Sarah
Also called Sarai
1986–1859 BC, 127 years traditional (Jones)
Princess, the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham (Gen. 11:29; 20:12). This name was given to her at the time that it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother of the promised child.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- The 21st generation from Adam, counting Adam as the first.
- Born in the era of the Patriarchs, 1996–1707 BC.
- Alive at the same time as Eber for 127 years, Shem for 127 years, Salah for 109 years, Arphaxad for 79 years, Ishmael for 50 years, Serug for 32 years, and Reu for 9 years.
- Named in the same verses as Abraham, Isaac, Hagar, Canaan, Abimelech, Haran, Lot, and Rebekah.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children; a button shows the grandchildren. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
The tree is wider than the screen; scroll it sideways.
Stories
4 events in which Sarah takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).
- 1920 BCAbraham enters CanaanGen 11:31–12:9
- 1920 BCAbraham goes to EgyptGen 12:10-20
- 1920 BCSojourn in Canaan and EgyptExod 12:40; Gal 3:17
- 1895 BCBirth of IsaacGen 17:19–21:3
Places
Places named in the same verses as Sarah, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification. A dashed ring on the map marks a region, river, or mountain rather than a town.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 2018–1827 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around this life, with 6 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
48 tagged verses in 5 books. Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Sarah 39Sarai 17 |
| KJV | Sarah 39Sarai 17 |
| ASV | Sarah 42Sarai 17 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 48 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
Genesis43 verses
- 11:29
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.
- 11:30
But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
- 11:31
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.
- 12:5
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,
- 12:11
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,
- 12:17
The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
- 16:1
Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
- 16:2
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.
- 16:3
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.
- 16:5
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.”
- 16:6
“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.
- 16:8
“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.
- 17:15
Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.
- 17:17
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?”
- 17:19
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.
- 17:21
But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
- 18:6
So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
- 18:9
“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied.
- 18:10
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.
- 18:11
And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- 18:12
So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- 18:13
And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’
- 18:14
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.”
- 18:15
But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”
- 20:2
Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
- 20:14
So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.
- 20:16
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.”
- 20:18
for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
- 21:1
Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
- 21:2
So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
- 21:3
And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.
- 21:6
Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
- 21:7
She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
- 21:9
But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,
- 21:12
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.
- 23:1
Now Sarah lived to be 127 years old.
- 23:2
She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
- 23:19
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.
- 24:36
My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and my master has given him everything he owns.
- 24:67
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.
- 25:10
This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.
- 25:12
This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
- 49:31
There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.
Isaiah1 verse
- 51:2
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.
Romans2 verses
Hebrews1 verse
- 11:11
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 Peter1 verse
- 3:6
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.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
Princess, the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham (Gen. 11:29; 20:12). This name was given to her at the time that it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother of the promised child. Her story is from her marriage identified with that of the patriarch till the time of her death. Her death, at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years (the only instance in Scripture where the age of a woman is recorded), was the occasion of Abraham’s purchasing the cave of Machpelah as a family burying-place.
In the allegory of Gal. 4:22-31 she is the type of the “Jerusalem which is above.” She is also mentioned as Sara in Heb. 11:11 among the Old Testament worthies, who “all died in faith.”