[30] (Gen. 21:1:) THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH. Let our master instruct us: If there is a quarrel between someone and his friend, how is there atonement for him on the Day of Atonement?1 Thus have our masters taught (in Yoma 8:9): FOR TRANSGRESSIONS THAT ARE BETWEEN SOMEONE AND THE OMNIPRESENT, THE DAY OF ATONEMENT ATONES. FOR < TRANSGRESSIONS > THAT ARE BETWEEN HIM AND HIS COMPANION, THE DAY OF ATONEMENT DOES NOT ATONE UNTIL HE MAKES PEACE WITH HIS COMPANION. 2 If he went to make peace, and he did not accept, what should he do? R. Jose, the son of a Damascene woman, said:3 This would be a ready sign4 for you. Every time that you show mercy to your companion, there is one showing mercy (i.e., the Omnipresent) to you. But if you do not show mercy to your companion, there is no one showing mercy to you.5 What should he do? R. Samuel ben Nahman said: Let him bring ten people and set them in a single line. Then let him say before them: My brothers, there has been a quarrel between me and such and such a person. So I went to make peace with him, but he did not accept. Immediately the Holy One sees that he has humbled himself before him, and he has mercy on him.6 Thus it is stated (in Job 33:27): LET HIM DRAW UP A LINE (YShWR)7 OF PEOPLE AND SAY: I HAVE SINNED AND PERVERTED THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT (yashar).8 What < else > is written there (in vs. 28)? SO HE REDEEMS HIS SOUL FROM GOING INTO THE PIT. It is also written (in Prov. 28:13): BUT WHOEVER CONFESSES AND FORSAKES < HIS TRANSGRESSIONS > SHALL OBTAIN MERCY. R. Judah said: The one who confesses in order to forsake < transgressions > shall obtain mercy. Now you find it to be so (in Scripture). All the days that Job was angry with his companions and his companions with him, strict justice was extended against him. Thus it is stated (in Job 30:4): BUT NOW THOSE WHO ARE YOUNGER THAN I LAUGH AT ME. He said to Eliphaz: And are you not a son of Esau?9 If your father had persisted in begging me to have him eat with my dogs, I should have refused him. (Thus Job 30:1 continues:) WHOSE FATHERS I REFUSED TO SET WITH THE DOGS OF MY FLOCK. Then his companions said: Are you the only venerable one? We also have venerable ones, as stated (in Job 15:10): (WE ALSO HAVE) [WITH US ALSO ARE] BOTH THE OLD AND THE VENERABLE, < OLDER THAN YOUR FATHER >. Then, when the Holy one appeared to them and said to them: Why are you persisting? Come and make peace with Job. Thus it is stated (in Job 42:8): NOW THEREFORE, TAKE SEVEN BULLS AND SEVEN RAMS, < GO UNTO MY SERVANT JOB, AND SACRIFICE A BURNT OFFERING FOR YOURSELVES. > THEN LET MY SERVANT JOB PRAY FOR YOU. < When the Holy One had so spoken >, they immediately went and did so. What is written there (in vs. 10)? AND THE LORD RESTORED THE FORTUNES OF JOB. When? (Ibid., cont.:) WHEN HE PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS. So < it was with > Abimelech (according to Gen. 20:17): THEN ABRAHAM PRAYED < UNTO GOD; AND GOD HEALED ABIMELECH >…. The Holy One said: Abraham has sought mercy for Abimelech; I will visit him. Immediately (there follows in Gen. 21:1): THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH.
[31] [(Gen. 21:1:)
THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH.] This text is related (to Hab. 3:17):
FOR THOUGH THE FIG TREE SHALL NOT BLOSSOM.
10 Who is this < fig tree >? This is Abraham, since it is stated (in Hos. 9:10):
I SAW YOUR FATHERS AS THE FIRST FRUIT OF A FIG TREE IN ITS FIRST SEASON. (
Hab. 3:17, cont.:)
AND THERE IS NO YIELD ON THE VINES. ON THE VINE [sic] refers to Sarah, since it is stated (in Ps. 128:3):
YOUR WIFE IS LIKE A FRUITFUL VINE. (
Hab. 3:17, cont.:)
THOUGH THE WORK OF THE OLIVE HAS FAILED. Were the words which the ministering angels brought as good tidings to Sarah deceptive? < They had said > (in Gen. 18:10):
I WILL SURELY RETURN UNTO YOU. (Hab. 3:17:)
THE WORK OF THE OLIVE. As the olive gives light to the world (through its oil), so the angels enlightened < Sarah > with their words.
11 (
Hab. 3:17, cont.:)
AND THE GRAINFIELDS (ShDMH) PRODUCE NO FOOD. Those breasts (
ShDYM)
12 suckle no one. (
Hab. 3:17, cont.:)
HE HAS DECREED13 A FLOCK FROM THE FOLD. Have you not raised up from her (i.e., from Sarah, the fold) the assembly of Israel, which is called a flock, where it is stated (in Ezek. 34:17):
AND YOU, MY FLOCK?
Another interpretation (of Hab. 3:17, cont.): < HE HAS DECREED A FLOCK FROM THE FOLD >. This is the decree which you have decreed concerning me when you said (in Gen. 15:5): SO (i.e., like the stars) SHALL YOUR SEED BE. Would you destroy them so that (according to Hab. 3:17, cont.:) THERE SHALL BE NO HERD IN THE STALLS?14 Have you not raised up from her the tribe of Ephraim? About that < tribe > there is written (in Hos. 10:11): EPHRAIM IS A TRAINED HEIFER. NO HERD, says our mother Sarah; nevertheless (according to Hab. 3:17, cont.): YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD. Some say: Sarah was not bearing, and others say: Abraham was not begetting; nevertheless, she trusts in the LORD. The Holy One said to her: Since you have put your trust in me, by your life, I am visiting you. Thus it is written (in Gen. 21:1): THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH.]15
[32] (Gen. 21:1:) THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH. Let our master instruct us: What is meant by abuse?16 Thus have our masters taught: It is forbidden for someone to abuse his neighbor. (According to BM 4:10:) LET HIM NOT SAY: HOW MUCH DOES THIS COST? IF HE DOES NOT INTEND TO BUY. IF SOMEONE HAS REPENTED, ONE SHOULD NOT ABUSE HIM AND SAY TO HIM: REMEMBER YOUR FORMER DEEDS. IF SOMEONE IS A DESCENDANT OF PROSELYTES, ONE SHOULD NOT SAY TO HIM: REMEMBER THE CONDUCT OF YOUR ANCESTORS; just look at < the meat of the > pig stuck between their teeth. The Holy One said to them: It is enough for you to be like me. When I, as it were, created my world, I did not desire to abuse creation. So I did not publicize to those coming into the world from what tree the first Adam had eaten.17 Come and see: Whoever abused his companion was punished from the start. But Sarah abused herself; so she received her reward. She said to Abraham (in Gen. 16:2): PLEASE LOOK AT HOW THE LORD HAS RESTRAINED ME FROM BEARING! The Holy One said to her: You have abused yourself. By your life, I am visiting you through the very language that you have spoken. You said: RESTRAINED. What is written elsewhere (in Gen. 20:18)? FOR THE LORD HAD COMPLETELY RESTRAINED EVERY WOMB < IN THE HOUSE OF ABIMELECH, DUE TO THE WORD OF ABRAHAM'S WIFE, SARAH >. The Holy One said: When Abraham prayed to me about the wicked Abimelech, I was filled with compassion for him. Behold, I am visiting Abraham along with him. Where it is stated (in Gen. 20:17): AND GOD HEALED ABIMELECH, HIS WIFE, AND HIS FEMALE SERVANTS SO THAT THEY BORE. What is written after that (in Gen. 21:1)? THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH.
[33] [(Gen. 21:1:)
THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH.] This text is related (to Ezek. 17:24):
THEN ALL THE TREES OF THE FIELD SHALL KNOW THAT I THE LORD….
18 Who are these
TREES OF THE FIELD? R. Jacob bar Aha said: These are the children of Adam, as stated (in Deut. 20:19):
FOR THE TREE OF THE FIELD IS HUMANITY. (
Ezek. 17:24, cont.:)
HAVE BROUGHT DOWN THE LOFTY TREE. This is Nebuchadnezzar. (Ibid., cont.:)
HAVE EXALTED THE LOWLY TREE. This refers to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were thrown into the fiery furnace. (Ibid., cont.:)
HAVE DRIED UP THE GREEN TREE. This is Belshazzar. (Ibid., cont.:)
HAVE MADE THE WITHERED TREE BUD. This is Daniel.
Another interpretation (of Ezek. 17:14): THEN ALL THE TREES OF THE FIELD SHALL KNOW < THAT I THE LORD >. < The verse > speaks about Abraham. (Ibid., cont.:) < THAT I THE LORD > HAVE BROUGHT DOWN THE LOFTY TREE. This is Pharaoh. (Ibid., cont.:) HAVE EXALTED THE LOWLY TREE. This is Abraham. (Ibid., cont.:) HAVE DRIED UP THE GREEN TREE. This is Abimelech. (Ibid., cont.:) HAVE MADE THE WITHERED TREE BUD. This is Sarah. (Ibid., cont.:) I THE LORD HAVE SPOKEN, AND I WILL ACT. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 21:1): THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH.
[34] [(Gen. 21:1:)
AND THE LORD VISITED SARAH.] R. Eleazar ben Pedat said: Every place that you find
AND THE LORD, < the words mean > "he and his
sygkletos"
19 {i.e., his host}.
20 {Another interpretation:
AND THE LORD < VISITED SARAH >.} < These words > teach that the Holy One sat in judgment and said to his ministering angels: Does Sarah deserve to bear a son? When they all agreed and said: Yes, the Holy One set his seal after theirs. This is the meaning of
(Gen. 21:1):
AND THE LORD VISITED SARAH….
[35] [(Gen. 21:1:) THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH.] There are four keys (rt.: PTH): the key to sustenance, the key to rain, the key to graves, and the key to barren women.21 Moreover, the four of them are in the hand of the Holy One. Where is it shown about sustenance? Where it is stated (in Ps. 145:16): YOU OPEN (rt.: PTH) YOUR HAND < AND SATISFY THE DESIRE OF EVERY LIVING BEING >. Where is it shown about rain? Where it is stated (in Deut. 28:12): THE LORD WILL OPEN (rt.: PTH) FOR YOU < HIS BOUNTEOUS TREASURY, THE HEAVENS, TO GIVE RAIN FOR YOUR LAND IN ITS SEASON >. Where is it shown about graves? Where it is stated (in Ezek. 37:13): WHEN I HAVE OPENED (rt.: PTH) YOUR GRAVES < AND BROUGHT YOU UP OUT OF YOUR GRAVES >. Where is it shown about barren women? Where it is stated (in Gen. 30:22): THEN THE LORD VISITED RACHEL… AND HE OPENED (rt.: PTH) HER WOMB.
[36] (Gen. 21:1:) THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH. What is written above on the matter (in Gen. 20:17)? THEN ABRAHAM PRAYED < UNTO GOD; AND GOD HEALED ABIMELECH >…. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a king who had a friend and loved him exceedingly; so he did everything that his friend asked of him. Since everybody knew that the king loved him exceedingly, anyone who sought an office came to him. Then he would make a request of the king, and he would fulfill his desire for him. Yet, to that friend he did not give any office at all. The people of his palace22 said to him: Our Lord King, this friend of yours makes requests for others, but for himself he requests nothing. Who is this friend? This is Abraham, of whom it is stated (in Is. 41:8): THE SEED OF MY FRIEND ABRAHAM. When Abimelech took Sarah, the Holy One closed up all their springs, as stated (in Gen. 20:18): FOR THE LORD HAD COMPLETELY RESTRAINED < EVERY WOMB IN THE HOUSE OF ABIMELECH >. When, however, Abimelech made a request of Abraham, he was healed because he had prayed for him. It is so stated (in Gen. 20:17): THEN ABRAHAM PRAYED UNTO GOD; < AND GOD HEALED ABIMELECH >…. The ministering angels said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, Abraham is healing others, but he < himself > needs healing. He healed Abimelech and his house, so that they bore < children >. Thus it is stated (ibid.): AND GOD HEALED < ABIMELECH >. So are you not healing him? The Holy One said: He is worth having me give him children. Look at the work of the Holy One! It is not like the work of flesh and blood. A human promises to give a gift to his companion. Sometimes he gives it; sometimes he does not give it. But the Holy One is not like that. When he promises to do something good, he immediately does something good. Balaam said (in Numb. 23:19): GOD IS NOT A HUMAN THAT HE SHOULD LIE. And again he said (ibid.): WHEN HE HAS PROMISED, HE WILL NOT ACT.23 R. Samuel bar Nahman said: In this verse the end does not correspond to the beginning, nor the beginning to the end. Thus he says < at the beginning of the verse >: GOD IS NOT A HUMAN THAT HE SHOULD LIE…. Yet again he says < at the end of the verse >: WHEN HE HAS PROMISED, HE WILL NOT ACT; < AND WHEN HE HAS SPOKEN, HE WILL NOT FULFILL IT >. It is simply that, in the case of a descendant of Adam, WHEN HE HAS PROMISED, HE WILL NOT ACT. But, when the Holy One promises, he acts; when he decrees, he fulfills.24 Thus it is stated (in Gen. 21:1:) THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH < AS HE HAD PROMISED >.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 21:1): THEN THE LORD VISITED SARAH < AS HE HAD PROMISED, AND THE LORD DID UNTO SARAH AS HE HAD SPOKEN > at the very time (mentioned in Gen. 18:14): AT THE SET TIME I WILL RETURN UNTO YOU, AT THE TIME THAT LIFE IS DUE, < AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON >. Zavday bar Levi said: The Holy One scratched for her a mark on the wall.25 He said to her: When the sun comes to here, you shall bear, as stated (in Gen. 18:14): AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON. Ergo (in Gen. 21:1): AND THE LORD DID UNTO SARAH AS HE HAD SPOKEN.
[37] (Gen. 21:2:) SO SARAH CONCEIVED AND BORE A SON TO ABRAHAM IN HIS OLD AGE. There is an analogy here between her conception and her giving birth. Just as her conception was painless, so was her giving birth painless.26 Hezekiah bar Hiyya said: What is the meaning of IN HIS OLD AGE? < He > was grinding < away at sexual intercourse > and emitting nothing. IN HIS OLD AGE < means > that he was exceedingly aged.
(Gen. 21:6:) SARAH SAID: GOD MADE LAUGHTER FOR ME; < EVERYONE WHO HEARS WILL LAUGH FOR ME >. The verse teaches how in the hour that Isaac was born, the sick were healed, the deaf regained their hearing, and the blind began to see.27 It therefore says: GOD MADE LAUGHTER FOR ME. R. Berekhyah the Priest said: What is the meaning of EVERYONE WHO HEARS WILL LAUGH FOR ME? Surely not that everyone heard! But what is the meaning of EVERYONE WHO HEARS? That the Holy One increased the light of the sun and the moon. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 1:16): AND GOD MADE THE TWO LIGHTS THE GREATER ONES. Therefore: EVERYONE WHO HEARS WILL LAUGH FOR ME.28
(Gen. 21:7:) THEN SHE SAID: WHO WOULD HAVE PROCLAIMED (MLL) TO ABRAHAM! < These words imply > that he had within himself the virility of youth!29 Now the word PROCLAIMED (MLL) is nothing but a word < implying > virility, just as you say (in Deut. 23:26 [25]): THEN YOU SHALL NOT PLUCK RIPE EARS (rt.: MLL)30 < WITH YOUR HAND >.
Another interpretation (of Gen. 21:7): WHO WOULD HAVE PROCLAIMED! < WHO WOULD HAVE PROCLAIMED > that my children are going to say to the Holy One at the < Reed > Sea (in Exod. 15:11): WHO IS LIKE YOU….
(
Gen. 21:7, cont.:)
THAT SARAH WOULD SUCKLE CHILDREN! R. Pinhas bar Hama the Priest said in the name of R. Hilqiyah: Now she did not bear Isaac alone, since it says
SARAH WILL SUCKLE CHILDREN. But what is the meaning (of ibid.):
WHO WOULD HAVE PROCLAIMED (MLL)! M is forty;
L < plus >
L equal sixty for a total of one hundred.
31 Who would have announced the good news to Abraham that at age one hundred you will beget a son!
Another interpretation (of Gen. 21:7, cont.): THAT SARAH WOULD SUCKLE CHILDREN! R. Pinhas bar Hama the Priest said: When Sarah bore, the women of the gentile nations were skeptical and said: Is it possible for her to give birth? They also said to each other: Now is not Sarah an old woman? But perhaps it was her bondwoman. So what did they do? Taking their children, they went to Sarah and said: Suckle this child. Then she suckled their children, as stated (in Gen. 21:7, cont.): THAT SARAH WOULD SUCKLE CHILDREN!
[38] Our masters have said: All the Egyptian women's children whom Sarah suckled, all of them became proselytes; and do not be surprised at the news. So you find the following in the case of Eliphaz ben Esau (of Gen. 36:10f.; I Chron. 1:35f.): Because he grew up in the bosom of Isaac, he became righteous and was worthy of having the Holy Spirit rest (Sharah) 32 upon him. Thus it is stated (in Prov. 11:30): THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS A TREE OF LIFE. R. Eleazar {bar Simeon} was the son of R. Simeon ben Johay.33 R. Jose ben Halafta saw him. He said to him: You stem from a root of righteous people, but you are not a Torah scholar. He said to him: Then what should I do? He said to him: Do you want to learn? He said: Yes. He began teaching him one chapter, then a second, then a third. They brought him to the academy. Rabbi (Judah the Prince) saw him. He said to him: Have you brought this one with you? He said to him: He comes from the trunk of R. Simeon ben Johay. R. Jose brought him up to Sepphoris and instructed him. The next year he brought him down with him and entered the academy. When he began to give answers there, our holy master (Rabbi Judah the Prince) applied < Prov. 11:30 > to him: THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS A TREE OF LIFE.34 Who caused him to become a Torah scholar? Was it not through R. Jose ben Halafta? Similarly in the case of the children who nursed from our mother Sarah, all of them became proselytes. The Holy One said: In this world individuals have become proselytes through the righteous ones, but in the world to come I will draw near the righteous and bring them under the wings of the Divine Presence. Thus it is stated (in Zeph. 3:9): FOR THEN WILL I MAKE THE PEOPLES PURE OF SPEECH, SO THAT THEY ALL MAY INVOKE THE LORD BY NAME AND SERVE HIM WITH ONE ACCORD.
1. PR 38.
2. Cf. Matthew 5:22f.
3. As Buber points in a note, R. Jose’s statement belongs further down in the paragraph, where it is found in PR 38.
4. Gk.: semeion.
5. Mark 11:25; Matthew 6:14-15; 18:23-35; Matthew 6:12//Luke 11:4.
6. yYoma 8:9 (45c); cf. Yoma 87a.
7. The midrash understands YShWR as a verb related to the noun shurah (“line”) and vocalized yeshawwer.
8. This word also is related to YShWR (“line”).
9. The midrash identifies Job’s companion with the Eliphaz mentioned in Gen. 36:4, 10-12, 15-16;I Chron. 1:35-36.
10. Gen. R. 53:3; PR 42:5.
11. Cf. Gen. R. 53:3, according to which THE WORK OF THE OLIVE alludes to the fact that the faces of the angels who gave Sarah the good tidings shone like an olive.
12. ShDYM in an unvocalized text could easily be read as a plural of SDH, a common word meaning “field,” although not quite the word designating GRAINFIELDS in Hab. 3:17.
13. The midrash requires this translation. See the following note.
14. The rhetorical question speaks against interpreting the phrase from Hab. 3:17: HE HAS CUT OFF A FLOCK FROM THE FOLD.
15. This single bracket stands alone in the Buber text.
16. Tanh., Gen. 4:14; PR 42:1 ; cf. BM 58b (bar.)
17. Thus God even avoided abusing a tree.
18. Gen. R. 53:1.
19. The Greek word means “assembly” or “senate.”
20. yBer. 9:7 (14b); Gen. R. 51:2; Exod. R. 12:4; Lev. R. 24:2; Tanh., Exod. 2:16; PR 42:3.
21. Cf. below, Gen. 7:16; Frag. (Jerusalem) Targum, Gen. 30:22; Frag. (Jerusalem) Targum, Deut. 28:11; Ta‘an. 2ab; Sanh. 113a; Gen. R. 72:4; Deut. R. 7:6; PR 42:7; M. Ps. 78:5.
22. Gk.: palation; Lat.: palatium.
23. Unlike other interpretations of this verse, the midrash does not interpret these words as an interrogative.
24. Cf. yTa‘an. 2:1 (65b); Gen. R. 53:4; Tanh., Gen. 4:13; M. Pss. 13:1.
25. Cf. Exod. R. 12:2.
26. For the same tradition applied to Jochebed, cf. Sot. 12a; Exod. R. 1:20.
27. Gen. R. 53:8; PRK 22:1; cf. PR 42:4.
28. See Gen. R. 53:8 and PRK 22:1, according to which, just as in Gen. 1:16 the word MADE speaks of God giving light to the world, so in Gen. 21:6 MADE implies the addition of more light for the world.
29. Gen. R. 53:9; PR 43:4; cf. Gen. R. 48:16.
30. This root may also be seen as related to milah, the “circumcised member.”
31. See Gen. R. 53:9.
32. In an unvocalized text the verb could be read as (Sarah).
33. Cf. BM 85a; also PRK 11:22.
34. I.e., a line of righteous people.
