וה' פקד את שרה, she conceived and gave birth in accordance with the times predicted. Seeing the matter was something so unusual, miraculous, the Torah repeats this fact repeatedly. Normally, when the Torah repeats certain information it does so by using different words, changing the syntax; Here too, the verse commences with the verb פקד, but then uses the word ויעש to tell us the same thing. At the very end of the verse it changes the syntax a third time, writing כאשר דבר, “as He had said.”

ותהר, seeing that the conception had not been mentioned in the previous verse, the Torah now reports conception and birth as if it had been a consecutive activity. We find a similar construction in Genesis 4,1 ותהר ותלד את קין, “Chavah conceived and gave birth to Kayin.”

לאברהם, as G’d had said “אשר תלד לך שרה,” “whom Sarah will bear for you.” This is a customary form of syntax, as for instance in 16,15 ותלד הגר לאברהם בן, or Exodus 21,4 וילדה לו בנים ובנות, and many similar examples. A woman is considered similar to the earth in this respect, i.e. just as the earth yields fruit for its owners, so a woman produces children for her husband after he had planted his seed in her. The child was named after its father.

לזקוניו, the Torah writes this so that we better understand why Sarah had laughed when she had heard the prophecy in 18,12 and had said that her husband was too old to sire children. Another reason for the expression לזקוניו is to inform us that whereas Sarah had regained her youth at that time and had ovulated again after having ceased to do so for many years, Araham did not experience any rejuvenation, but sired a child in spite of not shedding signs of old age. There are some words in the Hebrew language which always appear in the plural mode, זקונים is one of them, so are נעורים and בתולים.

אשר דבר אותו, the word אותו here is the same as if the Torah had written עמו, “with him.”

ויקרא, he complied with G’d’s instructions issued in 17,19 to call the son that would be born to him by Sarah Yitzchok.

וימל...כאשר צוה אותו אלוקים, compare 17,12 that any son should be circumcised when eight days old. Our sages explain that the word אותו, means that only the father is commanded to perform circumcision on his son, not the mother.

ואברהם...את יצחק בנו, this verse is another example of the word את appearing in conjunction with verbs which appear in the passive mode. To name just a few such examples: Numbers 26,55 יחלק את הארץ, or Deut. 20,5 ולא ימס את לבב אחיו. What is the reason that the Torah saw fit to write this verse at all? Seeing that the Torah had told us that Avraham had been 99 years old when he had received the commandment of circumcision, and G’d had told him that Sarah would bear this son for him in the following year, we knew that he would be 100 years old at that time! (17,21) Perhaps the Torah wanted to tell us that Avraham had completed 100 years when Yitzchok was born and that the previous prophecy had been revealed to him when he had completed 99 years. In that event, Sarah’s pregnancy lasted fully 12 months, so that the news revealed in our verse is that her pregnancy was unnaturally lengthy.

ותאמר שרה צחק, she said that she really called the boy יצחק in order to give expression to the joy G’d had granted her. She was convinced that everyone hearing about her good fortune of having given birth in her old age would share her joy at this. Any person being surprised by some unexpected happy event laughs for joy.

ותאמר, she said something else reflecting her happy surprise,

מי מלל לאברהם, who would have dared foretell Avraham that Sarah would nurse babies? If G’d Himself had not been at work in this, no one would have foretold Avraham that something like this could occur.

לזקוניו, we already explained the meaning of this word in verse 2. As to Sarah speaking of בנים, children in the plural mode, although she had given birth to only one child, she assumed that if she had been able to nurse one child there would be nothing to prevent her from nursing more children if she so desired. There is an allegorical Midrash on this verse (quoted by Rashi) saying that many women did not believe that Yitzchok was drinking mother’s milk from Sarah’s breast. In order to silence their doubts or derision, Sarah offered to nurse also the children of such women.

ויגדל הילד ויגמל , he stopped receiving mother’s milk. This occurred after he was 24 months old. This was the standard period that babies nursed at the breasts of their mothers.

משתה גדול, this too may have been the custom in those days, to mark the baby starting to receive solid food with a great celebration. Alternately, Avraham gave such a party to mark his personal joy over Yitzchok having attained that stage. Apparently this development of the baby coincided with his beginning to speak. He was capable of being taught the letters of the alphabet. Our sages in Tanchuma Kedoshim claim that the age at which children could learn the letters of the alphabet was when they had reached age 3.

ותרא...מצחק. Ishmael was belittling Yitzchok for having a father who was so much older than he.

ותאמר...גרש האמה, it was inconceivable to expel the son without his mother as she would not remain after he had gone.

כי לא יירש, “he imagines that he will share equally in the inheritance because he is your son. This is the reason why he is so overbearing, making fun of my son.”

עם יצחק, the words suggest that Sarah had told Avraham “didn’t G’d tell you that He would perpetuate His covenant with Yitzchok who Sarah will bear for you? (17,21)?”

וירע הדבר...על אודות בנו, even though Ishmael was the son of a slave-woman, he was at the same time also Avraham’s son, and he loved him as a father loves one’s son, especially seeing that he was his firstborn. He was merciful towards him like a father is merciful to all his children. Moreover, he had taught him to behave and had taught him the ways of the Lord. In fact, if he, Avraham, had taught all and sundry the ways of the Lord, he had most certainly not neglected to teach these ways to his own son. Therefore, the request by Sarah to expel his own son was a source of great chagrin to him. Avraham kept his chagrin to himself and did not express anger at his wife as he was concerned with preserving שלום בית, peaceful marital relations with his wife. This was the state of affairs until G’d intervened in the matter.

ויאמר...על הנער ועל אמתך, G’d knew that Avraham was not only displeased about Sarah’s request to expel Ishmael, but he was also chagrined at being asked to expel Hagar, his maid-servant. [described here as his servant rather than as Sarah’s servant. Ed.] Even though the Torah had only spelled out that Avraham had felt aggrieved on account of his son (verse 11), the reason why our text had mentioned only his son was that he was his principal concern. He was prepared to quarrel with Sarah about the future of his son, whereas he was not prepared to make the continued presence of Hagar an issue between them. G’d, however, knew how he really felt concerning Hagar.

כל אשר תאמר, this was not a carte blanche for Sarah except in the matter of Ishmael and Hagar. The point was that Ishmael was not to share in Avraham’ s heritage. כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, the promise I had given to you in 17,8 applies only to Yitzchok as he is the seed specifically yours.

וגם את בן האמה, do not worry that he will perish when he leaves your house; on the contrary, I will make him develop into a great nation because he is your descendant

וישכם, to carry out G’d’s instruction.

ויקח לחם וחמת מים, he gave her enough food to last for a day or two. She was unable to carry more than that. He also gave her a plentiful supply of water as the distance to Egypt was considerable. On the other hand, she might have had relatives much closer than in Egypt. He gave her also silver and gold so that she could replenish her supplies, although the Torah did not make a specific mention of this.

ואת הילד, he placed the bread and the water on her shoulder, and arranged for Ishmael to walk ahead of her. He was approximately 15 and the time, and if he would tire, Hagar would have to carry him for a while either on her shoulder or in her lap.

וישלחה, either from his house, or he accompanied her some distance until outside the town limits.

ותלך ותתע, she did not know the route once she had entered the desert.

ויכלו, Hagar’s problems became ever more acute. The reason why the Torah writes all this detail, is to teach that if man is confident that G’d will help him overcome his difficulties in the end, then his troubles do not multiply in order to teach him to appeal to G’d for help. The detail here has also been written in order to show how G’d deals with people who love His name. He appeared to Hagar on two separate occasions rescuing her from acute distress, performing miracles on behalf of her son.

ותשלך את הילד, whom she had been carrying, seeing that she had become too tired to carry on. When she saw that she had been unable to locate any water, she threw him from her lap under a shrub. According to Onkelos שיחים are small trees. [it was doubly frustrating to know that there must have been a source of water nearby, how else could these trees exist? Ed.]

ותלך, after she had thrown Ishmael under one of the small trees, she went away a distance and sat down.

הרחק, the word is in the infinitive instead of in the past tense, the reason being that while she did distance herself she wanted not to be so far away that she would be totally unaware of what happened to Ishmael.

כמטחוי קשת, the root of the word is טחוה, the construction being a combination participle and something especially emphasised, such as by means of a dagesh. The meaning is the distance a bow can be tensed for the arrow to be shot to the furthest point of its range. Possibly, the word כמטחוי is a noun.

וישמע אלוקים את קול הנער, he too had raised his voice and was crying.

מן השמים, she heard his voice without seeing the source of the voice as opposed to the first encounter she had with an angel in 16,13. At the beginning of the verse the Torah uses the proposition את, whereas at the end of the verse it switches to the preposition אל. The letters ת and ל are used interchangeably here without the meaning of the preposition undergoing any change.

באשר הוא שם, at the very site where Hagar had thrown the boy. The message to Hagar was that at the very site where she thought that her so was going to die, there G’d heard his voice, his prayer. Our sages (Rosh Hashanah 16) derive from this wording that human beings are not judged by the Heavenly Court on the basis of what they might become guilty of in the future, but their judgment is based on their status at the time judgment is in progress. If someone is wicked at the time the Heavenly Court is in session, the fact that G’d foresees that he will (would) become righteous at some point in the future is not taken into consideration. Equally, if someone at the time when the Court is in session is deemed innocent, the fact that G’d foresees that he will become a great sinner is not used to influence his judgment at that time. There is an interesting aggadah, according to which the angels remonstrated with G’d at this time, challenging G’d’s mercy on the basis of the untold harm Ishmael’s descendants would visit upon G’d’s people, the Jews in the future. The angels referred specifically to the Ishmaelites denying Jews on the march into exile water to quench their thirst. (a reference to Isaiah 21,13-14) G’d silenced them by asking whether at this particular point in time Ishmael deserved to die. They had to admit that he did not. Hence G’d felt free to exercise His mercy and to let him live.

קומי...והחזיקי את ידך, do not let your hand go of him, (do not abandon him) for he will not die by thirst, for I will still make him into a great nation.

ויפקח אלוקים את עיניה, perhaps the well had been there all the time but its top had been covered with some material which made no one assume that a well hid underneath such a covering. Alternatively, it was some distance away.

ותלך ותמלא את החמת, G’d expanded her range of vision so that she now saw the contours of a well she had not previously been able to see. Perhaps that well had not existed and G’d had provided it at this time on a temporary basis to keep Ishmael alive. The matter may have been similar to an experience Shimshon had in Judges 15,19 when G’d split the depression in the jawbone and produced sufficient water to quench Shimshon’s thirst.

ותשק את הנער, the sequence sounds misleading, as she had drunk herself when she saw the well, then she had filled the hose and brought it to her son to drink, after which she had filled the hose again to continue on her way. The positioning of the letters ו such as ותלך, ותמלא.ותשק is not at all unusual. Examples of such constructions may be found in Isaiah 64,4; Exodus 14,21; Exodus 15,20, et al. An alternative meaning could be that she drew water from the well with the hose being used as a pail, and carried it to where Ishmael was lying, giving him to drink there.

ויהי אלוקים את הנער, He ensured Ishmael’s success in his undertakings.

ויגדל, he amassed wealth. We encounter a similar meaning of the word ויגדל in Genesis 26,13 describing Yitzchok’s economic success in the land of the Philistines.

וישב במדבר, first he settled in the desert nearby, moving further afield to the desert of Paran later on.

ויהי רובה קשת, the word רבה may be understood as נער, lad. Onkelos translates it as רביא. The word קשת is an adjective mode of the word keshet, bow. The mode is similar to that of ganav, someone practicing thievery, or salach, someone apt to forgive. An alternative way of understanding the word רובה is that it means the same as יורה, someone shooting. He developed the technique of shooting arrows by means of a bow. [a far less dangerous mode of hunting than bodily facing the adversary. At this point Kimchi draws on the points made already by Rash’bam on our verse. Ed.] He adds that the ability to hit distant targets enables archers to practice what the Torah called ידו בכל, attacking all and sundry, even distant targets. He quotes examples of ancient peoples who became known for this skill, apparently distant descendants of Ishmael, especially the בני קדר. Reference is made to these people, (in that capacity?) in Isaiah 21,17 Our sages suggest that it is appropriate for the sons to perfect themselves in the trade, vocation or skills in which their father excels. (Erchin 16) They also base this on Kings I 7,14 where Chirom is described as having mastered the art of being a coppersmith just like his father. Yaakov’s sons, when presented to Pharaoh in Genesis 47,3, also were described as continuing the tradition of their father as shepherds.

וישב...ותקח לו אמו, she took a wife for him from her own family, seeing that he had become separated from his father’s family. It is proper for people to marry into members of their family (not too close) as a stronger bond of mutual love is liable to be forged between men and women of similar backgrounds, such as both being members of the same clan

ויהי בעת ההיא, at the time Yitzchok was born, or at the time he was weaned. At any rate, Avraham was still in the land of the Philistines. This is why the Torah now reports Avimelech saying that he was interested in receiving assurances from Avraham. Had Avraham already left the land of the Philistines prior to this, the Torah would have had to report that Avimelech traveled to Avraham in order to suggest the treaty he wanted to conclude. When he had seen that a son had been born to Avraham, in his old age, and they saw that Sarah was the one who had given birth to him, they began to take seriously the promises made by G’d to Avraham concerning the future of his descendants. The reason that Phicol the head of Avimelech’s army was mentioned, was to underline that the words Avimelech addressed to Avraham had been what his army chief had proposed.

ועתה..אם תשקור לי, perhaps the subject here is the immediate future, i.e. ועתה. Avimelech is concerned that within the next or subsequent generation the friendly relations between Avraham and himself might sour. Therefore he suggests a treaty reinforced by an oath as he is sure that Avraham would not renege on an undertaking confirmed by an oath. He is trying to commit the next 3 generations to this undertaking he asks from Avraham.

The words לי ולניני ולנכדי comprise three generations. The word נין refers to the son, whereas the word נכד refers to the son’s son. The same words appear in the same sense in Isaiah 14,22 והכרתי לבבל שם ושאר נין ונכד, “I will wipe out from Babylon name and remnant, son and grandson, etc.”

כחסד אשר עשיתי עמך תעשה עמדי, I allowed you to settle in any part of my country that you chose to settle in, and I respected you.

ועם הארץ אשר גרת בה, I expect you also to act in a friendly manner with all the inhabitants of this country who will survive me, both you and your children and grandchildren after you, seeing that you have been treated well in this country by its people.

ויאמר אברהם אנכי אשבע, implying that Avimelech on his part has to swear also. The word אשבע is spelled with the vowel chirik under the letter א, Generally, when a verb in the first person is in the passive mode, it has the vowel segol so that the combination of aleph-chirik should not be misunderstood as if it had been spelled אי.

והוכיח אברהם, seeing that they had both agreed to a pact and had confirmed it by a mutual oath, Avraham now complained about the servants of Avimelech having stolen his wells, especially the well he had dug in Beer Sheva. Beer Sheva was on the border between the land of Canaan and the land of the Philistines, and Avimelech’s servants had argued that Avraham had dug the well on land belonging to the Philistines. In response to Avraham’s complaint both Avimelech and Avraham went from Gerar to Beer Sheva to inspect the area and find out who had been wronged. Seeing that they saw that Avraham’s shepherds were grazing their cattle in that region it was natural that they had dug for water there in order to provide water for their livestock. Even though the Torah did not spell out precisely what occurred, it is reasonable to accept the scenario which I have described.

ויאמר...וגם אנכי לא שמעתי, seeing that neither you nor anyone else has told me about this I cannot be held responsible for this.

ויקח, apparently Avraham had taken some sheep and cattle and given it to Avimelech to keep the covenant. These animals were used to confirm the treaty which had been agreed to between Avimelech and Avraham and their respective children.

ויצב, Avraham selected from amongst these animals seven sheep to be placed aside from the others. He took 7 seeing that the number seven, שבעה, and the word for oath שבועה are practically identical. The location was now named Beer Sheva to reflect symbolically both the seven sheep set aside here as visible sign of the covenant and the fact that this covenant had been confirmed by an oath of either party to the treaty.

ויאמר...תהיה לי לעדה, “this gift that I am giving you shall serve as proof for me.”

על כן...כי שם נשבעו, the word כי lacks the conjunctive letter ו in front. We find similar constructions with the missing conjunctive letter ו in Chabakuk 2,11 שמש ירח, instead of שמש וירח. Another such example is found in Exodus 1,2 ראובן שמעון instead of ראובן ושמעון. Had the letter ו not been missing, we would have clearly understood at first glance that both the oath and the seven sheep are referred to as a “package deal.” Naming a location was a very important step in laying claim to a region as one’s inalienable property.

ויכרתו...ויקם אבימלך, Avraham remained at Beer Sheva with his flocks for a day or two longer before returning to the land of the Philistines to his house in Gerar.

ויטע אשל, he planted some saplings there to serve as proof that the well nearby was now his undisputed property. The word אשל describes certain plants (fruit-bearing) as In Samuel I 22,6 תחת האשל ברמה, “under the eshel in Ramah). According to our sages in Beytzah 27 the reference is to tall trees which are difficult to uproot. Our sages in Midrash Tehillim 110 understand the word אשל as an acronym for אכילה, שתיה, לינה, “eating, drinking, staying overnight.” In other words, Avraham established a hotel there to serve people passing that region. He taught the people around Beer Sheva to practice the art (virtue) of hosting strangers. In order to fulfill that virtue one must provide the three ingredients represented by the three letters in the word אשל.

ויקרא שם, Avraham used the opportunity of assembling the local people and describing his and Sarah’s experiences to them in order to give them first-hand evidence of how G’d had looked after him against all odds. He contrasted this with the local deities being worshipped who could not protect those who sacrificed to them. א-ל עולם, he pointed out that his G’d was not only powerful locally, but was a G’d Who was equally powerful allover the globe, seeing the globe is His, He being the One Who had created it.