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Language Studies
Hebrew Thoughts
sâray / sârah - שָׂרַי / שָׂרַה (Strong's #8297 / Strong's #8283)
Sarai, sarah, princess
The word שָׂרַי sâray (Strong's #8297, x17) and שָׂרַה sârah (Strong's #8283, x38) both come from שָׂר sar (Strong's #8269, x412) "leader, prince". The ַה -ah is the Hebrew feminine suffix and the י -y probably, though not certainly, indicative of personal possession, i.e., "my prince", or according to Fuerst, abridged from שְׂרָיָה serâyâh "Yah is prince". The root verb is likely to be שָׂרַר sârar "to rule or afflict an enemy" (Fuerst), "to interweave, as in making an armoured coat (Gesenius); or שָׂרָה sârâh (Strong's #8280, x2) "to rule, order", the verb used in the changing of the name of Jacob to Israel in Genesis 32:28 "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל Yis'râêl, Strong's #3478); for you have struggled (שָׂרַה) with God".
Genesis records that "the name of Abram's wife was Sarai" (11:29), that she was barren (11:30), beautiful (12:11), and clearly persuasive, for Abram "heeded the voice of Sarai" (16:2) even when it meant going in to her maid. Later Sarai becomes jealous (16:5) at Hagar's conception and deals harshly (16:6) with her with Abram's assent again who gives her carte blanche to treat the maid however she liked.
God intervenes to bless both the fleeing Hagar and the forlorn Sarai, "God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name'" (Genesis 17:15). If there is a difference between these names the following verse's explanation is that "to her will be kings of peoples" (v16), i.e., a mother of kings, perhaps justifying the royal accolade of "princess", the mother of Ishmael and the Arab tribes, and of Israel (Isaiah 51:2).
So if שָׂרַי sâray meant "my prince" or "Yah is prince, ruler" then God plays on the word prince and makes שָׂרַה sârah a princess too; she was already a woman that ruled the heart and occasionally the head of Abraham!
The name Sarah then is biblically defined as distinct and changed from Sarai/y even if etymologically they may be close in meaning still despite inconclusive roots. Apparently, in Eastern European (Polish, Ukrainian) Yiddish pronunciation Sarah can become Su're or Su'ri when spoken aloud and despite the name Suri meaning "red rose" in Persian and "pointy nose" in some Indian languages, it may also be traceable back to Sarah, and thus plausibly mean "princess" too.
שָׂרַה sârah (Strong's #8282, x5) is used as "noble lady, princess" apart from the any reference to Abram's wife in Judges 5:29; 1 Kings 11:3; Esther 1:18; Isaiah 49:23, "Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their sarahs your nursing mothers"; and in Lamentations 1:1.
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