Serach bat Asher was, in the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

Asher Asher ( ''’Āšēr''), in the Book of Genesis, was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah, and Jacob's eighth son overall. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher. Name The text of the Torah states that the name אָ� ...

, the son of

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

. She is one of the seventy members of the patriarch's family who emigrated from

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

to Egypt, and her name occurs in connection with the census taken by

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

in the wilderness. She is also mentioned among the descendants of Asher in

I Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Ta ...

7:30. The fact of her being the only woman to be mentioned in the genealogical lists indicates her extraordinary

longevity Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is defined Statistics, statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth ...

—an outcome of the blessing for longevity she received from

. She is also the heroine of several legends.

In the Torah

There are two mentions of Serach in the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

. The first mention occurs in Genesis 46:17, which begins: "These are the names of the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

and his descendants, who came to Egypt." This passage lists all of Jacob's sons, his daughter

Dinah In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only named daughter of Leah and Jacob. The episode of her rape by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent revenge of her brothers Simeon and Levi, commonly ...

, his grandsons, and one granddaughter—Serach. The verse states, "The sons of

: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beri’ah, with Serach their sister." This sentence is repeated later in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' 1 Chronicles 7:30. Given that the Torah lists 53 grandsons and only one granddaughter, it suggests that Serach was a person of significance. Additionally, Serach is mentioned a second time in the

book of Numbers The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...

26:46.

In Sefer HaYashar

According to the

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

ic '' Sefer haYashar'' (), Asher married Adon bat Aflal ben Hadad ben Ishmael. She died before bearing children. Asher then married Hadurah bat Abimael ben Heber ben Shem, the widow of Malkiel ben Elam ben Shem. Hadurah bore one daughter to Malkiel, whom he named Serach. After Malkiel died, the mother and daughter returned to the house of Abimael. Upon Asher's marriage to Hadurah, he adopted Serach and brought them to Canaan to live in the house of Jacob. This is one of the sources that the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic tractate '' Megillah'' uses to show that an adopted child is considered the child of the adopted parent—as opposed to the genetic parent—in

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

. The text praises Serach for her musical skill, beauty, and intellect and notes she was raised as an Israelite.

In tradition

A number of

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

im have been written about Serach. According to one midrash, Serach was not Asher's daughter but his stepdaughter. She was three years old when Asher married her mother, and she was brought up in the house of Jacob, whose affection she won by her remarkable piety and virtue. The best known of the midrashim about her tells of how she was the first to inform Jacob that his son

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

was still alive. Fearing that the news would be too much of a shock for the old man, however, she tells a praying Jacob, through playing the harp and singing in rhyme, that Joseph is "alive and living in Egypt, and has two sons,

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh ( ...

and

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

." (''Egypt'', in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, is known as '' Mitzraim'', which rhymes with ''Ephraim''.) In return, Jacob blesses her, saying, "May you live forever and never die." According to the same midrash, Serach was eventually permitted to enter heaven alive, something achieved only by a scant few others. Further, when

appeared to the elders of Israel in the

book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

3:16 and 4:31, they went to Serach to confirm that he (i.e., Moses) was truly the redeemer of Israel. She recognized him by the code phrase "God has surely remembered" that had been passed down, according to the midrash, from

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

and then to Jacob and his sons. At that stage of slavery in Egypt, no one else knew the authenticity of these code phrases as authentically as Serach. In Genesis 50:24, Joseph speaks the same words on his deathbed. Joseph makes his brothers swear that they will bring his bones from Egypt to be buried in the land of Canaan (Genesis 50:25). The Midrash records an opinion that Moses addressed himself to Serach when he wished to learn where the remains of Joseph lay, so that the Israelites could take his bones with them when leaving Egypt (see Exodus 13:19). Without Joseph's bones, the Israelites could not leave Egypt, so the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

entombed him in a lead coffin and cast it into an underground chamber in the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

to thwart their escape. Only Serach remained alive to remember the coffin's location, having witnessed the act while the rest of her generation had died. According to ''

Ecclesiastes Rabbah Ecclesiastes Rabbah or Kohelet Rabbah (Hebrew: קהלת רבה) is an aggadic commentary on Ecclesiastes, included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot. It follows the biblical book verse by verse, only a few verses remaining without commentary ...

'', Serach was the " wise woman" who caused the death of Sheba son of Bichri. Another story, from the midrashic '' Pesikta de-Rav Kahana'','' Pesikta de-Rav Kahana'' 11:13 relates that

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Yohanan ben Zakkai was discussing the

parting of the Red Sea The Parting of the Red Sea or Crossing of the Red Sea (, lit. "parting of the sea of reeds") is an episode in The Exodus, a foundational story in the Hebrew Bible. It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egypt ...

and wondered what the walls of water looked like. There was a discussion in the house of study (, ''

beit midrash A ''beth midrash'' (, "house of learning"; : ''batei midrash''), also ''beis medrash'' or ''beit midrash'', is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall". It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knesseth''), although ...

'') as to whether the sea took on the shape of latticework or brickwork. At some point in the discussion, Serach bat Asher peered into the study hall window and attested, "I was there. They were like lighted

rick Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

windows." According to another legend, Serach lived until the tribe of Asher was exiled by

Shalmaneser V Shalmaneser V (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Salmānu is foremost"; Biblical Hebrew: ) was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 727 BC to his deposition and death in 722 BC. Though Shalmaneser V's brief reign is poorly known from conte ...

, went with them into exile, and died there nearly one thousand years old. According to the legend, her grave is located in Pir Bakran, a small town about 30 km southeast of

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

. The site comprises a small

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

and a large

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

, probably over two millennia old. Some consider her the guardian of Israel's communal memory.{{cn, date=January 2025

Cultural associations

* Edward Einhorn's absurdist comedy ''The Living Methuselah'', appearing in his book of plays entitled ''The Golem, Methuselah, and Shylock'', gives another perspective on both Serach and

Methuselah Methuselah (; ''Məṯūšélaḥ'', in pausa ''Məṯūšālaḥ'', "His death shall send" or "Man of the javelin" or "Death of sword"; ''Mathousalas'') was a biblical patriarch and a figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He is clai ...

. In it, Methuselah and Serach have lived to modern day, through all the major disasters of human history.

References

Resources

Bacher, Wilhelm and Isaac Broydé. "Serah".
''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

''. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906.
Sermon on Serach
Book of Genesis people Women in the Hebrew Bible Entering heaven alive Longevity myths