“For the fig tree will not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines; the produce of the olive tree will fail and the fields will yield [no food]…” (Habakkuk 3:17). “For the fig tree will not blossom” – this refers to Abraham, just as it says: “Like a first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers” (Hosea 9:10). “And there is no fruit on the vines” – this refers to Sarah, just as it says: “Your wife is like a fruitful vine…” (Psalms 128:3).
“The produce of the olive tree will fail [kiḥesh]” – those angels who brought the tidings to Sarah illuminated her face like olive [oil]. Were they then lying [koḥashim]?1If "olive tree” is an allusion to the angels informing Sarah of her impending pregnancy, why does the verse refer to it as lying [kiḥesh]? However, [Sarah said:] “the fields [shedemot] will yield no food” – [Sarah said:] ‘These withered breasts [shedei mavet] have never produced food.’2That is what caused Sarah to doubt the veracity of their tidings (see Genesis 18:12).
“The flock is severed from the fold” (Habakkuk 3:17) – [this refers to Israel,]3Sarah was afraid that Israel would not, in fact, descend from her, because she believed she was incurably barren. just as it says: “You, My flock, flock of My pasture, you are men” (Ezekiel 34:31). “There is no cattle in the barns” (Habakkuk 3:17) – [this refers to Israel,] just as it says: “Ephraim is a trained calf that loves to thresh” (Hosea 10:11).
Sarah then relented and said: ‘Am I to lose faith in my Creator? Rather, “but I will rejoice in the Lord, I will exult in the God of my salvation”’ (Habakkuk 3:18). The Holy One blessed be He said to her: ‘You have not lost your hope, I, too, will not allow your hope to be lost.’ Rather, “the Lord remembered Sarah…” “The Lord remembered Sarah.”
“The grass has withered, the flower has faded” (Isaiah 40:8) – the grass of Avimelekh has withered and his flower has faded. “But the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8) – “the Lord remembered Sarah as He had said.”