What Sarah Really Looked Like In The Bible

Sarah is a notable figure in the Bible. There are several references to her within the religious text, and she is a central figure in a few important biblical stories. Most importantly, she is the wife of Abraham and the grandmother of Jacob and Esau. But she is commonly known for being a once-barren woman who finally became pregnant at the very old age of 90 years old. Her miraculous feat was a gift and promise from God himself. He had vowed to give them a child (via Britannica).

Earlier, Abraham was told that he would have a lot of descendants. This is told to him by God in Genesis chapter 15, verse 5 (via Bible Gateway). Despite him receiving the optimistic message of fruitfulness, he and Sarah never had any children in their prime years. Sarah eventually grew frustrated and offered her maid Hagar to Abraham. She would bear him one son and boast about it, much to the chagrin of an aging Sarah. But shortly after, Sarah, too, became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Isaac. Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah 90. So what did this very senior-aged new mother look like?

According to most descriptions of Sarah in the Bible (or Sarai as she was first known), it is usually in reference to her relationships, her shaky faith, and characteristics of her personality. Most of these are mostly in the Book of Genesis. The only physical description of her says that Sarah was a beautiful woman. This is mentioned in Genesis chapter 12, verse 11. "As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, 'I know what a beautiful woman you are,'" the passage reads (via Bible Gateway).

Sarah was so beautiful that even though she was already married to Abraham, King Abimelech had taken her as one of his wives. God did not approve and vowed his death if he did not return her to Abraham, which he eventually did.

Sarah apparently had the luck of retaining her youth despite her old age. Some Bible experts use that to explain how King Abimelich would've been attracted to her. Genesis 23 described her death at 127 years old. Some researchers have taken other descriptions of her age to mean that when she reached her centenarian years, she looked like she was in her 20s, and when she was in her 20s, she looked as though she was 7 years old, per Chabad. Art depictions of her vary, but almost all references say she still maintained her beauty.