What Does Genesis 17:15 Mean in the King James?
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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.
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, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.THE THREAD
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast 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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