ויאמר אברהם אל שרה אשתו אחותי היא, “Avraham said concerning his wife Sarah that she was his sister.” This was not like in Egypt. In Egypt he had not misrepresented his relationship until after the Egyptians had praised Sarah’s beauty to Pharaoh, and he had been aware that the Egyptians did not respect marital relations when it conflicted with their lust. Here in the land of the Philistines, Avimelech and his servants were civilized, and observed the Noachide laws, as a rule. Still, Avraham was suspicious, and that is why he himself told everyone that Sarah was his sister.

וגם אמנה אחותי בת אבי היא אך לא בת אמי. “and she is indeed my sister, daughter of my father, though she is not the daughter of my mother.” Nachmanides writes that he does not know the point of Avraham’s apology if indeed Sarah was his half-sister and his wife at one and the same time, and when the people from the palace came to take her to the palace he revealed that she was also his sister in order to deceive them about the relationship. He had thereby caused them to commit a sin if he had not previously revealed that Sarah was his wife. It makes no difference whether this claim was true or false, as he had caused them to sin the moment he claimed that Sarah was his sister. Perhaps Avraham felt the need to respond to Avimelech’s accusation: “what did you see so terrible in this place that you felt the need to be devious and to bring guilt upon us?” He felt the need to justify himself vis-à-vis Avimelech personally, who had steadfastly claimed that he had never taken women for himself whom he knew to be married to other husbands. Avraham’s point was that he had no prior knowledge of the moral ethical standards prevailing among the Philistines, and had feared that they did not observe the 7 universal laws given by G’d to Noach. He cited his ample experience during previous sojourns in different countries in all of which no fear of the Lord was customary, and in all of which he conducted himself according to this assumption. Hence his caution was not a reflection on Avimelech, personally. He had been prompted by the sole motive of saving his own life. In addition, he explained that passing his wife off as his sister had not even been a lie, as indeed she was his sister by his father. According to Ibn Ezra, all Avraham’s explanations served only to confound Avimelech, his argument was basically similar to Yaakov, when challenged as to his identity, claiming in the presence of Yitzchok: אנכי, עשו בכורך, “it is I, Esau is your firstborn.”

ויהי כאשר התעו אותי אלוקים מבית אבי, “Ever since Elohim caused me to wander away from my father’s home, etc.” He meant that the idolatry practiced in his father’s house caused him to abandon their idolatrous lifestyles and to have the strength to follow his monotheistic convictions. (based on Onkelos) As a result, he had been wandering from one place to another.

כטוב בעיניך שב, “settle wherever it pleases you.” The contrast with Pharaoh’s reaction to having felt deceived by Avraham is quite remarkable. The former could not forgive Avraham for having been the instrument that made him suffer chastisement by G’d, although he knew himself to have been wrong..

הנה הוא לך כסות עינים, “let this be a visible proof of your vindication, etc.” Avimelech referred to the financial compensation he had felt forced to pay to Avraham in order to mollify him. The word אלף is not to be understood literally, but means the “thousands of shekel, etc.” The expression כסות עינים extends also to Avraham’s entire entourage, including any unattached women. Anyone even looking at these girls would be liable to a monetary fine for having done so. Knowing that even the King had been forced to pay a fine, the ordinary people would be most careful not to become subject to similar penalties.

ונוכחת. “and you will be vindicated.” You will have a valid argument in countering any gossip spread about you (Sarah). Alternatively, the meaning of the expression is the Torah’s way of saying that whereas the money compensated Avraham for the wrong done to him, it did not mollify Sarah’s injured dignity. She would continue to argue that the wrong done to her could not be righted by money; the Torah mentioned this in tribute to Sarah’s lofty principles. Some commentators understand the expression כסות עינים as meaning that the monetary compensation would have the same effect as stunningly beautiful garments, which would raise the image of the wearer in the eyes of the beholder. The money would enable both her and her servant maids to buy beautiful clothes.

את כל ונוכחת, “he prepared all this when he purchased for her a wardrobe, in order to demonstrate to everyone that he felt the need to mollify Sarah.” The word נוכחת means preparing something, inviting someone, and appears in this context in Genesis 24,44 אשר הוכיח ה' לבן אדוני, “the one whom the Lord has prepared for the son of my master (as a wife)”. Ibn Ezra explains the words הנה הוא לך כסות עינים as Avimelch saying to Sarah: “concerning Avraham whom you had told me that he was your brother, it fulfils the function of an “eye-cover” (veil) for you to ensure no one will dare raise his eyes to you”. At the same time his stature also protects all your maids against anyone daring to take advantage of them. They will all enjoy the protection of the status of being wives of his servants. Yet another explanation of the words הנה הוא לך כסות עינים understands it as a reference to Sarah having described Avraham as her brother as a defensive stratagem, to protect his life, and the fact that all the entourage of Avraham and Sarah conspired together in this deception so as not to endanger their master’s life. At any, rate, Avimelech added, now that everything has been cleared up, ונוכת, you will be safe and do not need to misrepresent yourself.

וילדו, “they proceeded to give birth.” According to Rashi their wombs had been as if sealed while Sarah was in Avimelech’s palace. Now their wombs were reopened. Apparently all orifices of the women had been sealed.

בעד כל רחם, “every womb.” Again, Rashi understands the word as applying to every bodily orifice. Nachmanides writes that the expression רחם cannot be applied to orifices other than the womb. He sees a further difficulty in the fact that according to the plain meaning of the text all of this transpired during a single night, and that Sarah was restored to Avraham on the morrow, immediately. If so when had the sealing of the orifices of potential mothers even been perceived as an affliction? Perhaps they experienced pains and were unable to give birth, or their menstrual cycle did not operate normally, or Avraham waited until he prayed on behalf of all these women. Personally, I feel that from the day that Sarah had been abducted to Avimelech’s palace, Avimelech’s reproductive organs had been stricken so that he could not have sexual relations with Sarah. Avimelech’s wife and servant maids were equally afflicted. This was the meaning of G’d telling Avimelech in his dream ולא נתתיך לנגוע אליה, “I did not allow you to touch her.” Whenever the term נגיעה or קרבה is used in connection with women, it has a sexual connotation. This is the meaning of וה' סגר רחמם. It is an expression applying only to prevention of the birthing process being initiated. A parallel expression is סגר ה' בעדה, when the prophet describes Channah’s being unable to have children at the beginning of the Book of Samuel. Apparently, Sarah was locked up in the palace of Avimelech for a considerable length of time, and until the night when G’d appeared to Avimelech in his dream, no one knew the cause of this peculiar affliction. At that point, G’d gave Avimelech a hint about what had caused this problem in his household. After Avraham’s prayer on behalf of those afflicted the problem was resolved. 21.1. וה' פקד את שרה, “at this time G’d remembered Sarah benevolently;” The words כאשר אמר, “as He had said,” implies that the word פקד refers to her becoming pregnant, whereas the words כאשר אמר, refer to her giving birth, according to Rashi. Nachmanides writes that the expression פקידה always refers to remembering something pertaining to the party that is being remembered, such as פקוד יפקוד אלוקים אתכם, “G’d will surely remember you, etc.” in Genesis Therefore, the meaning of ה' פקד את שרה is that “G’d remembered Sarah and did for her as He had said.” This formula is customary in connection with women who had been barren until G’d remembered them benevolently, as in the case of Rachel Genesis 30,22 who could give birth after being benevolently remembered by G’d. Rabbi Joseph Kimchi points out that the reason that the Torah used the term פקידה when referring to Sarah, and the term זכירה for remembering with Rachel, was that in the case of Sarah who was already way past child bearing age, G’d had to extend Himself more than in the case of Rachel who was still in her twenties. G’d had to restore bodily functions to Sarah, functions that had not ceased functioning in the case of Rachel. The Mishnaic term for the days between two menstrual cycles is מפקידה לפקידה. Rachel’s menstrual cycles had not yet ceased to occur regularly at the time she became pregnant and bore Joseph as a result. In the case of Channah giving birth to Shemuel, at a time when she was still young, the prophet uses the term זכירה, when she first prayed for children, (Samuel I 1,11) whereas when we hear about her having 5 more children in Samuel I 1,21 the prophet attributes this to a פקידה by G’d. seeing she had aged greatly in the interval.