SARAH
353
SARASA
bron at the age of one hundred and twenty-seTen years, twenty-eight years before her husband, and was buried by him in tlie cave of Machpelah, B.C. 2027. Her burial-place, purchased of Ephron the Hittite, was the only possession of Abraham in the Land of Promise. It has remained, hallowed in the ej'es of Jews. Christians, and Mohammedans alike, to the present day ; and in it the " shrine of Sarah" is pointed out opposite to that of Abraham, with those of Isaac and Kel)ekah on the one side, and those of Jacob and Leah on the other (see Stanley's Led. on Jewish Church, app. ii, p. 48-1-509). See Abraham.
4. He»- Character. — This is no ideal type of excel- lence, like that of Abraham, but one thoroughly natural and truly feminine, both in its excellences and its de- fects. Her natural motherly att'ecticin is seen in her touching desire for children, even from her bondmaid, and in her unforgiving jealousy of that bondmaid when she became a mother; in her rejoicing over her son Isaac, and in the spirit which resented the slightest in- sult to him and forbade Ishmael to share his sonship. It makes her cruel to others as well as tender to her own, and is remarkably contrasted with the sacrifice of natural feeling on the part of Abraham to God's com- mand in the last case (Gen. xxi, 12). To the same character belong her ironical laughter at the promise of a child, long desired, but now beyond all hope: her trembling denial of that laughter, and her change of it to the laughter of thankful joy, which she commemo- rated in tlie name of Isaac. It is a character deeply and truly affectionate, but impulsive, jealous, and impe- rious in its affection.
Sarah, however, is so rarely introduced directly to our notice that it is difficult to estimate her character justly for want of adequate materials. She is seen only when her presence is indispensable ; and then she appears with more of submission and of simplicity than of dig- nity, and manifests an unwise but not imusual prompti- tude in fdUowing her first thoughts, and in proceeding upon the impulse of her first emotions. Lfpon the whole, Sarah scarcely meets the idea the imagination woidd like to form of the life-companion of so eminent a person as Abraham. Nevertheless, we cannot fail to observe that she was a most attached and devoted wife. Her husband was the central object of all her tlioughts; and he was not, forgotten even in her first traiis])nrts of joy at becoming a mother (Gen. xxi, 1 ). This is her highest eulogium.
It is asked whether Sarah was aware of the intended sacrifice of Isaac, the son of her long-deferred hopes. The chronology is uncertain and does not decide wheth- er this transaction occurred before or after her death. She was probably alive; and if so, we may understand from the precautions employed by Abraham that she was not acfpiainted with the purpose of the journey to the land of Moriah, and, indeed, that it was the object of these precautions to keep from her knowledge a mat- ter which must so deeply wound her heart. He could have the less difficulty in this if his faith was such as to enable him to believe that he should bring back in safety the son he was commanded to sacritice (Heb. xi, 19). As, however, the accoimt of her death immediate- ly follows that of this sacritice, some of the Jewish writers imagine that the intelligence killed her, and that Abraham found her dead on his return {Targ. Jonath., and Jarchi on Gen. xxiii, 2 ; I'irke Eliezer, c. 52). But there seems to be no authority for such an inference.
Isaiah is the only prophet who names Sarah (li, 2). Paul alludes to her hope of becoming a mother (Rom. iv, 19) ; and afterwards cites the promise which she re- ceived (ix, 9) ; and Peter eulogizes her submission to her husband (1 Pet. iii, 6).— Smith ; Kitto.
2. (Heb. Se'rach, n jb; Sept. Snpa, "Sarah," Numb, xxvi, 46 ; being there "in pause" Sarach, IT^Uj) the daughter of the patriarch Asher, elsewhere (Gen. xlvi, IX.-Z
17 ; 1 Chron. vii, 30) more properly Anglicized Serah (q.V.).
Sa'rai (Heb. Sara;/', "^yc ; Sept. Sopa ; Vulg. ^V(- ra'i), the original name of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. It is always used in the history from Gen. xi, 29 to xvii, 15, when it was changed to Sarah at the same time that her husband's name from Abram became Abraham, and the birth of Isaac was more distinctly foretold. The meaning of the name appears to be. as Ewald has suggested, "contentious."— Smith. See Sa- rah.
Sarai'as (Sap«i'ac v. r. [in No. 2] 'Ai^apalag), the (ireek form of Seraiah (q. v.), namely : (a) the high- priest (1 Esdr. V, 5); (i) the father of Ezra (1 Esdr. viii, 1 ; 2 Esdr. i, 1).
Sar'amel (Srrpo/vfX v. r. 'Aaapaf^tsX), the place where the assembly of the Jews was held at which the high-priesthood was conferred upon Simon Maccabeus (1 Mace, xiv, 28). The fact that the name is found only in tliis passage has led to the conjecture that it is an imperfect version of a word in the original Hebrew or Syriac from which the present Greek text of the IMac- cabees is a translation. Some (as Castellio) have treated it as a corruption of .fervsalem ; but this is in- admissible, since it is inconceivable that so well-known a name should be corrupted. Other conjectures are enumerated by Grimm in the Knrzgef. exeyetisches Hamlb. on the passage. A few only need be named here, but none seem perfectly satisfactory. All appear to adopt the reading Asanimd. (1.) Ha-hatsur Millo, "the court of iMillo," Millo being not improbably the citadel of Jerusalem. See Millo. This is the con- jecture of Grotius, and has at least the merit of ingenu- ity. (2.) Hu-hatsar A m-El, " the court of the people of God, that is, the great court of the Temple." This is due to Ewald {Gesch. iv, 387), who compares with it the well-known Sarbeth Sabanai-El, given by Eusebius as the title of the Maccabajan history. See IVIaccahee. (3.) I/as-shaar A rn-El, " the gate of the peojjle of (iod,"' adopted by Winer {Realu-h.). (4.) Uas-sar Am-El, " prince of the people of God," as if not the name of a place, but the title of Simon, the "in" having been in- serted by puzzled copyists. This is adopted by Grimm himself. It has in its favor the fact that without it Simon is here styled high-priest only, and his second title, "captain and governor of the Jews and priests" (ver. 47),is then omitted in the solemn official record — the very place where it ought to be found. It also seems to be countenanced by the Peshito-Syriac ver- sion, which certainly omits the title of "high-priest," but inserts Rabba (le-/s}-ael, "leader of Israel." None of these explanations, however, can be regarded as en- tirely satisfactory. — Smith.