When do you see Abraham or Sarah?

Enter a date of birth and see the day someone turns 50 in the Dutch tradition (Abraham for a man, Sarah for a woman), and how many days are left.

What does “seeing Abraham or Sarah” mean?

In the Netherlands, a man who turns fifty “sees Abraham” and a woman “sees Sarah”. The phrase comes from the Bible: in John’s gospel the crowd tells Jesus he is not yet fifty and has seen Abraham. Fifty became the age at which you “see Abraham”, and for women it became Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

The day itself is simply the fiftieth birthday. Someone born on 29 February celebrates it on 28 February in a year without a leap day; Everjaar counts it the same way.

Traditionally, someone who sees Abraham or Sarah gets a life-size Abraham or Sarah doll in the front garden, sometimes with a sign. It is one of the milestone birthdays a family calendar likes to mark.