Temple Beth-El Shabbat AM Torah Study…Genesis 20:8-13 FOX JPS HEBREW ַוַיְׁש ֵּ֨ כֲם אִבֶֶ֜ימֶלְךַ ב ֹּ֗ בֶקר ,Early in the morning Early next morning 8 ִ Avimelekh called all his Abimelech called his ַוי ְׁק ָר ֙א ְׁל ׇכל־ ֲע ָב ָָ֔דיו ַו ְׁי ַד ֵּ֛בר servants, he spoke all these servants and told them all ֶאׇת־כַל־הְׁדָבִִ֥ריםָה א ֶלה words in their ears, and the that had happened; and the ְׁב ׇא ְׁז ני ֶֶ֑הם ַוִִּֽיי ְׁר ִ֥אּו ָה ֲא ָנ ִ שים men became exceedingly men were greatly ְׁמ ִּֽ אד׃ .afraid. frightened ַו ִי ְׁק ֵָּ֨רא ֲא ִבי ֶֶ֜מ ֶלְך ְׁל ַא ְׁב ָר ָֹּ֗הם Then Avimelekh had Then Abimelech summoned 9 Avraham called and said to Abraham and said to him, ַוֵּ֨י ֶאמרֶ֜ לֹו ִֶּֽ מהָ־עִִׂ֤שָית ֵָּ֨ל֙נּו ?him: What have you done to “What have you done to us ִֶּּֽומָה־ח ָָ֣טִאתי ָָ֔ לְך כִִּֽ י־ה ֵ֧בָאת us? In what did I fail you, that What wrong have I done ָע ֵַּ֛ליְׁ וַעַל־מְׁמַלְׁכ ִ תֲיחָט ָָ֣אה you have brought me and my that you should bring so ְׁגד ֶָ֑להַ מֲעִש֙יםֲ אֶָ֣שר ל א־ kingdom into such great great a guilt upon me and fault? Deeds which are not to my kingdom? You have ִּֽיָעָ֔שָּו ִע שָיתִ עָמִִּֽד י׃ be done, you have done to done to me things that ought me! not to be done. ַוִ֥י ֶאמֲראִב ֶ ימֶלְֶך אלַ־אְׁבָר ֶָ֑הם And Avimelekh said to What, then,” Abimelech 10 Avraham: What did you demanded of Abraham, ָָ֣מָה ר ִָ֔אָית ִִ֥ כיָע ִ שָיתֶאת־ foresee, that you did this “was your purpose in doing ַהָד ִָ֥ברַ ה ִֶּֽז ה׃ ”?thing? this thing ַו֙י ֶאמ֙רַ אְׁבָרָָ֔הם ִָ֣ כָי א ַֹּ֗מְׁרִתי ,Avraham said: Indeed, I said “I thought,” said Abraham 11 to myself: Surely there is no “surely there is no fear of ַַ֚רק איןִ־יְׁר ַָ֣אֱת אִָֹ֔להים awe of God in this place, they God in this place, and they ַבָמ קֹוםַ ה ֶֶ֑זהַ וֲהָר גִּוני ַעל־ will kill me on account of my will kill me because of my ְׁד ִַ֥בִר אְׁש ִִּֽת י׃ .wife! wife ְׁוַגםׇ־אְׁמ ָֹּ֗נֲה א ח ִִׂ֤תַי בתָ־אִב֙י Then, too, she is truly my And besides, she is in truth 12 sister, my father’s daughter, my sister, my father’s ִָ֔הוא ַ אְך ָ֣ל א ַבת־ ִא ִ ֶ֑מי ַו ְׁת ִהי־ however not my mother’s daughter though not my ִ ליְׁ לִא ִָּֽש ה׃ daughter—so she became my mother’s; and she became wife. my wife. ַוְׁי ִִ֞היַ כֲא ֵֶ֧שִר הְׁתָ֣ע ּו אִֹּ֗תי Now it was, when the power- So when God made me 13 of-God caused me to roam wander from my father’s ֱאִֹלה֮יםִ מָ֣בָית אִב֒יָ ו אַָ֣מר ָָ֔ לּה from my father’s house, that I house, I said to her, ‘Let this ֶזָ֣הַ חְׁס ָ֔ דְֲך אִֶ֥שרַ תֲע ִ שיִ עָמִֶ֑די said to her: Let this be the be the kindness that you ִֶׂ֤אלׇ כַל־הָמ֙קֹוםֲ א ֶָ֣שר ָנָ֣בֹוא faithfulness that you do me: in shall do me: whatever place ָָ֔שָמִה אְׁמִר ִ י־לָי א ִִ֥חי ִּֽהּוא׃ every place that we come, say we come to, say there of of me: He is my brother. me: He is my brother.”’ 1 Temple Beth-El Shabbat AM Torah Study…Genesis 20:8-13 JPS…ABRAHAM’S DEFENSE (vv. 8-13) The dream makes such an impression on the king that he convokes his council of state, whose members are thoroughly alarmed by his report. Abraham is summoned. Confronted by Abimelech, he tries to defend himself. V. 8 RADAK1…early the next morning… he did not wait until the hour that kings normally rise from their beds seeing that his heart was trembling on account of the dream he had just experienced, in which God told him that he was in need of forgiveness and the prayer by the prophet even though he would restore Avraham’s wife to him. the men were greatly frightened… • CHIZKUNI2… according to Rabbi Abba3, the people of Gror still saw smoke rising from the valley where Sodom once used to be situated, and that frightened them very much. They were afraid that the angels who had wrought that havoc would show up near them at any moment. • HAEMEK DAVAR4… They were afraid that Avraham would refuse to pray for them. • RADAK… all his servants who had agreed with their king appropriating this woman, and who had praised her beauty in his ears. V. 9 RADAK…summoned… he wanted to hear Avraham’s arguments and to appease him so that he would forgive him and pray on his behalf. He said to him: “What have you done to us?”… asita? What did Abraham עשית :OR HACHAIM5…What did Avimelech mean by the word • do? If Avimelech referred to the evil deed, i.e. the lie, he should have prefaced his remarks ,meh chatati lach מה חטאתי לך by referring to the sin! Perhaps the very absence of the initial “what wrong have I done to you?” at the beginning of his complaint is the key here. It means meh asita lanu, “what have you done to us?” mean: "what did מה עשית לנו that the words you do ever do for us, and how did we repay you with ingratitude that you saw fit to treat us with such suspicions!" Avimelech hinted that there is no greater evil one can do to someone than to repay kindness with evil. Abraham's conduct had almost resulted in Avimelech's death! The entire verse is to be viewed as a rebuke. • RADAK… by saying that she is your sister, thereby placing traps for me and my servants. 1 Rabbi David Kimhi (1160-1235) was a French medieval rabbi, biblical commentator, philosopher, and grammarian. 2 Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoah (1250-1310) was a French rabbi and student. 3 I am not totally clear as to who this is referring to. 4 Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin, or Netziv, (1817-1893) was a Lithuanian rabbi and scholar. In 1854 he introduced a style of Talmud study based on broad knowledge of Tannaitic and Geonic literature as well as the Rishonim. He also emphasized the importance of the study of Chumash and Nach, giving a daily shiur on the weekly parsha. 5 Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar (1696-1743), a Talmudist and kabbalist, wrote Or HaChaim, his commentary on the Torah. 2 Temple Beth-El Shabbat AM Torah Study…Genesis 20:8-13 RADAK…what wrong have I done to you?... how did I sin against you that you repaid me with evil making me guilty of death? bring so great a guilt upon me and my kingdom… • JPS…Literally, “a great sin,” a phrase that reflects ancient Near Eastern legal terminology found in Akkadian documents from Ugarit and in Egyptian marriage contracts. The “great sin” is adultery. All four other biblical occurrences of the term appear in reference to idolatry (Exod. 32:21,30f.; 2 Kings 17:21), for which the text often uses the metaphor of marital infidelity. • RADAK… if I had been killed by God my kingdom would have been lost, as he said “are You going to a righteous nation also?” things that shouldn’t have been done… • RADAK… it is not fitting for a man of your stature to be the cause of your fellowmen becoming guilty of mortal sin. • RASHI6… A plague such as does not ordinarily fall upon human beings has come upon us through you, viz, the closing up of all the secretory channels — those of semen, urine, excrement, of the ears and the nose (cf. Bava Kamma 92a). • SFORNO7… You brought harm to a stranger with whom you had no prior relationship of enmity, and without profit to yourself. V. 10 Avimelech said… • OR HACHAIM…Seeing that the previous verse had been a rebuke only, he now switched to a question. This is why the sentence had to begin once more with the words: "Avimelech said," though Abraham had not yet responded to the accusation. Avimelech now conceded that he did not consider Abraham capable of wanting to harm him intentionally. • ALTER… The repetition of the formula for introducing direct speech, with no intervening response from Abraham, is pointedly expressive. Abimelech vehemently castigates Abraham (with good reason), and Abraham stands silent, not knowing what to say. And so Abimelech repeats his upbraiding, in shorter form (verse 10). HAEMEK DAVAR…what did you see?... What caused you to fear me? — The Philistines of those days were civilized and honorable. V. 11-12…ALTER… When Abraham finally speaks up, his words have the ring of a speaker floundering for self-justification. Introducing the explanation of Sarah’s half-sister status—there might be a Mesopotamian legal background to such a semi-incestuous marriage—he uses a 6 Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105) was a medieval French rabbi and author. 7 Rabbi Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno (1475-1550) was a biblical commentator, philosopher, and physician from Italy. 3 Temple Beth-El Shabbat AM Torah Study…Genesis 20:8-13 windy argumentative locution, wegam ‘omnah, “and, in point of fact,” that may hint at a note of special pleading. V. 11 JPS… In a situation where no legal sanction or reward is enforceable, the ultimate restraint on evil, as well as the supreme incentive for good, is the consciousness of the existence of a higher power who demands certain standards of conduct. With the assumption that no such “fear of God” was present in Gerar, Abraham believed that the king would have him killed in order to avoid committing adultery.