“Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5). “Abraham gave all that was his to Isaac” – Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Neḥemya, and the Rabbis, Rabbi Yehuda said: [He gave him] the rights of a firstborn son.24Even though Yishmael was older than him. Rabbi Neḥemya said: The power to bless.25See Bereshit Rabba 39:11. The Rabbis said: The right to burial [in the Makhpela Cave], and a will.26In which he bequeathed all his property to Isaac.
Rabbi Ḥama said: It was not blessings that he [Abraham] bequeathed to him, but gifts. This is analogous to a king who had an orchard, which he gave over to a sharecropper. In it, there were two trees intertwined into a single twining; one produced life-giving [fruits] and the other produced poisonous [fruits]. That sharecropper said: ‘If I water the one that is life-giving, the one that is poisonous will be watered along with it, but if I refrain from watering the poisonous one, how will the one that is life-giving survive?’
He then said: ‘I am a mere [temporary] sharecropper. I have performed my duties as sharecropper, and whatever the owner of the orchard wishes to do, he will do.’ So, Abraham said: ‘If I bless Isaac, my son Ishmael and Ketura’s sons will want to be included. If I do not bless Ishmael’s sons and Ketura’s sons, how can I bless Isaac?’
He then said: ‘I am flesh and blood, here today, in the grave tomorrow. I have already done my part; from here on, what the Holy One blessed be He wishes to do in His world, let Him do.’ When Abraham died, the Holy One blessed be He revealed himself to Isaac and blessed him. That is what is written: “It was after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son…” (Genesis 25:11).