Genesis 17:15

15 God said to Abraham, "You must no longer call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah.

Genesis 17:15 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 17:15

And God said unto Abraham
After he had changed his name, and given him the covenant of circumcision:

as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah
her name [shall be];
her former name Sarai signifies "my princess", or rather "princesses", being to him in the room of many, and better than ten thousand; yet only a princess to him, and in his family, being sole mistress there: but Sarah signifies, as Jarchi observes, "princess" absolutely, because she was princess over all the princes and people that should come of her, as well as be the mother and princess of all female believers, who are called her daughters, ( 1 Peter 3:6 ) .

Genesis 17:15 In-Context

13 Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting.

14 Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me."

15 God said to Abraham, "You must no longer call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah.

16 I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become the mother of nations, and there will be kings among her descendants."

17 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?"

Footnotes

• [a]. sarah: [This name in Hebrew means "princess."]