarah drunk or gambling, but we do see her lose her temper with Hagar. This is a reminder that we may have self control in some aspects of our life but fail to maintain that control in others.

Journal Pages

Journal pages on Sarah from May 7-13, 2025

References & Footnotes

1. "Strong's H8283. שָׂרָה". Blue Letter Bible; visited July 2025
2. "Strong's H8297. שָׂרַי". Blue Letter Bible; visited July 2025
3. Genesis 12:4-5 plus Genesis 16:3 and Genesis 17:17 allows us to estimate that Sarah was between 65 and 90 when she was being fought over.
4. Christopher Eames. "What Does the Name ‘Sarai’ Really Mean?". Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archeology. December 21, 2022; visited May 2025
5. Pastor Ivor Myers' Phototheology Game Deck