If you have doubts about how to call your princess, don’t worry, here we will explain what the Biblical meaning of the name Sarai. After knowing the origin and symbolism of this qualifier, you will be surprised (or) that it is the best.
Sarai is one of the most beloved names by Christian fathers and mothers, because it was carried by one of the women who managed to make a difference in ancient times. Continue your reading and find out who this woman was and what was her relationship with God and with her husband.
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Biblical meaning of the name Sarai
Sarai is a Hebrew name that comes from the Bible; Sarai was called the wife of Abram and the mother of Isaac, essentially the matriarch of all the israeli people. Later, his names would be changed from Sarai to Sara and from Abram to Abraham according to God’s instructions. But first, Sara was called Sarai.
It’s a bit confusing but God’s name change for the couple has a meaning. For example, Abram means “exalted father” and Abraham means “father of many.” This name change is significant because it occurs just after the Lord establishes his covenant with Abram and Sarai:
“They will become a great nation and live in the bountiful Promised Land.”
in genesis 17:15 God told Abram:
“As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sara shall be her name.”
This name change is a bit more obscure and vague. There are possibly two meanings. OneSarai means “princess” while Sarah means “my princess” with a more reigning or exalted meaning.
sarai in the bible
Abraham’s wife Sarah, formerly called Sarai, became the mother of nations, and from her came kings. Next we will tell you who that woman was and what we can say about her. We do this, because most of the people who are looking for the Biblical meaning of the name Sarai, like to know the history of the character to study her personality and feats of her. So let’s see:
Sarai or Sara in the Bible: a princess
Sara was blessed by God to become a royal princess. She would be a mother of nations to come. She would also be the mother of kings of towns. Her royal bloodlines would come from her and she would be the mother of King David’s royal bloodline where the Savior would come from.
Sarah was promised a son, and his name would be Isaac (verse 19). God would establish his covenant with him (as he did with Abraham) for an everlasting covenant, and the Lord would also establish his covenant with Isaac’s descendants. Notice what God said to Isaac in Genesis 26:3-4:
“Dwell on this earth, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and to your descendants I give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I made to your father Abraham. And I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven; I will give your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
Sarah’s faith in God’s promises
Sara had not been able to have children for many years. She decided to give her servant, Hagar, to her husband so that he could have children by her. This was not how God intended to give Abraham and Sarah an heir, rather it was a mistake from which they learned to trust God more fully.
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Once Hagar had Ishmael, Abraham’s first son, she despised Sarah. In return, Sara treated her maid harshly. Ishmael grew up and had a relationship with his father. And yet Sara remained childless. Finally, when she was 90 years old, God again promised her a son. At first, she laughed! God told Abraham:
“’I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.’ (Sara was listening at the door of the store that was behind him)” (Genesis 18:10).
Note the verses 12-13: That’s why Sara laughed inside herself, saying:
“After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, being also my lord old?”
And the LORD said to Abraham:
Why did Sarah laugh, saying: I will certainly give birth to a son, since I am old?
However, despite the initial laughter, Sara came to truly believe that God could and would do what he said. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive offspring, and she gave birth to a son when she passed of age, because she judged faithful to the one she had promised.
Therefore, from one man there were born as many offspring as the stars in multitude. It was innumerable like the sand that is on the seashore. (Hebrews 11:11-12). A leap of faith can have lasting ramifications: from Sarah’s son Isaac came countless multitudes, nations, and kings.
Sarah in the Bible: a symbol of the New Covenant
The apostle Paul refers to Sarah as the “free woman” in Galatians 4. What did she mean by that? In the early years of Isaac’s life, Hagar’s son Ishmael mocked him. “Then she said to Abraham:
Cast out this servant and her son; for the son of this servant shall not inherit with my son, that is, with Isaac.” (Genesis 21:10).
God told Abraham to listen to Sarah (verse 12). Paul used this situation as a symbol of the spiritual inheritance that God offers. God’s promise was not fulfilled by the efforts of Abraham and Sarah or their plan to have a child through Hagar. By a miracle, God gave Abraham the heir promised to him through Sarah.
Hagar, Sarah’s servant, was a servant and symbolized “who is now in bondage with her children.” Sarah, on the other hand, was “the free woman,” Abraham’s true wife, and was a symbol of the heavenly Jerusalem above. The Jerusalem above is the mother of all those born of God, children of faith and promise.
Through faith, Sarah received the miracle of being able to conceive a son in her old age, and gave Abraham a son of promise, Isaac. She became the mother of many nations and the mother of a royal line of kings.
Sarah’s legacy as a woman of faith
Sara laughed once when she was told that she would have a son. But her laughter turned into a laugh of wonder, triumph, and delight when Isaac was born: Abraham was now a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Who would have told Abraham that his wife would have a child at an advanced age? Only God could have said it and also done it. And all of Sarah’s children will hear her story and laugh with her through the ages: a laugh of the triumph of faith in God’s mighty power.
Sara (Sarai) was truly one of the women of faith. He came to know that no obstacle is too difficult for God to overcome. Nothing is impossible for God to achieve. That’s the faith he had.
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final thoughts
The biblical meaning of the name Sarai is deeper than we think. This qualifier was carried by one of the example women of the Bible, a woman who verified the greatness of God. Through faith, Sarah received the miracle of being able to conceive a son in her old age, and she gave Abraham a son of promise, Isaac. So if you want to call your princess Sarai or Sara, you have thousands of reasons to do so.