Sarah is the name of Israel's first matriarch, appearing 38 times from Genesis 17 through 49 and once in Isaiah 51:2. Originally called Sarai, her name was changed by God to Sarah ('princess') at the same covenant moment when Abram became Abraham (Gen 17:15). The renaming signals her elevated role: she will bear a son and become 'a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her' (Gen 17:16). Sarah's story is marked by both laughter and barrenness — she laughs at the promise of a child in old age (Gen 18:12), then names the son of fulfillment Yitschaq ('he laughs,' Gen 21:3, 6). Her death at 127 years and burial in the cave of Machpelah (Gen 23:1-2, 19) occasions the first recorded land purchase in Israel's story. Isaiah invokes her memory to encourage the exiles: 'look to Sarah who bore you' (Isa 51:2).