What Does Genesis 17:15 Mean?
And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah, princess.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.THE KEY
God changes Sarai (“my princess”) to Sarah (“princess”), removing the possessive from her name.
THE MEANING
Sarai becomes Sarah through God’s direct speech, and the royal meaning remains while the name’s possessive form falls away. Her identity is spoken beyond the claim carried in “my.”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a familiar name, or the claim embedded in it, exhausts who a person can be.
THE ROOT
שָׂרָה
Sarah
GROWS FROM
שׂרר
ś-r-r
To rule or hold chief standing; its related title שַׂר (sar) means chief or prince.
“Sarah, princess” in this verse is Sarah. Both names share the royal stem related to שַׂר (sar, chief or prince); Sarai is commonly understood as “my princess,” while Sarah is “princess.” The change removes the possessive element while retaining the royal nature: the name speaks of her standing without enclosing it in “my.”
ALSO GROWS
sar: Chief, prince, or ruler.
שַׂר
This title carries the royal meaning that remains in Sarah’s name.
Sarah: Princess or woman of rank.
שָׂרָה
This is the name God gives her, retaining the royal standing without the possessive form.
Sarai: Traditionally understood as “my princess.”
שָׂרַי
Its ending is commonly read as a possessive element attached to the same royal designation.
תִּקְרָא
tiqra
GROWS FROM
קרא
q-r-ʾ
To call, summon, proclaim, or read aloud.
The verb translated “call” is qara, which also means to proclaim or read aloud. Naming is an utterance that makes an identity audible, and here that utterance changes from Sarai to Sarah.
ALSO GROWS
qara: To call, proclaim, or read aloud.
קָרָא
It is the root of the verb used when God says Abraham will call her Sarah.
miqra: A reading or a convocation; something called together.
מִקְרָא
This branch shows how calling can gather people around what is spoken.
qore: One who calls or reads.
קוֹרֵא
It names the speaker whose utterance makes the new name known.
THE PATTERN
A spoken new name marks an identity being newly disclosed.
And he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, the one who struggles with God, for you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.And the nations shall see your alignment, and all kings your weight; and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.The one who has an ear, let him hear and respond to what the breath says to the assemblies. To the one who overcomes I will give to eat from the hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble, and upon the pebble a new name written, which no one knows except the one who takes it.THE THREAD
And he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, the one who struggles with God, for you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.Both verses use קרא (qara, to call or proclaim) in the act of naming. Jacob’s new name makes visible what Sarah’s renaming also reveals: the spoken name carries a changed identity, not merely a changed sound.
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