Best Supporting Actors of the Bible: Sarah, Enoch, Abel

Instances of faith in three characters stood out when reading Hebrews 11:1-39: Sarah, Enoch, and Abel. They seem obsolete characters sometimes, like Best Supporting Actresses and Actors, not the star of the show, but I picked these characters because I didn't want to write about reappearing Bible figures like Moses. I wanted to learn something about the supporting Bible figures, and I learned more than I ever could have imagined.

Most people know Sarah as the barren wife of Abraham. Do they know that she was also Abraham's half-sister? Marriage alliances in Hebrew times were endogamous, meaning within one's own tribe or social group. Lines of descent are patrilineal, traced through the father instead of the mother. Abraham and Sarah were siblings, born of the same father-different mothers. This is how in Genesis 20:12, Abraham can claim Sarah as his sister to the Egyptians, leaving out their marital status.

Sarah's barrenness is a two-fold problem. First, it represents loss of status in a patriarchal, labor-intensive society with a high mortality rate. A premium is based on women's ability to bear many sons. Second, it is an impediment to the fulfillment of God's promise of descendants to Abraham. One can see why Hebrews chose Sarah as a likely candidate for faith. She is barren and unable to conceive at her old age, yet God has promised her husband many sons.

One can find Sarah in Gen. 11, 12, and 16 when her name was still Sarai. In Gen. 17:15, it was changed to Sarah. In Gen. 12-50, she is at Abraham's side as God promises him land, descendants, a great name and the "correct" wife and mother. In the New Testament, Sarah is seen in Rom. 4:19; her barrenness highlights Abraham's faith in God's promises. In 1 Pet. 3:6, "Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord." She is used to legitimate patriarchy and women's submission to their husbands. Rom. 9:6-9 alludes to conflict between Sarah and Hagar by insisting that not all are children of Abraham simply because they are his descendants. In Gal. 4:21-31, Sarah is "Jerusalem above" who is the "free" mother of the Christian community, compared to Hagar who is enslaved.