Person · scriptural_figure
Sarah
- Region
- Ancient Near Eastern narrative traditions
Abraham's wife and Isaac's mother in Genesis; her story with Hagar and Ishmael appears in chapters 16 and 21, not in the Genesis 22 scene itself.
Metadata
These are descriptive fields, not conclusions.
- Edition
- 3
Text
Sarah is Abraham's wife and Isaac's mother in Genesis. Chapter 16 begins with her earlier name, Sarai, and tells of her difficult relationship with Hagar, an Egyptian woman in her household. Chapter 21 names her as Isaac's mother and narrates her demand to send Hagar and her son away. [1][2][3]
Sarah is not named within Genesis 22's sacrifice scene, but later retellings and commentaries ask what she knew and what happened to her. This distinction matters when comparing the narrative with later additions. Georg Pencz's engraving of around 1543 depicts Sarah, Hagar and Abraham as later artistic reception, not a historical likeness. [4]
References and notes
- Sarai and her relation to Hagar in the narrative. Genesis 16:1–16, Sarai and Hagar. Return to the text ↑
- Sarah gives birth to Isaac. Genesis 21:1–7, Sarah bears Isaac. Return to the text ↑
- Sarah's request to send Hagar and her son away in Genesis. Genesis 21:9–21, Sarah requests Hagar and Ishmael's departure. Return to the text ↑
- Sixteenth-century German engraving of the story, not historical portraits. The Met 2012.136.766.2, Georg Pencz, ca. 1543; Public Domain/Open Access. Return to the text ↑
Research history
Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.
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Substantive record update
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Substantive record update
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Cite this record
IL Archive, «Sarah», Edition 3, https://ilarchive.com/en/people/sarah