I’m working on a Jewish roots study exploring the lives of Biblical women with a goal to uncover valuable truths and apply what I’m able to understand to my life. As you read with me, let’s ponder over the lessons, seek His guidance, and ask more questions. Let’s pray for His divine understanding and wisdom and finally let’s help one another during the process of our learning and the overflowing revelation to others that we may all be better people (and in this case women).
I must first lay some ground work, in case you are unaware before getting into the study. In Judaism, it is believed that Torah includes all rabbinic teachings. This means that the words of the rabbis are held along the scriptures themselves as inspired teachings. The scriptures of the Torah were handed down in both written and oral form. The written form is what most of us understand as the Old Testament. The oral form was written down much later to become what is known as the Midrash and Talmud. (Learning from these oral traditions is not unlike us when we read Bible commentaries. We, as Christians, can find commentaries in book form separate from our scriptures, but often these commentaries comes right in the Bible we choose to study from.)
Much of what is understood about Sarah from the Jewish perspective comes out of the oral traditions. (I'm not going to debate using oral tradition with anyone, but open it up and look at it. In past times, the baby has been thrown out with the bath water and I just decided I was going to pick up that little baby, instead of leaving it there.) So...
The points I’m about to make are mainly based on an article from http://www.aish.com/ HA’AISH ~Advanced-level Illuminations on the Weekly Parsha~ Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18) By Rabbi Ari Kahn. I’ve also used Internet resources such as dictionaries, Jewish encyclopedia, and previous teachings too numerous to expand upon.
Point 1:
Sarah lived to be 127 years old. If you look at a Bible translation for Genesis 23:1 that says simply that Sarah was 127 years old then this translation misses the Jewish perspective which says “The lifetime of Sarah consisted of one hundred years, twenty years and seven years.” Now, this doesn’t seem to be so great a difference but it is taught in Judaism that her life can be broken down into three stages. It is further believed that she maintained the quality traits of each stage. Most people pass from one stage of their lives to the next, leaving the previous stage behind, perhaps taking with them some fond memories. But Sarah maintained her innocence as a 7-year-old. She had the strength of a 20-year-old and the wisdom of a 100-year-old.
When we look at scriptures; we see that Sarah is often regarded as a beautiful woman even when she is old and past child bearing years. My pondering mind wonders if this isn’t an outward appearance of a 20 year old. Could it be that because she always had the purity of an innocent 7 year old that she was unable to see the problems that would take place when she came up with the plan for Hagar to have a child for her? Personally I think that her wisdom was attained over the years from her own life experiences and that of her vast household. May God grant that my thoughts be innocent, that I have strength and youthful stamina and that my actions always reflect a wise heart.
Point 2:.
Sarah & Abraham were known as a team, together. His biblical life doesn’t really start without her and we see that Abraham seems to disappear after Sarah's death. The mantle of leadership passes on quickly to Isaac and Rebecca.
As soon as Sarah’s burial and mourning period ended, Abraham sent out for a replacement for Sarah in the family camp. It was important to establish a continuation of what God had birthed within them. A wife for Isaac was of the greatest urgency because someone had to fill the matriarchal role in the Hebrew nation.
Point 3:
Abraham & Sarah converted many to the belief in One God (monotheism). This is not something that we usually are taught or understand. We don’t think of Abraham as being on mission to convert. In Abraham’s day, the world was worshipping, but they were worshipping all kinds of gods (polytheism). Abraham and Sarah were on mission to convert the world to the One True God! They started with those of their own household, but in order to affect the world they had to move away from family. This may be the first time you’ve “heard” this nugget. (Read it again. I did at first.) They were “going forth” to affect the world for God. Abraham was a sojourner in the land and as he moved from one place to another, he would be seen to build an altar to God. This act of worship was seen throughout the pagan land. They were all watching! They saw him being blessed by God and in this Abraham was blazing a path for the world to God.
We must remember that the mission of “going forth” never stopped. It just transferred to us from the mouth of Jesus. It wasn’t a new mission. Jesus wasn’t something new, He was the fulfillment of scriptures. Our Lord Jesus was from the beginning with God. That isn’t new. Jesus was, and is and is to come! This is a hard concept that is only seen in faith. Abraham moved in response to God the Father. We move in response to God the Son and through the nudging of God, The Holy Spirit. We cannot proclaim God to the world until we realize and believe that Jesus is! The first proclamation is that God is one. We don’t have many gods to serve. We have just One God seen in three persons! Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. We can go forth as Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28: 19-20 Hallelujah!
So the first mission "to go" was given to Abraham, and of course included Sarah. The Midrash states: "Abraham converted the men and Sarah converted the women." Thus Abraham and Sarah were equals & teachers. To this day, devout Jews believe that their job is still to point the world to God. Tikkun olam (Hebrew: תיקון עולם) is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world." They were meant to be the light to the world in order to repair. Tikkun olam is a huge teaching in Orthodox Judaism.
Point 4.
The Jewish story behind Hagar. The Midrash gives biographical information about Hagar: "Hagar was Pharaoh's daughter. When Pharaoh saw what was done on Sarah's behalf in his own house, he took his daughter and gave her to Sarah, saying, 'Better let my daughter be a handmaid in this house than a mistress in another house'" [Midrash Rabbah, Genesis 45:1)
So Hagar was royalty & an aristocrat. Sarah saw Hagar as an appropriate partner for Abraham. She believed if Abraham was to have a child, that child must be the greatest child possible and Hagar, a Pharoah’s daughter would have been the finest choice. (Well, it’s hindsight but don’t we see how naive her thinking is? Isn’t this like the innocence of a 7-year-old? She can see the end result, which was a longed for child, but she didn’t think of the ramifications of her plan. Sometimes we are all very naive and we don’t wait on God. She knew she was past child-bearing and she knew God had promised children. She must have been thinking, “What could possibly be wrong with giving Hagar to Abraham, after all Hagar is mine to give?)
Genesis 16 relates that Sarah, in an act of complete self-sacrifice, invites the beautiful Egyptian princess to become a partner with her husband. Has anyone ever thought that it was self-sacrifice on Sarah’s part? Really stop and think about this for a moment. Could she have thought, “I’m willing to give up my husband so that he might be a father because it is clear that I will not be having a child.”? If we look at it in this light, it is self-sacrifice. God saw her heart and I haven’t found where He ever condemned her for her plan. Now, Sarah’s actions had a huge negative result but did God condemn her for it? It appears that God saw the attitude of her heart. God didn’t stop her from her plan. Did Abraham consult God on the plan? Should Abraham have stopped the plan? What does this tell us????
Let’s look at Hagar. She was given to Sarah and would have been discipled by her. Once Hagar becomes pregnant and bears a child, she concludes that God has now chosen her over Sarah and thinks that Sarah is an unworthy partner for Abraham because Sarah has no child. Where would she have gotten this idea? I believe she would have gotten it from Sarah, herself. Sarah may never have uttered a word in regard to her actions but we all know that actions speak louder than words. Hagar may have thought, "Your God won't give you a child so you, Sarah, aren't good enough. But I must be good enough. Look at what God did for me!" How many of us have thought things like this in regard to our prayers? "If I were just good enough, God would do... (fill the blank)." No, God doesn't operate that way. Read the word closely and discover Him for yourself. Don't just take my word for it!
So Hagar eventually becomes confused as to her role in the relationship between Sarah and Abraham. She begins to think of herself as a wife because she carries and gives birth to Abraham child. Isn’t she a second wife? In her confusion, Hagar tells the other women: "My mistress Sarah is not inwardly what she is outwardly; she appears to be a righteous woman, but she is not. For had she been a righteous woman, (she would have conceived) see how many years have passed without her conceiving, whereas I conceived in one night." [Midrash Rabbah 45:4]
We should remember that according to her birth as Pharoah’s daughter, Hagar must have believed she was born to lead. Taken from a luxurious life to be wandering around in a tent, Hagar must have felt that she was given the opportunity to rule in Abraham's house and be more than a simple handmaiden. She believed that she had received a divine sign that she, who was born to be queen, would indeed be the queen. We are not told if she believed in the One God of Abraham, she would have been raised to believe that her very father was a god. She is confused from the beginning, thinking that her father (a god) would have given her over to another man who worshipped another god.
Along with Hagar’s confusion, she was also mistaken when she assumed that Abraham alone led the people. She failed to recognize that it was a partnership, the combination of Abraham and Sarah, which was the basis for the great movement that she herself had become a part of. In giving Hagar to Abraham, Sarah responded, not out of selfishness, nor out of jealousy, but by understanding that she was an equal partner with Abraham. When Hagar gets carried away with her personal beliefs and starts mocking and making fun, Sarah informs Abraham that it is time to send Hagar away. Scriptures say that Abraham finds it quite difficult. But, we see that God confirmed that Hagar was to be sent away. God said to Abraham: 'Whatever Sarah your wife says you shall listen.'[Genesis 21:12]
Point 5.
The next area of understanding of Sarah comes from a supernatural phenomena. [Midrash Rabbah-Genesis 60:16] as explained by Rashi: "As long as ... Sarah was alive, there was a candle lit from Friday night to Friday night. Her dough was blessed, and a cloud was tied to her tent. When Sarah died, all these things ceased. When Rebecca entered the tent, all these phenomena returned."
Years ago, I ran across an explanation about God's blessing of the candles and the bread. Sarah was the first to light the Sabbath candles and it is said that God honored her by allowing her candles to burn continuously from one Sabbath to next. The second blessing was that of the dough that would not go bad from one Sabbath to the next. The last blessing mentioned was a new one for me. I hadn't heard of it and here’s the message of the cloud.
There is only one use of the phrase "a cloud tied to her tent" in the Midrash. But a the Midrash tells that a cloud is tied to something else. Mount Moriah would be the location and it was concerning the impending sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham looked up and saw a mountain with a peculiar cloud tied to the mountain. Isaac shared this vision, but the others who accompanied them saw only the mountain.
[Abraham] saw a cloud tied to the mountain, and said: "It appears that is the place where the Holy One, blessed be He, told me to sacrifice my son." ... He then said to him: "Isaac, my son, seest thou what I see?" "Yes," he replied. Said he to his two servants: "See ye what I see? " No," they answered. [Midrash Rabbah , Genesis 56:1-2)
The servants saw only the mountain, the physical reality, and not the cloud which represents the metaphysical, Abraham tells them to stay behind with the donkey. It’s interesting that the Hebrew world for "donkey," chamor, is related to the word for "physical," chomer.) Only Abraham and Isaac see the cloud tied to the mountain, and only they will continue the spiritual journey. They were able to see beyond the physical.
Abraham is described as one of three who "rides" on a donkey. The other two are Moses and the Messiah. The description of the coming of the Messiah riding a donkey is in the writings of Zechariah. So the physical realm is revealed with the Messiah in this passage. But we need to look not only at the physical but at the spiritual realm, from Daniel, “And behold, one like the son of man comes with the clouds of heaven”.
In Jewish thought, there is no tension between the physical world and the spiritual world. The physical is to be elevated and used in spiritual contexts. The physical is a means toward an end. The problem has been that many have seen the physical as an end unto itself. They must see all in the physical in order to believe, but without faith you cannot believe. Abraham and Isaac saw the cloud and ascended Mount Moriah alone for they were in touch with something beyond the physical.
Point 6
Nothing stopped with Sarah. We know her as the beginning matriarch of the Hebrew nation. Sarah understood more than the physical realm and had faith. She worked side by side with her husband Abraham all her days. It's interesting to note that the death of Sarah is given in many verses. She was a most respected woman and given great honor. Abraham would not use a burial place without paying for it even though he was offered one without payment.
The place of burial is known as Hebron and its name is interesting. The name Hebron comes from (habar) meaning be joined, coupled, allied. Derivatives are: (heber), meaning company, association; (haber), meaning associate, companion; (hoberet), a joint (a connection, such as used in the tabernacle Exodus 26:10); (habbar), associate, partner; (mehabbera), binder, clamp. So Hebron was the place where the first matriarch was laid to rest and later Abraham was laid to rest there beside her, as well as Issac and Rebecca when their burial times came.
After Sarah, Rebecca stepped into her position of authority because of faith. A cloud was tied to her tent. Although neither Sarah or Rebecca are said to have been on the mountain top, they had faith that God was with them even in their tents. In spite of living in a physical world they knew they were connected to the spiritual world of God and lived their lives knowing this. From Abraham and Sarah to Isaac and Rebecca the torch was passed. As women, we are to continue learning and living with the knowledge that we are connected to the spiritual world of God and not only connected but we are to walk in the center of the spiritual with God leading!
Please, I am no means finished with my study of Sarah. This has been the first leg of my journey. Many things were viewed here that I'd not thought of or known before. Since this post represents more of a Jewish perspective, my next step is to look at her from what has been taught in a Christian perspective. After this, I'll compare and contrast the perspectives in order to better comprehend the overall representation of Sarah and what she is supposed to mean to all of us, both Jew and Christian. If you strongly oppose this article or any portion of it, oh well. Remember it is my study and I am not finished. God knows my heart and my questions are not doubting him but my hearts' desire is to know him better each day. I hope you were sparked to research on your own... but don't forget while researching, you need to pray for understanding and wisdom. God bless you.
