Last week, we suggested that Sarai bought into her husband’s mission, fully willing to accompany him in fulfilling God’s command to “go for yourself, from… to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). A closer look at Genesis 12:5, along with Rashi’s comment from Genesis Rabbah 39:14, suggests she may have stood alongside him in faith even before that command.
To get to know Sarah more deeply as an individual, however, we will have to separate her from that partnership, mining for clues (1) before their marriage, (2) when she is separated from her husband, and (3) when she confronts her husband, speaking face-to-face rather than alongside each other.
Texts of focus include:
- Genesis 11:29
- Sanhedrin 69b
- Rashi, Gur Aryeh, and HaEmek Davar on Genesis 11:29
- Genesis 12:17
- Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Genesis 12:17
- Genesis Rabbah 41:2
- Genesis 16:1-2