When asked about the name “Sarah”:
[Brown, Driver, and Briggs] deduce
that Sarah is from the root srr, to rule, so that srh is she ruled. So
princess, noble lady. Whereas Israel is from the root srh, to contend. In any
case, Israel has to be a verbal sentence, as it begins with y, unless you can
find a root that is ysr. BDB says Israel is either El contends, prevails, or
puts it in the jussive, let El contend, prevail. That isn't how names go imo, I
don't know any names in the jussive. As for Sarah, I would guess that the
theopho[r]ic is missing, as every name in the ane had a theophoric. It is
probably sariah, YHWH, or Yah, rules. (Liz
Fried, email to the b-hebrew mailing list, September 1, 2000)
