To explain the fact that she is called abrahams half sister, he employs the talmudic principle of. By her union with abraham, she had one child, isaac. Sarah is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in abrahamic religions. Granted, sarai really was abrams halfsister, making abrams claimshes my sistertechnically true. Learn the truth behind the twisted family tree and bizarre genealogy of the line of terah. Closer has always been one of my favorite songs by matt pond pa. She was abrams halfsister same father, different mothers and later became his wife. This contradiction has led some readers to identify sarah with the otherwise unknown iscah. There was no divorce in egypt, only death could separate a man from his wife, and in enemy territory, a man could be killed for his wife. So abimelech king of gerar had sarah brought to him.
As for the possibility that sarai was abrams niece, not his half sister, we believe that is correct. I know she was his half sister by his father, but it was still a lie. Likewise, the lord promises that abrahams half sister and wife sarai would become nations or rather. While sarah very well could be abrahams niece, she unlikely was his halfsister, and she was most certainly his wife. Then terah took his son abram, his grandson lot his son harans child, and his daughterinlaw sarai, and left ur of the chaldeans to go to the land of canaan. Just 340 year later abram, was 10 when his half sister sarai was born. Abrams intent here was clearly to deceive, and he trusted in his deception to protect him instead of trusting in the lord. There was a severe famine in the land of canaan, so abram and lot and their households travelled south to egypt. How old was abram when he entered why is the mention of nahor. Abrahams lie, that sarai was his sister, was really a half truth. I think incest will only follow on direct blood line of families, halfies or half lings will break the blood line. Abram and sarai by wayne blank abraham and his wife half sister sarah they had the same father, but different mothers i. Its impossible to improve on the 2002 version of closer, with the strings from rachels, but the justreleased demo is great, too.
If the egyptians see you, and think, she is his wife, they will kill me and let you live. If abraham and sarah had the same father, terah, but. During this time period sibling and near kin marriage was less common, but not certainly. The narrative suggests that passing sarai off as abrams sister was a bad idea 12. Abraham abram, because of the beauty of sarah sarai, was afraid. If sarai really was abrams halfsister, were his claims to pharaoh and later abimelech lies. Meanwhile, abram married his half sister sarai, while his brother nahor married their orphaned niece, milcah, who was the daughter of their brother haran. Marriage with half sisters seems to have been not uncommon in antiquity even in the old testament compare 2 samuel. Abrams youngest brother, haran, died, and abram unofficially adopted harans son lot. On the journey to egypt, abram instructed sarai to identify herself only as his sister, fearing that the egyptians would kill him in order to take his wife, saying, i know what a beautiful woman you are. When abram and sarai arrived in egypt, the pharaoh s officials saw her and praised her to pharaoh.
He asked her to say that she was his sister, which she did. But abram and haran are half brothers, same father terah but different mothers. Did abraham marry his sister sarah terahs family tree. This would make sarah the daughter of terah, a 10th generation descendant of noah, and the sister or half sister of not only abraham but haran and nahor. In hebrew tradition sister can mean sister or niece.
Both have terah as their father or grandfather and later became the parents of isaac. This would make sarah the daughter of terah and the halfsister of not only abraham but haran and nahor. He reminds the king that sarah is indeed his halfsister, for she and abraham have the same father, but not the same mother. Abram kj bible february 19, 2018 3 minutes in both genesis 12 and genesis 20 a sojourning, scared, and selfpreserving abraham urges his wife sarah to lie and say she is his sister.
Her hebrew name means princess, the mother of the nations. Sarai could have been milcahs daughter, a princess is a nonreigning female member of a royal family and also in great britain a daughter or granddaughter if the child of a son of a king or queen. Because his wife also his halfsister, sarah, is very beautiful, abram asks her to say that she was only his sister lest the egyptians kill him so that they can take her. Josephus says sarah was abrahams niece, not 12 sister. The name of abram s wife was sarai, and the name of nahors wife, milcah, the daughter of haran who was also the father of iscah. Abrahams journey to egypt sarahs beauty prompts a lie. Later god changed their names to sarah and abraham. Abram bent the truth concerning sarai by getting her to say she was his sister rather than his wife when they came into egypt.
Sarai was indeed his half sister so abraham chose to only tell pharaoh part of the truth. The important thing to keep in mind is that genesis 20. Josephus says sarah was abraham s niece, not 12 sister. As we will come to learn, sarah is abrahams halfsister 20. But abrahams marriage to his halfsister is present for all to see. Sister means a near relative, but it does not as such indicate the degree of nearness we understand by the word sister. Aug 20, 2019 the egyptians were sure to realize that sarai was abram s wife. Sarah was apparently abrahams halfsister, being terahs daughter by another wife.
Is it true that abraham and sarah were of the same father. Sarah it is said in the bible that there was a woman named sarai, she was married to a man named abram. We discover the half truth when, in genesis 20, abraham again uses her to save himself from a powerful ruler, which in this case was the king of gerar named abimelech. Hopefully, we men compliment our wives more often than just when we want something from her. Sarah was asked to lie, or at least tell the egyptians a half truth, in order to protect abrahams life. Abram s wife was named sarai, and nahors wife was named milcah. If you want to do something wrong, you can find some good reasons to do it. Whether in these marriages we have to deal with the actual details of relationship permitted in nomadic life, or whether we have presented to us, under the imagery of matrimony, the fusion of families or tribes in the main community. It really is only a half lie, for sarai is abrams half sister gen. During this time period sibling and near kin marriage was less common, but not certainly accepted and not prohibited yet. Abraham is known as the patriarch of the israelite people through isaac, the son born to him and sarah in their old age and the patriarch of arabs through his son ishmael, born to abraham and his wifes servant hagar although abrahams forefathers were from southern mesopotamia in presentday iraq according to the biblical narrative, yahweh led abraham on a journey to the land of canaan.
If we want to do something wrong, we can find some good reasons to do it. She also wouldve been the aunt of lot, milcah, iscah, and bethuel, by both blood and marriage. Then again, the alternative, which they perceived as real, of abram being killed and sarai being taken as anothers wife anyway, was not desirable either. To explain the fact that she is called abrahams halfsister, he employs the talmudic principle of. Abraham states that sarah, his wife, is really his sister, leading abimelech to try to take sarah as a wife. This theory has been refuted by numerous writers 17. Sarah or sarai amazing bible timeline with world history. Was she abraham s sister or niece according to the bible. Sarah was his sister but didnt classify her as his half sister. But this would make sarai abrams niece, not his half sister. Web kjv jps asv bbe dby wbs ylt nas niv genesis 11. While living in the city of ur, abram married his half sister, sarai.
In genesis 12, abram and his wife sarai their names were later changed to abraham and sarah traveled to egypt due to a famine in canaan. Just 340 year later abram, was 10 when his halfsister sarai was born. With regard to consanguinity, those laws, at least as far as the children of israel were concerned, were not established until hundreds of year later. Is it true that abraham and sarah were of the same father but. Pharaoh then realized that sarai was abrams wife and demanded that they leave egypt immediately. Unfortunately, the king, seeing that she was unmarried, decided to take advantage of her. It is the solution to our dilemma, as we shall see shortly. She was also the motherinlaw of rebecca, her successor. Sarah was abrahams sister, or actually his halfsister, since they had. Oct 24, 2017 abraham abram, because of the beauty of sarah sarai, was afraid he would be killed and her taken if the egyptians knew that she was his wife. Supposedly, abraham told sarah to say she was his sister as opposed to his wife, so the king wouldnt take advantage of her. Abram instructed his wife to tell people in egypt that she was his sister instead of his wife. Msg 1 sarai, abrams wife, hadnt yet produced a child.
The question that naturally arises is whether abraham was lying by saying sarai was his sister instead of his wife. Why did god allow hagar to get pregnant by abraham at the. Why did god punish pharaoh for abrams lie genesis 12. Because sarai was beautiful and thought to be abram s sister, abram was treated well. While still in ur, god called abram to leave his homeland and travel west to the land of canaan, in modernday israel acts 7. Sarah was the wife and half sister or niece of abraham. And abimelech took sheep, oxen, men servants and women servants, and gave them to abraham, and restored him sarah his wife. Sarai said to abram, god has not seen fit to let me have a child. The talmud identifies sarai with iscah, daughter of abrahams deceased brother haran genesis 11. Because his wife also his half sister, sarah, is very beautiful, abram asks her to say that she was only his sister lest the egyptians kill him so that they can take her. Terah begat abram, nahor and haran, and haran begat lot. Abraham admitted here that sarah his wife was really his sister cf.
Did abraham lie again when he called sarah his halfsister. Jan 27, 2018 was she abraham s sister or niece according to the bible. Sarai and abram had the same father but different mothers, according to genesis 20. Abram s intent here was clearly to deceive, and he trusted in his deception to protect him instead of trusting in the lord. As for why abraham is not explicitly chastised for marrying his half sister, there is not much we can say. Lets examine if scripture supports abrahams statement that sarah is his half sister, that is, his fathers daughter by a different mother. She was the half sister, as well as the wife, of abram, who would be called abraham. Abram, justified his repulsive actions and callous disregard for his wife with this flimsy halftruth cf.
Wifesister narratives in the book of genesis wikipedia. Abimelech complains to abraham, who states that sarah is his halfsister. Abraham calling his cousin sarah a sister in gen 20. As with our name abraham, the phrase does not relate to the name. A man uncle marrying his niece is permissible according to our understanding of the laws governing sexual relations in leviticus 18. Abraham abram, because of the beauty of sarah sarai, was afraid he would be killed and her taken if the egyptians knew that she was his wife.
On her sixth birthday, beth got a big rubber ball from her aunt even though her parents didnt approve of giving children birthday gifts. Granted, sarai really was abrams half sister, making abrams claimshes my sister technically true. As abram says to sarai, i know what a beautiful woman you are. Sarah was the wife of abraham, as well as being his half sister, the daughter of his father terah genesis 20. Originally named sarai which means my princess, her named was changed to sarah meaning princess after a covenant with god. But abrahams marriage to his half sister is present for all to see. Sarai began her life in the pagan world of ur, in the land of the chaldees, which was located in the area now known as iraq. She was born in about 2155bc, had a son at 90 in 2065bc, and died at age 127 years old about 2028bc. Sarah is one of the only two women mentioned by name in hebrews chapter 11 the heroes of the faith chapter.
As for why abraham is not explicitly chastised for marrying his halfsister, there is not much we can say. He is going to ask his wife to lie for him, so he asks her by beginning with a compliment. Abram exalted father and his wife sarai who was also abram s half sister genesis 20. Jul 23, 2015 the narrative suggests that passing sarai off as abrams sister was a bad idea 12. Abram abraham and nahor are brothers and both married their nieces, sarai sarah and milcah. Because she had never had a ball of her own before, beth got all excited and started to bounce it on the living room floor.
What is happening historically in egypt during abrahams life. Lets take a look at two verses dealing with abram and lot. Abraham would have lived somewhere between the years of 2000 and 1500 bc. Abram exalted father and his wife sarai who was also abrams halfsister genesis 20. Why did god allow hagar to get pregnant by abraham at the time it happened, while sarah could not. It was probably different when it came to classifying sisters and brothers in those days. Abram believed that the egyptians would kill him, but let sarai live so he convinced sarai to pretend to be abram s sister. Discuss the different ways sarai is related to abram. Even some 2,000 years afterward, gods faithful servant abraham married his halfsister sarah, and god did not disapprove. She was abrahams 12 sister according to genesis 20.
Actually, this is further proof for mosaic authorship. The father of abram, terach, had two other sons, haran and nachor. So one might suggest that in abram s day the word brother could be understood to also include nephews. Jul 29, 2012 in hebrew tradition sister can mean sister or niece. Was the marriage between abraham and sarah incestuous. In two separate occasions, abraham told the local ruler that sarah was his sister. So i was pumped when it was the firstreleased single on their new album, a collection of bees part 1, 12 tracks of rarities, demos, and a rerecording. The short answer is no, abraham did not really marry his sister. God likely tolerated abrahams marriage to his halfsister because it was not the grave offense it would. Second, the terms sister and brother are used with great latitude in the bible, just as the terms father and son. Her former name was sarai, which in hebrew means jah is prince.