laugh at me.” Such laughter would evidently be prompted by delight and amazement over the birth of the child. Sarah nursed her son for about five years. When Isaac was finally weaned, Abraham spread a big feast. On that occasion Sarah observed Hagar’s son Ishmael, now about nineteen years old, “poking fun” or playing with Isaac in a mocking way. Apparently fearing for the future of her son Isaac, Sarah requested that Abraham dismiss Hagar and her son. Abraham did so, subsequent to his receiving divine approval of this action.—Gen. 21:1-14.

About thirty-two years later Sarah died, at the age of 127 years, and Abraham buried her “in the cave of the field of Machpelah.”—Gen. 23:1, 19, 20.

FIGURES IN A SYMBOLIC DRAMA

In writing to the Galatians, the apostle Paul showed that Abraham’s wife Sarah represented the “Jerusalem above,” the mother of spirit-anointed Christians, the spiritual “seed” of Abraham. Like Sarah, the “Jerusalem above,” God’s symbolic woman, has never been in slavery and, therefore, her children are also free. For an individual to become a free child of the “Jerusalem above,” having “her freedom,” he must be emancipated from the bondage of sin by the Son of God. (Gal. 4:22–5:1 and ftn. on 5:1, NW, 1950 ed.) As Christ Jesus told the natural descendants of Abraham: “Most truly I say to you, Every doer of sin is a slave of sin. Moreover, the slave does not remain in the household forever; the son remains forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you will be actually free.”—John 8:34-36; see FREE WOMAN; HAGAR.

SARAPH

(Saʹraph) [burning, serpent].

A descendant of Shelah of the tribe of Judah, one who took a Moabite wife (or wives) for himself. (JB, NW) Perhaps, according to alternate readings, Saraph ruled in (or for) Moab.—1 Chron. 4:21, 22, AS, AT, AV, Mo, Ro, RS.

SARCOPHAGUS

(sar·cophʹa·gus).

This word is derived from the Greek words sarx (flesh) and pha·geinʹ (to eat), thus literally meaning “flesh-eating.” The term comes from the stone coffins of the ancient Greeks, made of a particular limestone believed to consume the flesh of the corpse. Pliny the Roman historian stated that the body would be consumed in forty days.

Materials other than limestone were used, and the term “sarcophagus” applies generally to any coffin made of stone, granite, porphyry or terra-cotta. They were sometimes the size of a casket and at other times in the form of a tomb. Usually highly decorated, they were at one and the same time a coffin and a monument.

Sarcophagi are not mentioned directly as such in the Bible, although some lexicographers suggest the possibility that King Og’s “bier” or bed of iron may have been a sarcophagus of black basalt. The Arabs still call basalt by the name of iron.—Deut. 3:11.

Sarcophagi are to be found among the ancient Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, Phoenicians and Egyptians. The Egyptians used limestone, basalt, marble or granite and the royalty always had coffins made from the more expensive marble. Some seventeen delicately sculptured sarcophagi were found at the site of Sidon in Lebanon in 1887 and are believed to have been from about the fourth century B.C.E., perhaps containing bones of the kings of Sidon.

When Joseph was prepared for burial, according to the custom of the Egyptians he was embalmed and put in a coffin. (Gen. 50:26) The Septuagint Version uses the Greek word so·rosʹ in this text, the word originally denoting a receptacle for containing the bones of the dead; then a coffin; then, the funeral couch or bier on which the Jews bore their dead to burial. This is the Greek term used at Luke 7:14, where it is said that Jesus touched the bier of the widow of Nain’s son.

However, stone sarcophagi such as described previously were not used among the early Jews.

SARDIS

(Sarʹdis).

The ancient capital of Lydia (in western Asia Minor) and a center of the worship of an Asiatic goddess, linked either with Artemis or with Cybele. Situated on the E bank of the Pactolus River (a tributary of the Hermus), Sardis lay about thirty miles (48 kilometers) S of Thyatira and about forty-eight miles (77 kilometers) E of Smyrna. The acropolis of the city occupied an almost inaccessible rocky crag. Although a mountain range limited communication with areas in the S, Sardis commanded the E-W trade route. Its commercial activity and trade, the great fertility of surrounding land and the manufacture of woolen cloth and carpets contributed much toward making Sardis wealthy and important. At one time Sardis may have had a population of about 50,000 persons.

In the sixth century B.C.E., Cyrus the Great defeated the last Lydian king, Croesus, and for over two hundred years thereafter Sardis served as the capital for the western part of the Persian Empire. In 334 B.C.E. the city surrendered without resistance to Alexander the Great. Later it came under the rule of Pergamum and then Rome. A great earthquake nearly leveled Sardis in 17 C.E., but the city was rebuilt with generous aid from Rome.

The Jewish historian Josephus indicates that in the first century B.C.E. there was a large Jewish community in Sardis. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XIV, chap. X, par. 24) By the latter part of the first century C.E. the Christian congregation that had been established at Sardis needed to “wake up” spiritually. However, there were also persons associated with this congregation who had not ‘defiled their outer garments.’—Rev. 3:1-6.

Prominent ruins at the ancient site of Sardis include those of the temple of Artemis (or Cybele) and a Roman theater and stadium.

SARDIUS

(sarʹdi·us).

A translucent, reddish-brown variety of the mineral chalcedony used as a gemstone. According to Pliny the Elder, it was named after the city of Sardis in Lydia, where it was first introduced to that part of the world. However, it has been suggested that the name originated with the Persian word sered, meaning “yellowish-red,” and accompanied the stone from its source in Persia. Sardius has also been called “sard,” “sardine” and “sardoine.” Its beauty, its toughness, the ease with which it can be engraved and the fact that it can be highly polished made it a most popular stone among artisans. The Hebrews possibly obtained their sardius stones from the Arabian Peninsula. The Assyrians made cylinder seals from sardius and the Egyptians carved the stone into the image of a scarab beetle, which they worshiped as the symbol of immortality. Others used sardius for gemstones and especially for intaglios and cameos.

The sardius is referred to at Revelation 4:3, where the One seated upon his heavenly throne of splendor “is, in appearance, like . . . a precious red-colored stone [or “a sardius,” NW, 1950 ed., ftn.].” “The holy city, New Jerusalem,” is described as having a wall with foundations that “were adorned with every sort of precious stone,” the sixth being sardius.—Rev. 21:2, 19, 20.

SARDONYX

(sarʹdo·nyx).

An ornamental stone that is a variety of agate, a kind of chalcedony. It is an onyx composed of two or more layers of milk-white chalcedony and transparent red sard. However, the contrasting layer is sometimes golden or brown. The red layer showing through the white one appeared much like the color of a fingernail to the Greeks, which was probably why they applied to it the Greek word oʹnyx (meaning “fingernail”), from which the English term “onyx” is derived. Sardonyx is found in various places, including Palestine and Arabia.

Sardonyx was valued in ancient times for engraved