Origin [↑]
Sarah was born into a pagan family. Sarah's father, Haran, was Abraham's (her future husband) [1] paternal half-brother. The Midrash tells about the tragic death of Aran during the interrogation of Abraham by Nimrod, the formidable king of Mesopotamia. Abraham, who “promoted” faith in one G-d, an ardent opponent of paganism, posed a threat to the absolute power of Nimrod, who attributed divine power to himself. Nimrod ordered Abraham to be thrown into the fire, but the Almighty saved him miraculously.
When Nimrod interrogated Abraham, Aran decided: if Abraham comes out of the fiery furnace alive, then he, Aran, will follow Abraham and go into the fire for his faith in one G-d, and if not, he will take Nimrod’s side. After the miraculous salvation of Abraham, Haran declared his faith in one G-d and was thrown into the oven, where he died. After the death of Aran, Abraham marries his brother's daughter, Sarah, who then still bore the name Sarai, and raises Aran's son, Lot.
Who is Prophet Abraham
Abraham (translated from Hebrew as “father of many”) is an Old Testament prophet, the ancestor of the Jewish people. The Prophet Abraham in Christianity is one of the three biblical patriarchs. These are the key saints of the Old Testament who carried out the will of God before the birth of Christ. The other two biblical patriarchs are Isaac (son of Abraham) and Jacob (grandson of Abraham).
Prophet Abraham (medieval Catholic mosaic)
Prophet Abraham is the founder of three world monotheistic (preaching monotheism) religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In this regard, the listed religions are called Abrahamic. All of them have their roots in Old Testament Judaism. In Islam, Abraham is revered as the prophet Ibrahim.
Sarah's Righteousness [↑]
Sarah was a great righteous woman and, like Abraham, was distinguished by boundless hospitality. All the days of Sarah's life, the doors of their tents were open to travelers, no matter who they were. She prepared delicious meals for all the guests, as seen in the story of the three angels at the beginning of the chapter of Vaer.
It also emphasizes Sarah’s extraordinary modesty: she spent most of her time in the tent, trying not to show herself to strangers unnecessarily.
The Midrash lists three miracles in the house of Abraham that were sent as a reward for Sarah's merits: the Divine cloud always stood over her tent, the Sabbath candle burned from one Sabbath to the next, and the dough was always blessed. After Sarah's death, these miracles stopped, but resumed when Isaac married Rivka[2].
Biblical criticism
The sacred book of the Jews, the Tanakh (Old Testament), has existed unchanged for about 3,000 years. Criticism of the first part of the Bible has existed for the same amount of time. In relation to Abraham, this is a skeptical attitude towards the words of the Lord, who promised:
- to make from him a great nation;
- magnify his name;
- through him to bless other nations.
The descendants of the righteous man became the ancestors of the Jews, Arabs and other peoples who preserved the name of their ancestor for thousands of years. No other person in earth's history has such fame. The Jews are a great people because they were marked by God, and the whole world knows about it.
Abraham, in anticipation of the fulfillment of these promises, grumbled and cried out to the Lord. God told him again and again that he would have an heir, and his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. Abraham believed God, and for this he became righteous. Faith is the main thing that matters to God. People try to gain righteousness by works, forgetting about faith.
Sarah's Prophecy [↑]
Sarah was, as we remember, the first of the seven Jewish prophetesses. Other foremothers were also prophetesses [3], but of them only Sarah received a prophecy that was significant for future generations: “The son of this slave woman will not inherit along with my son Isaac” (Genesis 21:10).
Sarah was a prophetess from birth, so at birth she was given the name Iska, which is interpreted as “contemplation”, “vision”, meaning her prophetic gift, the ability to “see”, “provide”.
The level of Sarah's prophecy was higher than the level of Abraham's prophecy. This follows from the fact that the Almighty “affirmed” her decision to expel Hagar and Ishmael, and said to Abraham: “Whatever Sarah tells you, obey her voice...” (Bereishit 21, 12).
Prophet Abraham - Father of Believers
For the Orthodox Church, Abraham is not just the distant pious ancestor of Christ and the “genetic” father of believers. This prophet became a father for Christians in his spiritual qualities. His unconditional trust in the Almighty and determination to follow the Divine will in everything are an edifying example for all of us. Abraham had many trials in his long life. But even in them, the prophet remained devoted to the Creator and put His will above his own interests. This Old Testament righteous man showed us that true faith only strengthens and grows in trials. The example of Abraham teaches us not only to recognize the existence of God, but also to trust Him and try to follow His Providence.
Saint John Chrysostom in his “Conversations on the Book of Genesis” calls Abraham the guardian and preacher of the true faith among the pagans. Let us also quote the words of Professor A. Lopukhin:
“The whole life of Abraham shows that his faith was not a simple external confession, but the active beginning of his entire existence. He completely trusted in God, calming his spirit in this faith, like a child resting in the arms of his mother. And such faith was imputed to him as righteousness” (“Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia”).
Along with two other patriarchs, Abraham is mentioned in prayer appeals to God:
“Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the seed of their righteous...”
The Orthodox Church reveres the prophet Abraham as a saint among the righteous. His memory is celebrated on October 22 and on the 2nd Sunday before the Nativity of Christ (on the “Sunday of the Forefathers”).
Birth of Isaac [↑]
Sarah gave birth to Isaac at the age of ninety, after Abraham was circumcised as G‑d commanded him—this was a year before Isaac was born. Isaac's birth was an open miracle, both because of Sarah's extreme old age and because of her congenital infertility.
On the eve of the birth of Isaac, Avram , according to the command of G‑d, changed his name to Abraham , and Sarai to Sarah .
The sages explain why this was necessary: according to the destiny of the stars, Abram and Sarai could not have children, but Abraham and Sarah could [4]. From this they conclude: “He who changes his name changes his destiny.”
Fulfillment of the covenant
As God promised, the next year Sarah gave birth to a child, and they named him Isaac. The birth was not easy, Sarah was old.
After giving birth, Sarah looked at the child and grumbled that people would laugh when they found out that the old woman not only gave birth to a child, but was also able to breastfeed. In the 21st chapter of the book of Genesis we read:
And Sarah said, God made me laugh; whoever hears about me will laugh. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle the children? for in his old age I gave birth to a son. The child has grown up and is weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Abraham rejoiced that the heir promised by God had been born, a child from whom would come a large nation. On this occasion, when Sarah stopped breastfeeding, he threw a rich feast.
Sarah and Hagar [↑]
Hagar is the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh who became a servant in the house of Abraham. Pharaoh gave her into service to compensate for the harm he caused to Abraham and Sarah.
After ten years in the Land of Canaan, during which Sarah continued to be barren, she gives Abraham her slave Hagar as a wife to bear him a child. The sages see in this a manifestation of the enormous strength of Sarah’s spirit, who is ready to sacrifice her status as the only wife of Abraham so that he does not remain childless. Sarah's merit is that she demanded for Hagar the status of a wife, and not a powerless concubine.
Having quickly become pregnant, Hagar ceases to obey Sarah. She links Sarah's infertility to her mistress's lack of righteousness. Having become Abraham's full-fledged wife (solely thanks to Sarah), she allows herself open rebellion. There are commentators who believe that Hagar openly humiliated Sarah.
Sarah changes her attitude towards Hagar, begins to oppress her with Abraham’s permission (Genesis 16:6), and Hagar flees from Abraham’s house. After an encounter with an angel who tells her to return, Hagar is “humbled under the hand” of Sarah. But later, Hagar and her son Ishmael are finally expelled - when the neighborhood with Ishmael begins to pose a serious danger to Isaac.
After Sarah's death, Abraham returns Hagar (Ketura), but as a concubine [5], and she bears him six more sons.
Sarah died at the age of 127
Holy Scripture says that Sarah died at the age of 127 years. She is the only woman whose age is mentioned in the Old Testament. The place of her death was Keriath Ababa (today Hebron), in the land of Canaan.
G.Dore. Sarah's funeral. Engraving. Sarah died after living 127 years. Tradition says that this happened due to the machinations of Satan
Determining the resting place of Sarah, theologians say that Abraham most likely had two sites. One was in Beersheba, and the second in Hebron. Between them the patriarch wandered with his herds.
Hebron has a milder climate than Beersheba. Here Sarah lived along with all the family property. In Hebron, Abraham mourned his dead wife and buried her in the cave of Machpelah. He had previously bought it specifically for burial from the Hittite Efron.
127 years
Sarah died at this age
The Cave of Machpelah is the crypt of the patriarchs located in the ancient part of Hebron. The Bible says that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah are buried there, as well as Jacob and his wife Leah.
All of them belong to the family of Abraham. He specifically purchased this place for 400 shekels in order to bury his family members here.
In addition, there is a legend that the first people, Adam and Eve, are buried in the cave.
Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. The biblical forefathers and foremothers are buried in this tomb, including Sarah
Traditions say that Sarah's death occurred due to the machinations of the Devil. When Abraham left to sacrifice his only and beloved son Jacob to God, Satan appeared to her.
He said that Abraham deceived Sarah and went to sacrifice not an animal, but Isaac himself. To prove this, he showed smoke rising to the sky on the mountain.
Sarah could not stand the thought of this and died, although at that time Abraham was already offering a ram as a burnt offering, which had become entangled in a thicket with its horns.
The relationship between Sarah and Hagar is a prototype of the Arab-Jewish conflict [↑]
Ramban, based on the principle “the deeds of the forefathers are a sign for the descendants” (i.e., the actions of the forefathers determine the future of the descendants), believes that Sarah should not have oppressed Hagar, because this led to the fact that Hagar’s descendants - the Arabs - oppress descendants of Sarah are Jews.
The fact that the angel commanded Hagar to return and humble herself under the hand of Sarah, Ramban sees as a prophecy about the future subordination of the descendants of Hagar to the descendants of Sarah - when Moshiach comes.
After the death of Abraham, Ishmael recognized the superiority of Isaac [6], which many commentators also interpret as a harbinger of the humility of the descendants of Hagar before the descendants of Sarah.
Sarah's beauty [↑]
Sarah had extraordinary beauty. The Talmud calls her one of the four most beautiful women of all time. The rest are Abigail, Rahab, Esther, and according to some opinions, Vashti (instead of Esther).
Because of her beauty, Abraham's life was in danger more than once. Abraham knew that, having heard about the appearance of such a beautiful woman, any local ruler would want to marry her and kill her husband. Therefore, wherever Abraham and Sarah went, Abraham introduced her as his sister. He was confident in Sarah's absolute righteousness and knew that G-d would not allow her to be desecrated.
Scripture records two occasions when Sarah was taken to a local ruler: the first time to Pharaoh, when Abraham was forced to go down to Egypt due to famine; the second - to Abimelech, king of Grar. In both the first and second cases, G-d miraculously protects and saves Sarah, after which she and Abraham are given gifts and seen off with great honors as prophets of G-d.
Abraham's Guests
As Abraham sat 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 learned that one of the guests was the Lord. He was glad that God had come to visit him. The owner of the house began to fuss to feed the guests. Women were responsible for the household. Abraham ran to Sarah and asked her to bake unleavened cakes for the dear guests, and asked the servant to take the best calf and cook it.
The guests told Abraham that God would give him offspring and fulfill His covenant; what He promised would be fulfilled. Sarah overheard what her husband was talking about with the guests and laughed. It was funny to her that she could still give birth to a child. Sarah understood that she was old, and usually all the reproductive functions of the body at this age are no longer active.
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 and said she didn't laugh. But nothing can be hidden from the Lord; He knows the heart of every person. Sarah was afraid that she doubted God's words, and so she told a lie.
