(1) Sarah’s lifetime—the span of Sarah’s life—came to one hundred and twenty-seven years. (2) Sarah died in Kiryat-arba—now Hebron—in the land of Canaan; and Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her. (3) Then Abraham rose from beside his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying, (4) “I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial.”
(א) ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים. לְכָךְ נִכְתַּב שָׁנָה בְּכָל כְּלָל וּכְלָל, לוֹמַר לְךָ שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד נִדְרָשׁ לְעַצְמוֹ, בַּת ק' כְּבַת כ' לְחֵטְא, מַה בַּת כ' לֹא חָטְאָה, שֶׁהֲרֵי אֵינָהּ בַּת עֳנָשִׁין, אַף בַּת ק' בְּלֹא חֵטְא, וּבַת כ' כְּבַת ז' לְיֹפִי:
(2) שני חיי שרה THE YEARS OF SARAH’S LIFE — The word years is repeated and without a number to indicate that they were all equally good.
(3) לספוד לשרה ולבכותה TO BEWAIL SARAH AND TO WEEP FOR HER — The narrative of the death of Sarah follows immediately on that of the Binding of Isaac, because through the announcement of the Binding — that her son had been made ready for sacrifice and had almost been sacrificed — she received a great shock (literally, her soul flew from her) and she died (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 32).
And the life of Sarah It is not the [usual] way to record the deaths of women, even righteous ones, unless it is by means of a deed. For behold we find only Sarah, Rachel, and Devorah -- Rivka's wetnurse -- and Miriam on the withdrawal of the well. Sarah's death is mentioned since she makes known to us how the grave was acquired with riches (and this is one of the tests [of Avraham]). Devorah's death is mentioned to make known how the name of the place is called Alon-Bachut. Rachel's death is mentioned to teach why she is not buried in Ma'arat haMachpela. And why is it that their years are not numbered, except for Sarah? Since she is the most important of them all.
ויהיו חיי שרה, “The years of Sarah’s life amounted to etc.” People... will note that the numerical value of the word ויהיו equals the “life of Sarah,” in other words, Sarah’s real life commenced with the birth of Yitzchok, at which time she was 90 years old, whereas she died on the day of the binding of Yitzchok 37 years later. This is the numerical value of the word: ויהיו. As long as a person has no child he or she is considered as dead. (Talmud Nedarim, 64)
שני חיי שרה, “the years of the life of Sarah.” According to Rashi, the apparently superfluous words: “the years of,” mean that she retained all her virtues in equal measure throughout her life. The wording used by the Torah when reporting Yishmael’s life does not lend itself to such an interpretation, seeing that up until his death we had never heard anything about his age, as distinct from Sarah. It is clear therefore that the words underlined earlier were meant to relay an additional message to the reader.
Her children rise up, and call her blessed (Prov. 31:28); And she said: Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should give children suck? For I have born him a son in his old age (Gen. 21:7). Many daughters have done valiantly (Prov. 31:29) refers to the nations, But thou excellest them all (ibid.) alludes to Sarah, as it is said: Look unto Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, that bore you (Isa. 51:2). Give her of the fruit of her hand (Prov. 31:31), for it is said: And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty and seven years (Gen. 23:1).
In the Tosephta d'Zohar (page 4 on Chayey Sarah, Sullam edition), we read as follows: "Hail to the person who humbles himself in this world for he will be correspondingly more distinguished and highly regarded in the world to come." He who tries to appear as great in this world, will become insignificant in the world to come. The Torah writes: ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה, beginning with a great number, i.e. 100, and continues by describing this in the singular not שנים, but שנה. This is a hint of how someone should humble oneself. On the other hand, when the Torah refers to the smallest unit of her years, i.e. שבע שנים, we have the word "years" in the plural, i.e. שנים. This is an allusion to the type of person who tries to emphasize his importance in this world.
There must be differences, variations, and changes during a person’s lifetime. There are special times during a person’s youth and special times during a person’s old age. But the ones who are truly righteous find fulfillment in all their days. . . Fulfillment, wholeness, completion—these can be found in every place and at every time. Thus, ‘They were all equally good.’”
Commentary on S’fat Emet (Lawrence Kushner and Kerry Olitzky):
Our teacher accepts Rashi’s explanation but wonders how Rashi came to the understanding. He ties this phrase to the verse he reads just one chapter later. It is not merely that the years of Sarah’s life were equally good. Rather, each and every one of them was good—even amid the seemingly regular disillusionments and disappointments we all must face. The S’fat Emet teaches us that we must live our lives trying to emulate Sarah.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: וּמִי יָדְעִי כּוּלֵּי הַאי? וְהָא כְּתִיב: ״וְהַמֵּתִים אֵינָם יוֹדְעִים מְאוּמָה״! ״כִּי הַחַיִּים יוֹדְעִים שֶׁיָּמוּתוּ״ — אֵלּוּ צַדִּיקִים שֶׁבְּמִיתָתָן נִקְרְאוּ חַיִּים
Rabbi Yonatan said to him: Do the dead know so much? Isn’t it stated: “And the dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5)?... The meaning of the verse: “For the living know that they will die, and the dead know nothing and have no more reward, for their memory has been forgotten” (Ecclesiastes 9:5): For the living know that they will die, these are the righteous, who even in their death are called living.