And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
As for Sarai thy wife ... Sarah shall her name be - [Hebrew, Saaraay (H8297); Septuagint, Sara, Sarai] The etymology of this word is uncertain. The old commentators universally interpreted it 'my princess;' and the change of it for another as intimating that, instead of being the princess of a particular tribe, she was to be a princess in the eyes of all mankind. But modern scholars are not satisfied with this explanation; and Ewald derives it from a root-verb х saaraah (H8283)] whose third meaning, as given by Genenius, is to contend, to strive. The change, then, of the original name, Sarai, contentious, violent, which suggested unpleasant ideas of temper, into х saaraah (H8283)] the feminine of х sar (H8269)] prince, [Septuagint, Sarra], Sarah, was an honourable distinction conferred on the wife of Abraham.