Hebrew word · H8282

שָׂרָה

sarot

princess

A woman of high rank: princess, noblewoman, lady of the court. It is the feminine of śar, 'official, prince, commander'. The patriarch's wife's name, Sarah, is the same word.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

princess, noblewoman, noble lady

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Lamentations 1:1

Range of meaning

A woman of high rank: princess, noblewoman, lady of the court. It is the feminine of śar, 'official, prince, commander'. The patriarch's wife's name, Sarah, is the same word.

Against the English

'Princess' can call up a fairy-tale picture of a king's young daughter. The Hebrew means a woman of rank and authority. NIV's 'queen' brings out the ruling sense, though it can suggest a specific royal office the word does not require.

Used elsewhere in the period

Solomon's 700 wives were 'śārôt' (princesses), 1 Kgs 11:3. Sisera's mother's 'wise ladies', Judg 5:29. 'Queens will be your nursing mothers', Isa 49:23. Noble ladies of Persia and Media, Esth 1:18. The masculine phrase śārê hammədînôt, 'officials of the provinces', occurs in 1 Kgs 20:14–19.

Where it appears

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 5:29 שָׂרוֹתֶ֖יהָ noble ladies her

    Her wisest ladies answer; indeed she keeps telling herself,

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 11:3 שָׂרוֹת֙ noble ladies

    He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 1:18 שָׂר֣וֹת [the] noble ladies of

    This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard about the queen’s conduct will say the same thing to all the king’s officials, resulting in much contempt and wrath.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 49:23 וְשָׂרֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ and princesses their

    Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”

    Here: Noblewomen of the court: royal wives and princesses (compare Solomon's 700 'princesses' in 1 Kgs 11:3). 'Queens' is close, but the word covers the whole circle of high-born royal women.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 1:1 שָׂרָ֙תִי֙ a princess

    How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave.

    Here: "Princess, noble lady": a woman of the ruling class, with the same poetic -î ending as rabbātî. Here it pictures a high-ranking lady with authority over the provinces around her.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.