Women of the Word Bible Study: Sarah #3

 

Hello lovelies! We are back on the dusty roads with Sarai and Abram today.  They had travelled out of Egypt and were finally settled near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, in Canaan. 

The Lord comes to Abram in a vision and says: 

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, a

your very great reward"

Abram questions God, asking how he can be blessed since he remains childless, and a servant will receive all of his wealth when he dies. 

God tells him a son of his own flesh will be his heir. The he tells him to look at the stars and tells him this is the amount of his offspring. 

So here is where Sarai did something that many of us have done.  She took things into her own hands.  She didn't believe she would give Abram an heir, so she told him to produce a son with their maidservant, Hagar. Abram marries Hagar and together they have a son, Ishmael. 

Sarai and Hagar did NOT get along.  They had been living together for ten years by this time.  Once Hagar was pregnant, things became worse.  The Bible reads that Sarai mistreated Hagar - and Hagar fled.  

The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and made her a promise.  If she would go back and submit to Sarai, Hagar would have so many descendants she wouldn't be able to count them. 

he angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant

and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael, a

for the Lord has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;

his hand will be against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will live in hostility

toward all his brothers.”

At 86 years old, Abram had his first son and named him Ishmael. 

God made a covenant of circumcision with Abram.  Afterward, God changed their names, Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. 

I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 

Abraham will not be the last one in the family to laugh at something God says!  We'll talk more about that in our next lessons. 

What did Sarah and Abraham Eat?

All of that travel had to be hard on a housewife! Can you imagine trying to cook while travelling with hundreds of people, livestock, carts full of belongings, and sheep over a fire?  These women were tough and resilient.  They worked hard and provided what they could with what was at hand. 

Once they settled, the main supply of food came from the householder’s own field, vineyard and vegetable garden – so food was fresh or processed on site.

The staple food was bread, eaten with water and a little wine.

Wine was something of a luxury, kept for a special meal or someone of importance.

Milk and other dairy products were plentiful, eaten with fruits and vegetables.

A typical household’s daily diet was almost exclusively vegetarian. Except in the houses of the rich, meat appeared only at special times such as a wedding. But as we know, Abraham's household had amassed quite a fortune, so they would have had meat with their meals as well. 

What did Sarah and Abraham Wear?

In biblical times the basic textiles were wool and linen. Both could be spun rough or fine. Remember they had to spin their own fabrics. 

"While they preferred linen, it was not easy to make. First the outer bark of the stems is removed (after it has rotted) and the fibres separated. Egyptian tablets show the flax being pressed into tubs of water, and Josiah 2:6 refers to the fibres spread out in the sun to dry.

The long fibres were spun into thread and wound onto a spindle held in the hand. The spindle was spun round in the fingers to tighten and strengthen the thread and, to keep this even, a heavy weight known as a ‘whorl’ was attached to one end."  See HERE for further information. 

When the piece of cloth was finished, the ends of the threads were knotted into fringes to prevent unravelling.

After all his tedious work, the weaver was naturally reluctant to see the cloth cut. Instead of making fitted garments, the rectangular piece of cloth would usually be draped around the body, fringes and all.

The earliest undergarment was probably the kiltlike loincloth worn next to the skin, called ezor (II Kings 1:8; Matthew 3:4). Many Egyptian paintings show such a garment wrapped around the loins and tied with a belt or girdle (hagorah), and Matthew describes John the Baptist wearing clothing like this.

For religious functions, a shirt or apron was tied around the body (I Samuel 2:18; II Samuel 6:14).

In general, the most common garment was the tunic, the ketonet, chiton, or tunica (John 19:23).

This tunic or outer garment was made by simply folding a rectangle of cloth in half and sewing up the sides, leaving openings for the head and arms. This could be worn open or closed, with or without sleeves, depending on the people or place.

The most usual Hebrew term for a top garment, possibly worn over the tunic, is the me’il, although in many cases English versions wrongly translate the term ‘coat’ (see Joseph’s coat). Apparently, it was also worn by people of high rank.

Such a costume is pictured in a borderstone of a Babylonian king (circa 1100 BC) although this one was collarless and had short sleeves ending above the elbows. Later on, evidence from the New Testament (Mark 6:9; Luke 3:11) suggests that at times people wore two coats.

The Cloak/Simlah

Tile from Medinet Habu showing a garment that seems to be wound several times around the body.

In Old Testament times, most people – men and women – wore a shawl or cloak made of wool or linen draped fairly closely around the body over the tunic.

Jewish law (Deuteronomy. 22:5) makes it clear that women’s clothing differed from men’s.

The saddin may have been similar to the outer cloak (simlah) that was worn, for instance, by King Jehu and his attendants' bringing offerings to King Shalmaneser, shown in the black obelisk of Shalmaneser.

Please refer to this great article in its entirety to read more and see pictures. 

Tomorrow I'm going to share a recipe for the type of bread that Sarah would have made.  I'm also going to give you an idea for a nice tea to honor Sarah. 

Have a very blessed day!