MOTHER SARAH

“Sarah lived to be 127 years old; those were the years of Sarah’s life.”
Genesis 23:1

Within the Torah, many ages are given. For example, we know that Adam lived 930 years and then he died (Gen 5:5). Metushelach lived to be 969 years old (Gen 5:25). Noach was 950 years old when he passed (Gen 9:29). But within the Torah only one woman’s age is named. In Genesis 23:1 we read that Sarah was 127 when she passed. Why in all the Torah is Sarah the only woman whose age in named? As I was studying this portion of the Parashah, which is titled Hayyei-Sarah (Sarah’s life), I read this and began to consider the following. In doing so, does the Torah distinguish Sarah as the matriarch? Sarah was not only the mother of Yitz’chak, but in birthing him she was also elevated to the status of the mother of all those who believe in Adonai.
We see this same idea in the title given to Avraham. We know that Father Avraham had many sons, but we also know him as the father of our faith. It was his bold move to venture away from the land of Ur and follow on the path that Adonai led him on. By faith he journeyed, and waited for his son, and then once having him was willing to believe in Adonai when asked to sacrifice him. But there were also tests of faith that Sarah had to go through. She first had to believe that what Avraham was hearing was truly Adonai’s voice. But she also had to believe that the promise of Avraham having a son would indeed come through her. And she had to believe that when the men of Adonai came and said that at this time next year she would have a child, that she truly would have a child.
To each person a trial in their faith will come. But once that trial is met, celebration is found. For Sarah, her trials concluded with the celebration of a title. Her challenges were no less than Avraham’s. So then, I believe it is only right for her to be called the mother of our faith, and that her age be given as the only woman in the Torah.

Genesis 23:1-16