122 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

Hagar." "Whom thou lovest," said God. " I love them both, ”
said Abraham. God did not at once tell him to take Isaac, in
order not to frighten him, as also to reward him for each word
he spoke with Him.
And offer him there for a burnt offering. There, on Mount
Moriah. God did not say that he should slay him, but that he
should bring him up and bring him down again. But Abraham
thought that God ordered him there to sacrifice Isaac for a
burnt offering.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, to do the
bidding of God , and he himself saddled his ass ; and he took
with him his two young men, Ishmael and Eliezer.
And clave the wood for a burnt offering. He split the wood
at home, thinking, perhaps there may be no wood there ; and
he carried the wood with him three days' journey.
Rabbi B'chai offers another explanation why Abraham took
the wood from his own house : viz. to be sure that the wood
was not attacked by insects, and that it was ( Kosher) clean for
use at the offering of a sacrifice. For the merit of his splitting
the wood, God split (divided) the Red Sea for his children .
4 And he saw the place afar off. Abraham said to Isaac,
" What seest thou ? " Isaac replied, " I see a pretty mount,
and on it a pretty cloud ." Abraham asked the young men ,
" What do ye see ? " They said " We see nothing." Then
said Abraham
5 Abide ye here with the ass. The Pirké d'Rabbi Eleazar
writes : The young men quarrelled together. Ishmael said,
" Isaac will be slaughtered, and I shall inherit all. " And
Eliezer said, " Thou hast been driven away from thy father's
house, therefore thou shalt not inherit, but I shall." Then a
Bath Kol (a voice from heaven) came forth and said, “ Neither
of you shall inherit."
The Midrash writes : Abraham thought, " If I do not tell
Sarah of my intended offering up of Isaac, when she (on my
return) does not see him, she will die ; if I do tell her before-
 GENESIS XXII. 2-5. 123

hand, she will not consent. " Therefore Abraham told Sarah to
prepare a dinner for merriment. 66 For," said he, " I knew God
when I was three years old, and our son Isaac is now thirty-
seven years old, I must therefore initiate him to perform the
precepts. I intend going to offer a sacrifice on Mount Moriah ;
let him go with me. " Sarah gave permission to take Isaac
with him, and Abraham rose very early in order that she should
not repent ; also when all people were yet asleep, in order
that they should not dissuade him from offering up his son
Isaac.
Then Satan disguised himself as an old man, and presented
himself before Abraham, and said, " Where art thou going ? "
" I am going to pray," replied Abraham. (Satan) " What is
the use of the wood, and the fire, and the slaughtering knife ? "
(Abraham) " I shall remain some days, and the wood and fire
will be for cooking purposes. " (Satan) " Such an old man as
thou art, who hast no more than an only son in thine old age,
and wilt thou slay him ? Will God not punish thee ? " (Abra-
ham) " God told me to do so."
Then came Satan unto Isaac, and asked him, " Where art
thou going ? " Isaac replied, " I am going to learn to do the
commandments. " Satan said unto him, " Wilt thou be taught
""
after death, or when alive ? for thou art to be slaughtered !
Isaac replied, " If God wills that I should be slaughtered, I
will let it be so without resisting.
Satan then went to Sarah, and said unto her, "Where is
Abraham (gone ) with Isaac ? Thou shalt never more see thy
son Isaac." Sarah replied, " Let God do what He wills ! "
The Midrash writes also : That Satan made a great (flood of)
water, which reached up to the necks of Abraham and Isaac.
But Abraham prayed unto God, and said, " Lord of the Uni-
verse ! Thou hast bidden me to offer up my son Isaac for a
sacrifice unto Thee, therefore help me now to do so." Then
the flood of water disappeared.¹
1 Comp. Rev. xii. 15 , 16. The Talmud and the Midrashim have bor-
124 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

And we shall come again unto you. Abraham told the young
men, we will go to yonder place, and we shall return unto you.
Rashi writes : He said this prophetically, that they both would
return. Rabbi B'chai writes : Abraham had it in his mind that
he would return the bones of Isaac after they had been burnt
on the altar, therefore he said (the truth) we both will return.¹
6 And they went both of them together. Both of them to-
gether were equally happy as they went ; Abraham, who knew
that he was going to slaughter Isaac, was as happy as Isaac,
who knew nothing about it as yet.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My
father. It may be asked : What need is there for the text to
state that Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, since we know
it already that Abraham was his father ; and again, “And said
my father " what need had he to say that he was his father ?
Rabbi B'chai writes : He therefore called him twice, father,
father, in order that he might have compassion on him, as a
father (pitieth) his son.
And he said, My son. Abraham responded, "Thou
art my son." Isaac then asked, " If I am indeed thy son,
where is the sacrifice ? "
8 And Abraham replied, God will show us the sacrifice, my
son. Isaac then understood that he himself was to be offered
for a sacrifice , and therefore says the text once more—
They went both of them together. That is to say, although
Isaac knew now that he was to be offered as a sacrifice, yet
they went both of them together, of one heart and mind, and
equally happy (to slay and to be slain).

rowed many sentiments from the New Testament. See Index III. to Gen.
acc. to the Tal. , under the word New Test.
¹ In this case a little prevarication and mental reservation was necessary.
Father Abraham thus established a precedent for the conduct of his ortho-
dox children. So at least would reason a modern Jew. R. Akiva swore
with his lips and made it null in his heart ! The Talmud says ,plainly that
thoughts of the heart are not words of the mouth : ‫דברים שבלב אינן‬
D7. Kiddushin, fol. 50A.
 GENESIS XXII. 5-9. 125

Rabbi B'chai asks : Who had the greater nierit ? Abraham,

who was about to slay his own son with his own hands, or
Isaac, who was willing to be slain ? Some of the sages say :
Abraham had the greater merit, for it is much easier for a man
to allow himself to be slain, than for a father to slay his son
with his own hands. But some of the sages say : The merit
of Isaac was greater, because Abraham explicitly heard direct
from God that he was to slaughter his son, whereas Isaac had
no such Divine communication, he having heard from Abraham
only, and yet was ready to be slain. Therefore his merit was
greater. The Rabbi B'chai maintains, however, that the merit.
of Abraham was greater, for Isaac was in duty bound to obey
his father's bidding.
9 And Abraham built an altar there. " There,""-on the
same spot where Adam the first had built an altar. The
Chizkûni asks : Why did not Isaac assist building the altar ?
The answer is : Abraham hid Isaac away, that Satan should not
blemish him, and thus disqualify him from being an acceptable
sacrifice.1 Therefore Isaac was unable to assist in building.
And bound Isaac his son. Isaac said to Abraham, " Bind my
hands and feet, that I should not be able to throw myself
about when thou slayest me, and thus make the slaughtering
illegal. " Abraham bound him, and laid him on the wood, and
took the knife to slay him. As soon as the knife touched
Isaac's throat his soul departed out of him. When he heard
the voice from the throne of glory, that Isaac should not be
touched, his soul returned into his body, and Abraham un-
bound him and pronounced the (following) blessing : " Blessed
art thou, O Lord ! who revivest the dead ." 2
1 Vide Lev. xxii. 18-25 .
This blessing is one of the eighteen blessings thrice repeated daily by
every Jew in his morning or evening worship in synagogue or at home.
Strange to say, this blessing has been omitted in a copy before us of the
English translation of the Morning Service, in the English, but not in the
Hebrew. This copy of the Liturgy was published in London in 1848, by
H. Abrahams, and revised by Isaac L. Lyon. See said Liturgy, p. 31 .
125 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

The Chizkûni and the Imrae Noam ask : What need had
God to try Abraham, since He well knew that he would obey
all he was bid to do ? The answer is : The angel said unto
God, " In what is Abraham so much better than other right-
eous men, that Thou shouldest do so many wonders for him ?
God replied, " I will show you what Abraham is ; if I tell him
to slay his son, he will obey.
And bound Isaac his son. Abraham having bound Isaac's
hands and feet, and laid him upon the wood, Isaac besought
him thus : 66 Father, let me not see the knife, lest I shake with
fear, and thou shouldest not legally ( Kosher) slay me. " He
also begged his father not to tell Sarah (what had happened)
when on the housetop , or by the side of a pit, for she might
be frightened and fall down.
And Abraham took the knife in his hand to slay his son,
but a voice from heaven cried aloud, " Touch not Isaac to kill
him ! " Abraham said, " Let me shed a little of his blood."
But the angel replied :
Neither do thou anything to him. Make no blemish in him .
The B'chai writes : Abraham asked the voice that cried aloud,
"Who art thou ? " And the voice answered, " I am an angel. "
Abraham then said, " God Himself spoke with me to slay my
son, and now ( if I am not to slay him) let Him speak also
Himself with me."
15 And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of
heaven the second time,
16 By Myself have I sworn. The angel told him that God
swore by Himself that He would bless the children of Isaac,
and multiply them as the stars of heaven, and as the sand
which is upon the sea shore. And Abraham said unto God,
"Let me say my say before Thee. First, Thou hast told me
that my principal children would be of Isaac ; then Thou
commandedst me to slay him ; and now again Thou biddest me
not to slay him." God replied, " I do not go from My word.
I only told thee to bring thy son for a burnt offering, but I
 GENESIS XXII. 9-13. 127

have not bid to slay him. Now as thou hast brought him up,
thou mayest bring him down." Abraham said unto God ,
" Thou hast sworn, and I , too, swear, that I will not go down
from here till Thou hast promised me that Thou wilt remember
this (binding of Isaac) as an atonement for the sins of my
children, as if I actually had poured out the blood¹ of my son,
and as if his ashes were actually spread upon the altar.
The Imrae Noam asks : Why is it stated that the angel called
unto Abraham from heaven, without his coming down to him,
whereas to Hagar the angel came down from heaven and found
her at the well ? The answer is : The angel was obliged
promptly to call unto Abraham, for he was in a hurry to slay
his son . (There was no time for delay. )
For now I know that thou fearest God. God said unto
Abraham, " Now I can answer the angels why I show thee
more favour than to other people. "
13 And he looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a
thicket by his horns. The ram could not escape, and from the
six days of the creation he had been prepared for this purpose
(to be caught by the horns, and to be a substitute for Isaac) .
The Chizkûni writes : Because the ram was tied, Abraham
therefore understood that God provided it for a sacrifice in
place of his son. Had the ram not been tied , Abraham would
have thought that it belonged to another person, and would
not have taken it for a sacrifice.
The B'chai writes on the words 2 "Another caught in a thicket "
thus : When Israel are unclean with sin all the year round ,
they blow the horn of a ram on new year, and God forgives
them their sins.

1 This sentiment seems to be based on Yoma, fol . 5A, where it is said,

07 88 77 18, i.e. There is no atonement except by blood ; or, in
the language of the New Test. " Without shedding of blood there is no
remission. " Heb. ix. 22.
2 The words of the A. V. " behind him, " will bear also the meaning
" another," means behind," as well as " another."
128 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah. After the binding of Isaac

was over, Abraham thought that had Isaac been slain, he would
have departed from this world without children, and it would
have been better if he had given him a wife of the daughters
of Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Therefore God communicated
to him the good tidings that his brother's son had begat a
daughter, named Rebekah, who should be Isaac's wife.

END OF THE FOURTH SECTION.

CHAPTER XXIII.— 1 And the life of Sarah was a hundred

and twenty-seven years. The sages say that during all the
time that Sarah lived, the candle burned (continually) from
Sabbath-eve to Sabbath-eve, a blessing was in her dough, and
a cloud stood over her tent. As soon as she died and these
three things ceased to be, then it was known that it was for
her sake that they had been. She was worthy of dying in the
Land of Israel, and being buried there. She lived out her
days, and this is why the text says : " And the life of Sarah
was a hundred and twenty-seven years, the years of the life of
Sarah," that is to say, she lived out (the appointed number of)
her years.
2 And Sarah died. The Torah must needs write the
chapter of Sarah's death immediately after the record of " The
Binding of Isaac," because on account of " The Binding,"
when she heard that her son was bound to be slaughtered,
she was so frightened that her soul came out (she died). And
why does the Torah record first the birth of Rebekah, and then
the death of Sarah ? This is to show us that before one saint
departs from this world another saint enters into it.¹
The Chizkûni writes : Sarah had no need to adorn herself

1 The Talmud proves that no righteous man departs this life before
another equally righteous is born (from Eccles. i. 5 ) : " The sun rises and
the sun goes down." The sun of Eli had not set before that of Samuel
rose ; as it is said ( 1 Sam. iii. 3 ), " Ere the lamp of God was out
and Samuel lay down. " Kiddushim, fol. 72B.
 GENESIS XXII. 23-XXIII. 2. 129

with paint (kohl) or other ornaments, as other women adorn

themselves ; for she was as handsome, without any ornaments,
as a young girl.¹
Rabbi B'chai and the Chizkûni write on the text, " And
the life of Sarah were " (plur. ) : Were (in the original 2) has the
numerical value of thirty-seven, to show that the real life of
Sarah was thirty-seven years, viz. from the birth of Isaac to
the Binding of Isaac, when he was thirty-seven years old ; for
all the years of her life before the birth of Isaac could not be
called life, because if one has no children, one is like being
dead.3
The Baal Hatturim writes on " Kirjath-arba," thus : Sarah
died in the city of Kirjath-arba, and the city was so called
because four couples were buried there, viz. Adam and Eve,
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah.
Another explanation is, that the city was called Kirjath-Arba
because four mighty giants were there.
And Abraham came (from Beersheba) to mourn for Sarah,
and to weepfor her. Rabbi B'chai asks : What need is there
to say, " to mourn for Sarah," since her name was mentioned
just before, " and Sarah died " ? The reply is : When mourn-
ing is made over the dead, the name ought to be mentioned
several times.
Another question is asked by Rabbi B'chai : Why is it stated
only that Abraham mourned , and not that Isaac mourned for
his mother ? The answer is : Isaac was not informed of the
death of his mother Sarah, in order that he should not distress
himself about her dying on his account when she heard that
he was bound to be slaughtered .

1 We are told in Meggillah, fol. 15A : There were four beautiful women
in the world- Sarah, Abigail, Rahab and Esther. In Bava-Bathra, fol.
50A, we are informed, compared to Sarah, all other women were like apes.
2 ‫ = ויהיו‬.37
3 Four classes of people are like the dead : the poor, the lepers, the
blind, and the childless. Nedarim, fol. 64B.
K
130 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

Isaac is not mentioned at the mourning and burial of Sarah,

nor since " The Binding, " for he was three years on Mount
Moriah, till he became forty years of age, when he married
Rebekah, therefore it is said " Abraham returned unto his
young men." 1 Abraham alone returned, but Isaac remained
on Mount Moriah.
The Toldoth Yitzkhac asks : Why did not Abraham betimes
buy a city where to bury himself and wife, since they were
already old ? The answer is : Abraham did so wisely (in
delaying to buy) . He thought ( to himself) : " I know that
Adam and Eve are buried in the cave, and the place therefore
is very valuable. Ephron may not know that Adam and Eve
are buried there, and therefore he holds the cave of no value.
If I make him an offer to buy it before Sarah dies, he (Ephron)
may suspect something, and will be making inquiries of people
about it, and will learn that Adam and Eve are buried there,
and consequently he will ask a high price for it. " Therefore
when Sarah became very old, Abraham sent her to Hebron,
where she would eventually die, and where there was the
cave of Adam and Eve, and when Sarah died there (thought
Abraham), I shall get the cave of Ephron with ease, in spite
of the inquiries that may be made. Therefore Abraham
behaved wisely in not saying plainly that he wanted that par-
ticular cave, but simply said : " Give me a place, that I may
bury my dead out of my sight," that is to say : A dead person
lies before me, and ye therefore ought to give me a grave
for the dead. They answered him : " In the choice of our
sepulchres bury thy dead, " since the dead person lies before
thee.
And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
The Toldoth Yitzkhac asks : Is it not customary to weep first
and then to mourn ? The answer is : Abraham was very joyful
because Isaac had been delivered from " The Binding " (i.e. from
being offered as a sacrifice), and also because he heard the
1 Chap. xxii . 19.
 GENESISI. XXIII. 2, 4. 131

good tidings that Rebekah was born, as his son Isaac would
then be able to have a wife of honourable connection, there-
fore he could not weep, for great joy, and hence he first
mourned for her and recounted her good works, and after-
wards he was able also to weep a little . And this is the
reason why the word " weep " is written with a small Caph,¹
because he only wept a little for her, for he was full of joy
and unable to weep much.
The Baal Hatturim writes : He wept but little for her,
because she was old when she died, and people weep little
for an aged person . Another explanation is : He wept little
for Sarah because she herself caused her own death when she
passed judgment on Abraham by saying : " The Lord judge
between me and thee." 2 And he who causes his own death
need not be wept for.
3 And Abraham stood up before his dead, and prayed the
children of Heth they should give him a sepulchre. The
Baal Hatturim writes : It is not lawful to talk in the presence
of the dead, for it is a contempt for the dead who cannot
speak. Therefore Abraham arose from before the dead and
went aside, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying—
4 I am a stranger, from a strange land, and I have settled
myself among you. Another explanation is : He spoke thus :
" If ye will sell me a sepulchre, well and good, I shall count
myself for a stranger and buy it of you ; but if ye will not sell,
then I am one settled in the land, and will by law take away for
myself a place for a sepulchre, for God has promised to give
me this land ."
The Chizkûni asks : Why has the Torah recorded in what
city Sarah died, but it does not record in what city Abraham ,
and Rebekah, and Rachel, and Leah have died ? The answer
is : Abraham sent Sarah to Hebron, in order that she should

1 ‫ ולבכתה‬The type of the letter Caph in this word ismuch smaller

than the other letters.
2 Chap. xvi. 5.
132 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

be far from Mount Moriah, and should not soon learn that
her son Isaac was slain. But as the angel Sammael came to
Sarah and told her that Isaac was slain, her soul departed,
and she died .
Some say, Sarah was ill, and Abraham sent her to Hebron
because of the good air there, but when there she died on
account of what she heard about her son Isaac.
Give me a possession of a burying-
place with you. The B'chai
asks : What need had he to say " with you " ? The answer is :
Their arrangement was that each family had its own particular
cemetery, and when a stranger died they buried him separately
in a field. " Therefore," said Abraham, " give me a place for
a cemetery with you."
6 Thou art a mighty prince among us. The children of
Heth said unto Abraham, " Do not hold thyself for so little—
for a stranger—thou art a Divine personage among us ; choose,
therefore, the best of our sepulchres to bury thy dead, none
of us shall withhold from thee (his sepulchre) from burying thy
dead." Abraham said to the children of Heth, " If ye indeed
wish that I should bury my dead,"
8, 9 Hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of
Zohar, that he give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has.
The cave was called Machpelah because it was double, one
cave over the other. Another explanation why the cave was
called Machpelah (i.e. double) is, because of the couples
buried there, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and
Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. Another explanation is, that the
cave was called double (Machpelah), because the length of
Adam was in the cave doubled up in two.
Abraham said, " I will give good silver for the cave."
Ephron replied, " A land which is worth four hundred shekels
of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee, between such
good friends as we are ? Bury, therefore, thy dead."
16 And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which Ephron
named, for Ephron said at first, that he would make Abraham
 GENESIS XXIII. 4-XXIV. 1. 133

a present of the field, but afterwards he would accept only

heavy weight, such as would pass among all merchants.
CHAPTER XXIV. - 1 And Abraham was old and well
stricken in age. When Abraham became old, then he was well
stricken in age ; for there are many people who become grey,
and get white hair, on account of affliction and not on account
of old age, but Abraham possessed wealth and honour, and
had a son in his old age, therefore he was weli-stricken in age,
not on account of affliction, but on account of many years.
Because he was very old, he thought he might die before
taking a wife for his son Isaac. He therefore made his servant
swear that he would take no wife for his son Isaac except from
his own family. And why did he not make his son Isaac
himself swear (to that effect) ? Because he thought to himself :
"Perhaps the servant is a cheat, and would persuade Isaac to
take a wife from (the daughters of) the Canaanites ;" and there-
fore he made the servant himself swear. The Midrash writes :
On account of four things a man soon becomes grey and old :—
I. When one is frightened (suddenly), old age comes upon
him ; 2. when one has bad children ; 3. when one goes to war ;
and 4. when he has a bad wife.
And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. He
wanted nothing, except a wife for his son, which he much
wished.
Rabbi Meir says : God had blessed Abraham in not giving
him a daughter, for he would not have been able to give her a
good husband, and she would have been obliged to marry an
idolater, and every wife is in the power of her husband ; if he
worships idols she must do the same. Rabbi Yehudah says :
Abraham had a daughter, for a man desires to have both sons
and daughters, especially when he is rich.¹

1 In Bava-Bathra, fol. 141A, we read : " And the Lord had blessed
Abraham in all things. " Rabbi Meir, said ; He had no daughter. Rabbi
Yehudah said ; He had a daughter and her name was Baccol ( 3) . The
Comment of Tosephoth in loco says : He had a daughter, and her name
134 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

2 His eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all he had.
Eliezer was the chief in the house of Abraham.
The Chizkûni writes : Abraham sent Eliezer in preference
to any other servant to take a wife for his son Isaac, because
Eliezer was older than any other of all his servants, and an old
man is more to be trusted than a young man ; and therefore
says the text, his oldest servant. Nevertheless they still sus-
pected him, as we shall see further on.
2, 3 Put I pray thee thy hand under my thigh ; and I will
make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of
the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son ofthe
daughters of the Canaanites. Rabbi B'chai, and the Toldoth
Yitzkhac, and the Chizkûni write : It was a custom in ancient
times that a servant put his hand under his master's thigh as a
proof of subjection and faithfulness.
Rashi writes : He who swears must hold in his hand a book
or something else that is sacred. As Abraham had no book, he
ordered his servant to put his hand under his thigh, because it
was the first precept to Abraham which came through much
pain.
And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven,
and the God of the earth. Rashi asks : Why is it that in
verse 7 is mentioned only, " The Lord God of heaven which
took me from my father's house, " and not as here, " the God
of the earth " ? The answer is : When God first led Abraham
from the house of Terah, He was not known then as a God of
the earth, but only as a God of heaven ; but when Abraham
came he made it known that God was a God of heaven and
of the earth.
That thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters

was Baccol. If it is asked why he did not give her to Isaac, for a son of
Noah might legally marry his sister ? It could be replied : Perhaps she was
too young, and he would not yet marry her to Isaac ; or, because she was
from Hagar and not from Sarah, and therefore he would not marry her to
Isaac.
 GENESIS XXIV. 2-4. 135

of the Canaanites. This passage teaches us that a man should

take a wife of his own family, as Amram did in taking
Jochebed¹ and as Abraham did in taking a wife for his son
Isaac from his own family ; for when one marries into his own
family there is peace between them, for one cannot taunt the
other, " Thou art not so well connected as I am."
The Eben Shoaeb asks a question : Why did Abraham take
a maidservant, and have a concubine, but Isaac did not ? Be-
cause Isaac was consecrated as a Corban (offering) on Mount
Moriah, therefore he could not (be so profane as to) marry a
maidservant ; but Abraham was not consecrated, and he could
marry a maidservant ; and this is why Abraham would not
trouble God with his prayer on behalf of his wife Sarah, that
she should have children, for the saints do not like to weary
God with their prayers about things that are not very urgent.2
But Isaac was obliged to pray on behalf of his wife Rebekah,
that she should have children, because he could not marry a
maidservant (with the view of having children by her), for he
was very holy.
The Eben Shoaeb asks another question : Why did not
Abraham ask Isaac whether he should send for a wife for
him ? The answer is : Because Abraham knew (for certain)
that Isaac would obey him. Another answer he gives : At
that time Isaac was not with Abraham, for he was in the
garden of Eden for three years to cure himself of the wound
Abraham had made in his throat when he was about to slay
him.
The Chizkûni writes : The reason why Abraham did not
wish that his son should marry a wife of the Canaanites is,
that the Canaanites should not afterwards say, " God would not
perform His oath to give the land to Abraham's children, who
were obliged to effect a matrimonial alliance with us by which
they would obtain the land." Therefore Abraham prohibited
his servant to take a wife unto his son Isaac of the daughters
1 Exod. vi. 20. 2 Vide Isa. i. 14, 15.
136 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

of Canaan. " For I know," said he, " that God will give the
land of Canaan unto my children without their daughters."
5 And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman
will not be willing to follow me unto this land. And Abraham
said unto Eliezer, " If the woman will not be willing to follow
thee hither, then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, and
thou mayest take a wife unto my son from the daughters ofmy
companions, Aner, Eschol, and Mamre.¹ And Abraham prayed
and said :
7 The Lord God of heaven which took me from my father's
house, and from the land of my nativity, which is Ur of the
Chaldees, may He send an angel before thee that thou shalt
take a wife unto my son Isaac from thence.
The Toldoth Yitzkhac asks : What need had Abraham to
mention in his prayer that God took him from his father's
house and from his native land ? The reply is : Abraham said
in his prayer : " Thou , O God , hast led me from my father's
house, and from my native land, how can I now take a wife
from my own family ? Therefore it is but right that Thou
shouldest send an angel with Eliezer, that he should be able to
take a wife unto my son from my family, because I have kept
Thy command and came away from it."
10 And the servant took ten camels ofthe camels ofhis master,
and departed; and all the goods ofhis master were in his hands.
Abraham's camels were distinguished from all other camels
because they were always muzzled , that they should not be
able to feed on fields belonging to other people. And Eliezer
had a legal document in his hands in which all the property of
Abraham was made over to Isaac as a specific gift, in order
that they should be induced to send their daughter when they
saw that Isaac was so very rich.2
II And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by
¹ Chap . xiv. 13 .
2 This explains the phrase, which would otherwise be unintelligible,
" All the goods of his master were in his hand."
 GENESIS XXIV. 4-15. 137

a well of water. Eliezer came to the city of Nahor, and by

the well there he made the camels to kneel to give them to
drink. This was towards the evening, when the maidens went
out to draw water. And Eliezer prayed, and said :
12 O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me
good speed this day, that the maiden should come to the well
amongst other maidens, and
14 The damsel to whom I shall say, Give me to drink, and she
shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, let the
same be she whom Thou hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac.
That is to say, " Because the maiden will be kind at the well, it
will be a proof that she is worthy to be Isaac's wife, and will
come to the house of Abraham, where kindness is shown to
people."
And thereby shall I know that Thou hast showed kindness
unto my master. That is to say, " Thou, God, shouldest so
order that a maiden of my master's family should tell me so."
The Chizkûni asks : Why did Eliezer wish to know of the
maiden at the well, whether she were kind to people ; he might
have learned at her father's house whether she were pious and
prudent ? The answer is : A child cannot be so well known in
the house of its parents whether it be wise ; for it may be
foolish, but its parents teach it on the sly to appear wise in the
presence of a stranger. Therefore did Eliezer wish to know
her at the well, where she would be alone, and learn from
herself her wisdom. The Chizkûni writes also : Eliezer took
ten camels with him, in order to have ten people to ride on
them , that he might have a Minyan ¹ (a congregation of no less
than ten, necessary) for the blessing of the solemnization of
matrimony.
15 And it came to pass before he had done speaking, that
Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel came with her pitcher upon
her shoulder. The B'chai asks : What need had the text to say,
" And it came to pass, he " ? it need only say, " And it came
1 See Tal. Misc., 128, 1 , Note ; and 134, 12 , Note.
138 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

" 1
to pass, before he had done speaking." The answer is : The
word " He" refers to God, who is called He, as it is said,
" It is He that hath made us." 2 This is to say, God sent an
angel with Eliezer, and he caused Rebekah to come soon to
the well.
16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin,
neither had any man known her. The Toldoth Yitzkhac
writes : The text teaches us that God had accepted the prayer
of Eliezer, and caused such a damsel to come to the well that
never came there before for fear of young men, and not only
that she never went to the well, but even in her house also no
one could see her, because she was exceedingly modest, and
* *
this is why the text says no man had known her. *
And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and
came up. It is not said : " And she drew " (the water) , but
only " and filled." From this have our sages inferred , that the
water had risen towards Rebekah, so that she had no need to

1 In the original the literal rendering would run thus : " And it came
to pass, he, before he had done speaking."
2 Ps. c. 3. 1 1. Here Rabbi B'chai lays stress on the personal
pronoun He (Hû in Hebrew), and converts it into a proper name for God.
The Talmud itself, and Rashi the first Talmudic commentator, and also
the orthodox Liturgy, take the same view, viz. that He (i.e. Hû) is the
Name of God. By Kabbalistic combination the ineffable Name Л ,
Jehovah, expresses a Duality in the Godhead-a He and a She-two Per-
sons in One God ; or the Unity of the Holy One, blessed be Hû ! and
his Shechinah. The Divine Husband and Wife is mentioned in the Jewish
,
Liturgy for Pentecost ‫שכינתא בבעלה‬ ‫ ; ליחדא‬and also in the daily
repeated formula : -‫לשם יחוד קב"ה ושכינתיה ע"י ההוא טמיר ונעלם ברוך‬
bi.e. "In the name of the Union of the Holy and Blessed Hû and
His Shechinah, the Hidden and Concealed Hû, blessed be JEHOVAH for ever ! ”
The name Hû, and the familiar name YAH, are of masculine and feminine
gender respectively, and the union of the two forms the name of 8 min)
ONE JEHOVAH : one, but of a Bisexual Nature, according to Kabbalists.
Hû and YAH, in a separate form, used to be invoked in the second Temple
on the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, an imitation of which,
attended with all the ancient ceremonials now possible, may annually be
witnessed in the orthodox synagogue unto this day.
 GENESIS XXIV. 15-25. 139

draw, but simply to fill her pitcher. When Eliezer saw that
the water rose towards Rebekah, he immediately ran towards
her, and asked for a little water to drink.
The Toldoth Yitzkhac writes : The text, " And she filled
her pitcher, and came up," teaches us that as soon as she had
filled her pitcher she immediately came up from the well ;
unlike the other damsels, who used to loiter at the well ,
Rebekah was modest and came up at once.
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will
draw water for thy camels also.
21 And the man wondered at her, because Eliezer saw that
God began to prosper him.
22 The man took a golden nose-ring, of half a shekel weight,
and two bracelets for her hands often shekels weight ofgold. The
Chizkûni writes : It is not stated, " And he gave it to the
damsel ; " but, "And the man took." This means that Eliezer
took all in his hand, having it ready to give her when he
ascertained who she was. And he asked first-
23 Whose daughter art thou ? Another explanation is : He
first gave the ornaments, and he asked her who she was, in order
to show that he was very rich. But before Bethuel and Laban,
he said that he first asked her, and then gave her the ornaments.
Rashi writes : The reason why he first gave her the ornaments
was, because he fully relied on the merit of Abraham that she
must be of Abraham's family. He therefore gave her a golden
nose-ring of half a shekel weight, thus indicating that her chil-
dren will give shekels, half a shekel each. The two bracelets
stand for the two tables of the Covenant which her children
would receive from God ; and their weight being ten shekels
symbolically indicated the Ten Commandments.
23, 25 Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in ?
The term " to lodge in" is with a Yod¹ (in the original), which
means to lodge in for one night. The reply, " Room to lodge

1 , with a Yod.
140 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

in " with a Vav¹ (in the original) means, " In my father's

house there is room to lodge in for many nights."
The Toldoth Yitzkhac writes : Rebekah answered Eliezer
with wisdom . He asked, " Is there room in thy father's house
for us to lodge in one night ? " But she answered him : "There
is room to lodge in many nights, " and omitted saying "for you,"
for she thought her father might not be willing to accommodate
them with lodgings.
26 And the man bowed his head and worshipped the Lord.
Eliezer bowed before God and thanked Him for having led
him in the right way.
28 And the damsel ran, and told her mother, for it is natural
that a daughter should tell all she knows to her mother.
29 And Laban ran out unto the man. When Laban saw the
ornaments Rebekah had received from Eliezer, he ran to meet
him at the well , and invited him to the house, saying unto
Eliezer, "Come in, for we have cleared the house from the
images of idols." He came in, and they gave food for the
camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of his attendants.
33 And there was meat set before him to eat. But Eliezer
said, " I will not eat till I have said what I have to say."
The B'chai and the Baal Hatturim write : They must have
pressed him to eat quickly, but Eliezer said : " I am Abraham's
servant ; I cannot eat without first washing my hands and
pronouncing the blessing on the washing of hands, and I must
then repeat the benediction on the first morsel of bread." For
Eliezer thought that by repeating these blessings he would be
protected from evil. An angel came, in fact, and turned the
side of the basin with the deadly poison towards Bethuel, who
ate of it and instantly died, which explains verse 54, "And
they did eat and drink, Eliezer and the men that were
with hini," and it is not stated that the household of Bethuel
did eat with him, for they were mourners, because Bethuel died
at the table.
1 with Vav, means the same as 5 with a Yod, viz. “ to lodge. ”
 GENESIS XXIV. 25-36. 141

Two hours after daybreak Eliezer left Haran with Rebekah.

With the help of an angel they travelled in one day to Hebron ,
which was from Haran seventeen days' journey. The same
distance of seventeen days' journey Eliezer travelled in three
hours only when he left Abraham's house and went to Haran
in search of Rebekah, as it is recorded in the text (ver. 42) :
" And I came this day unto the well "; that is to say " This
day I left home, and this day I came to the well," 1
Eliezer rose up early, and when he saw the angel waiting,
he said unto his host : " Do not detain me, but let Rebekah go
with me."
When Eliezer and Rebekah were on the journey they saw
Isaac in a field on the road. He saw them coming out
from the garden of Eden. Rebekah prophetically seeing that
Esau would be born of her, she fell down from the camel.
35 And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is
becomegreat. Eliezer praised Abraham his master, that he had
much cattle and gold and silver and servants.
The Chizkûni writes : The reason why it is said, " And man-
servants " without a Yod, is to show us that Abraham had
only one servant, Eliezer, who was to Abraham equal to many
servants. And Eliezer said-
36 Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she
was old. After she was old,³ and my master legally made over
all he had to his son.
The Chizkûni writes : Eliezer therefore specified that she
bare a son after she was old, in order to prove that she would
have no other child, and thus the son Isaac would inherit all.
The Toldoth Yitzkhac writes : Eliezer praised his master
Abraham, to prevent people from thinking that Isaac was not
so pious and Abraham was not so rich, and therefore he came
1 The Jews accept this fable as a fact, for as such it is authenticated in
their holy Talmud. Vide Treasures ofthe Talmud, 232, 32.
? The Yod ' followed by Mem is a grammatical sign of the plural num-
ber and masc. gender, and here the Yod is omitted.
3 ‫אחרי זקנתה‬.
142 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

there in search of a wife because it was not so easy to get one

in his own land. Eliezer assured them that Abraham was very
rich , and that Isaac was good and pious, for Sarah had given
birth to him by a miracle when she was ninety years of age.
He persuaded them , saying, " You will comprehend that God
having wrought a miracle, will be sure to send you a good son
in Isaac. Think not that the camels and the goods I display
have been borrowed from other people, for The Lord hath
blessed my master greatly ' with wealth and he has no need to
borrow from any one. The only reason my master has for
sending me here is, that his son Isaac should not marry a
woman of the Canaanites, but one of his own family, and my
master took an oath from me to come to you for that purpose. "
39, 40 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman
will notfollow me. And he said unto me, The Lord will send
His angel with thee, and prosper thy way, that thou shalt be able
to take a wife unto my son from my family.
Rashi writes : The word "peradventure " is written (in the
un
original Hebrew) without a Vav,¹ and therefore it means " to
me," for Eliezer said unto Abraham : " Let thy son Isaac be
allied unto me by marrying my daughter." But Abraham
objected and said : " My son is blessed of God, and thou art
a Canaanite and cursed, therefore my son cannot marry thy
daughter."
The Chizkûni writes : Scripture has here shown (by omit-
ting the letter Vav) that Eliezer wished Isaac should marry his
daughter, and has not alluded to it before when Abraham
commissioned him to fetch a wife unto Isaac from his own
family, in order to prove that Eliezer praised Isaac before the
parents of Rebekah, and said : " I myself was solicitous to
give my daughter to Isaac, but my master Abraham objected
to it."
47 And I asked her and said, Whose daughter art thou ? .
and I put the ring upon her nose. Eliezer related unto them
1 It is written ‫ אלי‬instead of ‫אולי‬
 GENESIS XXIV. 36-49.. 143

all that occurred and all he did on that day ; how he travelled
from Hebron in three hours-a distance of seventeen days'
journey, as it is stated in the text : " And I came this day unto
the well "—that is to say : " This day I left home, and this day
I came to the well. I also asked her whose daughter she was,
and afterwards I gave her the presents."
Rashi says : He first gave her the presents and then he
asked her whose daughter she was, because he relied on
Abraham's merit that she must be of his family.¹ Before
Rebekah's parents he said the reverse, lest they should taunt
him : " What a fool thou art, to give such valuable presents to
a maiden without first knowing who she was." This is the
reason why he reversed the statement, and said : " I asked her
whose daughter she was, and afterwards gave her the presents."
49 And now ifye will deal kindly and truly with my master,
tell me. The Imrae Noam asks : What need had he to beg
them so earnestly ? Did they decline giving up Rebekah to
such a rich house ? The reply is : They had heard that the
children of Abraham would be obliged to go into captivity,
and therefore they would not give Rebekah to Isaac. Hence
Eliezer had to beg much : " Deal kindly and truly with my
master."
Rabbi Isseril asks : Why did Eliezer say, "kindly and
truly "? The term " truly " is never employed except when a
kindness has been done to a dead person when there is no
hope to receive a kindness in return, for then it is “ kindly and
truly," in other words “ a true kindness "—hoping for no return.
The reply is : Eliezer was very clever, and he said unto them,
" I beg you to do a true kindness to my master, and do not
desire that he should repay you for the same. "

1 Merit and luck are often two convertible terms. The luck of Abraham
gave Eliezer the assurance that he would be led to give the presents to
none other but to the right damsel. Luck is blind, and lucky people need
not see what they are about to do, for their luck will not be so unlucky as
to mislead them.
 144 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

That I may turn to the right hand or to the left. " If ye will
not give me Rebekah," said Eliezer, " then I shall be obliged
to take a wife unto Isaac of the daughters of Ishmael, or of
the daughters of Lot."
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing
proceedeth from the Lord; we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
Laban was a wicked man ; he spoke before his father did, but
his father had let him speak first because he was shrewd in
his speech. He said first " bad " and then "good," because he
always thought more of bad than of good.
The B'chai says : From this we learn that every matrimonial
engagement is formed by God, as it is here stated : " The
thing proceedeth from the Lord." Our sages say : Forty days
before a man is born, a Bath Kol proclaims : So and so shall
marry so and so.¹
51 Behold Rebekah is before thee, take her and go to thy master,
as the Lord hath spoken. When Eliezer heard this, he wor-
shipped and thanked God. He then gave Rebekah costly
jewels of gold and silver, and beautiful dresses, and with these
he betrothed her. To her brother and mother he gave choice
fruit as a present.
54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were
with him, and tarried all night. On arising the following
morning, the angel came again to Eliezer ready to accompany
him, and Eliezer said : " Send me home to my master. "
55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel
abide with us a year or ten months, after that she will go.
Bethuel said nothing, for he was dead (as already mentioned).
The Chizkûni asks : Yesterday they said, " Behold Rebekah
is before thee, take her, and go," why now ask that the girl
should abide with them a year, or at least ten months ? The
answer is : They at first thought that the girl was to be en-

1 These two passages are drawn from the Talmud. Vide Moed Katon,
fol. 18B, and Soteh, fol. 2A. Bath Kol, i.e. The daughter of a voice, an
echo, a voice from heaven.
 GENESIS XXIV. 49-58. 145

gaged by Isaac in person, and as an engagement is not to be

put off, they said, " Take her and go " ; but now finding that
Eliezer engaged her on behalf of Isaac by proxy, and the
engagement was secure, they said, " Let her tarry with us a
few months, that we may have time to fit her out with a ward-
robe and ornaments."
The Toldoth Yitzkhac writes : Laban was a great rogue ; he
did not say before, " Let Rebekah abide for the purpose offitting
her out with a costly trousseau," lest Eliezer should take him at
his word ; he therefore said first, " take her, and go," expecting
that Eliezer would be surprised and raise no question about
dowry. But when Laban noticed that Eliezer thanked God
for the engagement, he then proposed that Rebekah should
tarry for her trousseau, well knowing that Eliezer would not
sacrifice even one day for all the trousseau and dowry offered
to him.
57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her
mouth, whether she will go. From this our sages deduce that
an orphan girl must be asked whether she approves of the
husband selected for her.
58 And she said, I will go. The B'chai asks a question in
this section : Why does the text sometimes call Eliezer servant,
and sometimes man, which means an estimable man ? The
reply is Before Eliezer came to the well and had seen the
angel, the text calls him servant, but afterwards it calls him
man, because an angel appeared unto him, and out of respect
to him who was called Ish (man), Eliezer had the honour of
being called (Ish) man. And hence as soon as Rebekah was
handed over to Eliezer, the commission of the angel ceased,
and the text calls Eliezer again servant, as for instance :
"And the servant brought forth jewels of silver " ; " And the
servant took Rebekah " ; " And the servant told Isaac," thus
he is always called servant. But it may be asked : Why did
Laban and his mother say to Rebekah, " Wilt thou go with
this man ? " The answer is : They were ashamed to call
L
146 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

Eliezer to his face servant; also out of respect to Rebekah

they called him " man." When all this was over, the text
says-
61 They followed the man : and the servant took Rebekah,
and went his way. This means they followed the angel, whose
name was Ish ( man) ; but the servant Eliezer took Rebekah,
and went his way.
The Ramban asks : What need had Eliezer to take her, since
she willingly went by herself? The answer is : The women (of
the place) went to accompany Rebekah, and Eliezer fearing
lest they should abscond with her, took her by the hand to be
near him and under his guard.
62 And Isaac came from the way ofthe well Lahai-roi. And
Isaac came from the garden of Eden, where he had been three
years to cure himself of the wound which his father inflicted
on his throat when he bound him upon the altar on Mount
Moriah.
63 And Isaac went out towards the evening into the field to
repeat the afternoon prayers,¹ and he then saw camels ap-
proaching. Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac from
a distance going to and fro in a bashful manner, for when he
saw Eliezer coming with his bride he felt bashful. Rebekah
thought, all men run to see a bride, but he who does not run
must be the bridegroom, and she too became bashful and
frightened in his presence, and alighted from the camel.
65 She said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh
in the field to meet us ? and the servant said, It is my master.
Therefore she took a veil and covered herself. The Toldoth
Yitzkhac asks : Why did Eliezer say now of Isaac, " It is my
master ?" In the whole of this section he speaks of Isaac
as the son of Abraham his master, but Isaac himself he never

1 The Talmud informs us that Abraham was the first who instituted the
Morning Prayer according to the present form in the Jewish Liturgy ; that
‫ תפלת מנחה‬Pn pn ', Isaac instituted the Afternoon Prayer. Berachoth,
fol. 26B.
 GENESIS XXIV. 58-XXV. 1. 147

called master. The answer is : So long as Isaac had no wife

he was no master, but now with Rebekah by his side he was
master.
67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent : that
is to say, he fancied his mother was still living ; for all the
time Sarah was living, her candles continually burned from
Sabbath to Sabbath, and there was a blessing in the dough
Sarah made, and a cloud rested over her tent,¹ but as soon as
Sarah died these three (miraculous) things disappeared . But
when Rebekah came they were restored, hence Isaac fancied
his mother was still living.
The Eben Shoạeb writes : Sarah really came after her death
into the tent of Rebekah to see the happiness of her son
Isaac, which explains the words : " And Isaac brought her
into her tent, Sarah his mother ; " 2 that is, he brought
Rebekah into the tent, and Sarah his mother was personally
also there.
And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. It is usual
for a man to be with his mother so long as she lives, but when
she dies then he usually is with his wife.
CHAPTER XXV. - 1 Then again Abraham took a wife. The
B'chai, the Toldoth Yitzkhac and the Chizkûni write : From
this we learn, that if a man loses a wife and he has children ,
he should not marry another wife till his children are married,
otherwise he will not be able to effect good alliances for them,
because people would say that the issue of his second wife will
inherit all his property. Therefore, Abraham gave first a wife
unto Isaac, and then he took a wife himself.
And her name was Keturah. That was Hagar, and the text
calls her Keturah because it signifies (in Aramaic) to bind up
with knots. Since she was separated from Abraham she had
bound herself with knots and did not let any other man come
in to her. Kings and princes sought her in marriage because
1 See ante, p. 128.
2 Such being the literal rendering of the original.
 AL COMMENTARY.
148 RABBINIC

she was the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, but she

refused them all and waited for Abraham. She had many
children by Abraham, but they were not honest people.
The B'chai writes : It follows from the text, Keturah was
Hagar, for it is said, " Then again Abraham took a wife." It
may be asked , What need is there to say, " Then again " ?
Why not simply say, He took a wife." It must be inferred
that Keturah was Hagar whom he once before had for a wife,
and " Then again," he took her once more.
Again it is inferred, that Keturah was Hagar, for how is it
conceivable that Abraham should give away all his property
to Isaac, and the children of Keturah no share in the in-
heritance ?
5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. The
Talmud says : That it is not permissible to take away the in-
heritance from one son and give to another, even from a bad
son to a good one , for all should inherit share and share alike.
But the answer is : Keturah was Hagar, the maidservant of
Sarah, and the children of a slave are as slaves, and slaves do
not inherit.
Another explanation why Hagar was called Keturah, is be-
cause her good works were as beautiful as incense. Though
Rashi writes, that Hagar returned to idolatry, he also says,
that her good works were as beautiful as Ketoreth (i.e. incense),
and the explanation is : She repented and became pious, and
was called Keturah.
And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. Abraham
gave Isaac a legal document which entitled him to inherit all
his property. But it cannot be that Abraham handed over all
his property to Isaac while he yet lived ; for how did Abraham
know that he would soon die ? perhaps he might live long and
then be obliged to trust to Isaac for his very food.

This is a play on the word " incense, " which in Hebrew is Ketoreth, and
being similar in sound to Keturah, a connection is hammered out of the
two words, Keturah and Ketoreth.
 GENESIS XXV. 1-6. 149

6 But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had,

Abraham gave gifts. Scripture has written (the word Pilag-
shim) concubines without a Yod, to show that he (Abraham)
had only one concubine, Keturah ; and because she was very
pious Abraham took her.
Rashi observes : In the first instance the text speaks of
" wife,” and in the next of " concubine ; " a wife has a marriage
contract and a concubine has not. Hagar, though a con-
cubine, had a marriage contract, and hence the text speaks of
her as a wife, that is to say, she was esteemed by Abraham
as a legal wife and he gave her a marriage contract ; but with
reference to her children as heirs, she is named concubine,
that her children should not share in the inheritance.
Rashi also observes : When Abraham gave away all his
property to Isaac, he gave presents to the children of the con-
cubine : viz. as a present he communicated to them the name
of God, though they did not keep themselves in purity.2
The Debek Tov asks : What induced Abraham to do this ?

1 ‫ דיא תורה האט גישריבען פלגשם אן איין יו"ד‬i.e. The Torah has
written Pilagshim (concubines) without a Yod. Here a very serious ques-
tion arises. We have examined several Hebrew Bibles, we consulted the
Hebrew Concordance, and have referred to the Talmud itself, but failed to
find anywhere the word without the Yod. Evidently this very positive
statement is made on the authority of Rashi, and this is asserted by Rashi
in as positive a manner. The question now is assuming that such a
high authority would not make a deliberate misstatement, when, and by
whom, was the text of our present Hebrew Bibles interfered with ? Who
inserted the Yod? Or has the Yod always been there ? In any case this
passage is remarkable for boldly presuming on the ignorance or carelessness
of the ordinary Jewish reader.
2 The version of this passage in the Talmud , and there commented on
by Rashi, is to this effect : Abraham delivered to the children he had by
Keturah, ID , " The name of uncleanness, " with which they learned
to practise witchcraft and do the works of the devil. Sanhedrin, fol. 91A.
" The name of uncleanness 99 is the antonym of ‫* שם המפורש‬the
ineffable name " of Jehovah. Miracles and wonders were and still are
performed by the Rabbis by the means of the Shem-hammephorash. So
the Jews say. See Tal. Misc. , p. 321 .
150 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

The answer is : Abraham knew that they would dwell among

idolatrous nations ; and in order that they should not mingle
with them, He taught them to be able to mention the secret
name of God, although they were impure.
Rashi further observes : At the time Eliezer went after
Rebekah, Abraham already gave a document that Isaac should
inherit all he had ; why give the same over again here ? Hence
observes Rashi : Rabbi Nehemiah said : He gave him the power
to bless whomsoever he wished to bless, and he whom he
blessed should also be blessed .
8 An old man andfull. Abraham died old and full. The
B'chai asks : Why is it not stated full of many years and many
days ? The answer is : Abraham did not follow the pleasures
of the world, that he should seek after much money, as it is
said in Scripture : " He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied
with silver" (Eccles. v. 10) . And the sages in the Gemara have
likewise said : No man dies with half his desires realized ; ¹ for
when he has a hundred gulden, he wishes for two hundred ;
hence says the text with reference to Abraham, he was “full ”
of everything, for he was satisfied and content with all he
had, or with what he had.
And Abraham gave up the ghost and died. " Giving up the
ghost " means to pass away quickly with ease and without
pain ; and is used only with reference to the death of the
righteous. Thus writes Rashi : It is asked why is the same
term, of giving up the ghost, also used of the generation of
the Deluge ? To this answers the Toldoth Yitzkhac : Of the
wicked the term, of giving up the ghost, is used for evil; they
1 ‫אין אדם מת וחצי טובתו בידו‬. This edifying passage is often quoted
and with some variation, but no one has ever referred to fol. and col. in
the Talmud where it is found ; and for this simple reason-it is not there.
Similarly, Dr. Adler, in The Nineteenth Century for July, 1878, p. 138,
credits the Talmud with an important doctrinal statement which is no-
where to be found there. Their own abstention from translating the
Talmud, and the obstacles the Jews throw in the way of its translation
by others, render these misquotations both frequent and safe.
 GENESIS XXV. 6-19. 151

die quickly, that they should not be able to leave their last
will for their children, as was the case with the generation
of the Deluge ; they died quickly. But of a righteous man
the term is for good ; he dies quickly, but without pain, and
leaves behind his last will and testament.
9 And Isaac and Ishmael buried him. The text teaches us
that Ishmael had repented and had honoured Isaac by giving
him the precedence, as Isaac was more righteous than he ;
had not Ishmael repented, God would not have permitted him
to bury Abraham. So says Rashi, as also the Ramban and
the B'chai.
II And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God
blessed his son Isaac, with the (formal) blessing of mourners,
to console him.1 Another explanation is : Abraham did not
wish to bless Isaac, because he foresaw that Esau would come
out of him ; he then said, " Let God bless whom He will,”—
and God blessed Isaac.

END OF SECTION V.

19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son ;

Abraham begat Isaac. Here it is stated that Isaac was the
son of Abraham, and then is added " Abraham begat Isaac."
Why this repetition ? Because the two sons of Isaac (Jacob
and Esau) being so opposite in character might have caused
people to suspect that Sarah had become pregnant by Abime-
lech ; and that Isaac (her son) had taken half after Sarah,
a pious woman, and half after Abimelech, who was a heathen,
thus accounting for Isaac, in turn, begetting Jacob and Esau,
resembling Sarah and Abimelech respectively ; God therefore
2
made Isaac to be exactly like Abraham, so that everybody
acknowledged that " Abraham begat Isaac."
¹ A form of prayer said in the house of a mourner, as prescribed in the
Book of Life, p. 86, and in the Jewish Liturgy.
2 This is a fanciful inference from the repetition in the text, which the
words themselves do not warrant.
 152 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

The Chizkûni writes : The text distinguishes Isaac as being

born under legal qualifications, for it says " Abraham begat
Isaac," that is to say, after God called his name with a He (not
Abram but AbraHam), and this was after his circumcision, then
it was that he begat Isaac ; not as Ishmael, who was born
when Abraham was yet uncircumcised . The Toldoth Yitzkhac
also writes in a similar sense.
20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to
wife. Rashi asks : Why did Isaac remain so long without a
wife, since the sages say, that a man should marry at eighteen
years of age ? It may also be asked : Why does the text record
that he was forty years old ? The answer is : She was his
predestined wife, and he was obliged to wait till she became
a little older and fit to marry.¹
The daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the
sister of Laban the Syrian. Rashi asks : What need had the
text to state that she was the daughter of Bethuel and the
sister of Laban, since we knew this already ? The answer is :
Although they both were wicked, yet Rebekah was a pious
woman, and did not copy their evil works.
21 Against his wife ( A.V. for his wife). Isaac prayed over
against his wife ; that is to say, he placed himself in one corner
and Rebekah in another corner, and thus they prayed.
And the Lord was entreated of him. Of him, not of her ;
because he was a righteous man, the son of a righteous man ;
but she was a righteous woman, the daughter of a wicked man.
22 And the children struggled together * * They
quarrelled about this world and the world to come, and
Rebekah said : " If the pain of child-bearing is so great, why
did I pray for children ? "
1 For Rebekah was only three years and three days old when she left
her father's house. Sophrim, chap. xxi. The Talmud says in several
places that ‫ בת ג'שנים ויום א ' מתקדשת בביאה‬a girl three years and one
day old is marriageable. See Sanhedrin, fol . 55B.
From Tosephoth in Zevamoth, fol. 61B, it would seem that Rebekah
was fourteen years old when she married.
 GENESIS XXV. 19-24. 153

And she went to inquire of the Lord. Rebekah went to the

Beth-Hammidrash (school) of Shem and Eber to inquire of
God why the children struggled ? God ordered them to inform
her : " Two worthy children are in thy womb ; " for it is said,
23 Two nations. This means , two lords ; out of Jacob will
descend Rabbi, who will be a prince, a lord over the Jews ;
and out of Esau will descend Antoninus, who will be a king
over (the children of) Esau.
Rabbi and Antoninus made a covenant (of friendship)
between themselves and lived together. Rashi writes : That
neither in summer nor in winter was there absent from their
tables such good eatables that help digestion , namely radish
and horseradish. But be it here said, Rabbi never followed
after pleasures, but having been very rich, and having had
many servants and a large household, he fed them all so
liberally that it was necessary to give them radish and horse-
radish to excite their appetite and to digest their food. But
Rabbi himself, when he was dying, lifted up his ten fingers
towards heaven and said : " Lord of the universe ! Thou
knowest that not even with my little finger did I seek to enjoy
anything of this world. " 1
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold,
there were twins in her womb. The Toldoth Yitzkhac asks :
Why did Isaac wait ten years before he prayed on behalf of
Rebekah ? The answer is : He did pray sooner, but God
would not hear his prayer in order that that wicked man (Esau)
should not come so soon into the world, and hence it is said :
" When her days to be delivered were fulfilled," God made that
wicked one tarry full nine months, that he should not come
so soon into the world ; but Moses, being righteous, remained
only six months and a few days. Hence also the word twins

1 The same story, differing somewhat in detail, is recorded in the Talmud.

For an interesting sketch of this holy Rabbi, consult Index to the Treasures
ofthe Talmud.
 AL COMMENTARY.
154 RABBINIC

(in the original)¹ is written without an Aleph, because one of

the twins was wicked, but by Tamar the word " twin " is (in
the original) written with an Aleph, because both children,
Pharez and Zarah, were righteous.
Some sages ask : Why did not Rebekah inquire of Isaac
himself about the children's struggling in her womb, since he
also was a prophet ? The answer is : She was afraid lest Isaac
should say, " Since thou hast more pain than all other women,
thou must have more sins than all other women, " and he would
divorce her.
25 And the first came out red, all over like a hairy garment,
and they called his name Esau ; because he was already covered
with hair as a child that has been born a long time.
26 And after that came his brother, and his hand took hold
on Esau's heel ... and Isaac was threescore years old when she
bare them. Rashi asks : Why did Isaac wait for twenty years
with his prayer (for children), since it is usual for prayer to
be made when a wife has had no children for ten years only ?
The answer is : Isaac first waited ten years till Rebekah
became thirteen years old, when she should be capable to
beget children, and from her age of thirteen he waited ten
years, as is usual, and then he prayed.
27 And the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter. So
long as they were yet very young, people did not know whether
their works were good or evil ; but when they grew up, then
went Esau into an idolatrous temple, but Jacob went to a
Beth-Hammidrash (a rabbinical school ).
A cunning hunter ; one that devised cunning tricks ; Esau
used to ask his father (cunningly) how he might give tithes
even of salt and straw, thus leading Isaac to think him devoted
to pious observances.
AndJacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. Jacob was a

1 ‫ תומים‬without an Aleph ) ‫ ( א‬instead of ‫ תאומים‬with the Aleph

,
Chap. xxxvii. 27.
 GENESIS XXV. 24-31. 155

pious man without guile ; he sat in the Beth-Hammidrash and

studied the Torah (Law).¹
29 AndJacob sod pottage. Jacob cooked lentils, and Esau
came from the field, and was tired and faint from the murders
of the day. 2
30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me with the red lentils, for
I am faint, therefore was his name called Edom, which means
(in Hebrew) " Red." The reason why Jacob cooked lentils
on that day was because his father Isaac was a mourner for
his father Abraham, who died on that day five years before
his time, in order that he might not (have the pain to)
see how Esau proceeded in his evil course. The reason why
lentils are cooked for a mourner (whereby to condole with
him) is to show symbolically, as lentils are round, so death
rolls round from one man to another.3
31 AndJacob said, Sell me, as clear as the day, thy birthright.
Because the office of the sacrifices had to be performed by
the firstborn, therefore Jacob thought that such a wicked man
would not be proper for the office. Esau, on his part, thought
that such an office can cause death ; for when one enters the
temple, or when one is drunk with wine and performs such
an office, he is guilty of death ; therefore, he thought, I do not
wish to have the birthright.
The B'chai writes : It was the custom in the olden times, that
after the father's death the children used to show great respect

1 Bythe term Torah (7 ) is usually understood, either the Pentateuch

only, or the whole law ; i.e. both the written and the oral law-the Bible
and the Talmud. Here the Torah means the whole law.
2 literally murders ; the very word used being that which occurs
in the Decalogue, as , “ Thou shalt not kill ” (Exod . xx. 13 ) . See
chap. xlix. 5.
* This exposition, but considerably different on some points, is to be
found in the Talmud, Bava-Bathra, fol. 16в.
4 " As clear as the day, " i.e. without any mental reservation, honestly.
The original Hebrew, D1" , ".as the day," will bear this meaning, though
forced and far-fetched.
156 RABBINICAL COMMENTARY.

to the firstborn and seated him in his father's place. " This
honour, " said Esau, " what is that to me that I should wait for
it till after my father's death ! Nobody knows who will die first,
especially as I go daily among wild beasts (hunting), perhaps
they will kill me first " (" Thus Esau despised his birth-
right ").
CHAPTER XXVI. — 1 , 2 And there was a famine in the land.
• And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not
down into Egypt. Thou art not as thy father, who on account
of the famine went down into Egypt, for thou hast been a sacri-
fice upon the altar, and therefore the outside land (i.e. beyond
the Land of Israel) is not worthy to have thee upon it.
3 Sojourn in this land, for I will give it unto thy children,
and will bless them to be as many (in number) as the stars
of heaven.
5 Because Abraham obeyed My voice, and was pious . Our
sages deduce from this , that Abraham learned to know his
Creator when he was three years old, for he lived 175 years,
and " Because " (in the original Hebrew) has the numerical
value of 172, that is three years less than his whole lifetime
during which he obeyed God's voice, and observed the whole
law even before it was given (on Mount Sinai).
The B'chai asks : If the Patriarchs indeed kept the whole
law, why did Jacob marry two sisters ? and why did Amram
marry his aunt, 2 which the law forbids. The Ramban and the
Toldoth Yitzkhac reply : The principle of a precept is that
the precept be observed in the Land of Israel only, but Jacob
married two sisters outside the land (i.e. in a foreign country),
and also Amram married his aunt in Egypt. As for Joseph
having observed the Sabbath in Egypt, that was because the

1 ‫= עקב‬.172
2 Amram was the father of Moses, and he married his aunt (Exod . vi. 20).
3 See Lev. xviii. 12.
✦ A Gentile unbeliever might ask : Where is it recorded in Scripture
that Joseph observed the Sabbath in Egypt ? To this the orthodox Jew