Midrash Aggadah Reader

"And he took the knife" (Genesis 22:10). From here we learn that ritual slaughter must be done with a detached implement. And as they were walking, Ha-Satan came to Abraham and said to him: "Old man, where are your wits? A son whom the Holy One, blessed be He, graciously granted you at a hundred years old, and you are going to slaughter him? I am the one who led you astray and said to you, 'Take now your son, your only one.'" Abraham said to him: "Heaven forbid! It is God who spoke to me." When Ha-Satan saw that Abraham would not listen to him, he went at once to Isaac and said to him: "Isaac, where are you going?" He said: "My father is taking me to study Torah." Ha-Satan said to Isaac: "It is not to study Torah that you are going; rather, your father is taking you to slaughter you." Isaac said to him: "Even so, I rejoice in this, if the Holy One, blessed be He, desires me, and furthermore that I shall do my father's will." When he saw that Isaac would not accept it from him, he went to Sarah and said to her: "Where did your son go?" She said to him: "His father took him to study Torah with Eber." Ha-Satan said to her: "Alas, poor wretched woman, it is not to study Torah that he is taking him; rather, he is taking him to slaughter him." When she heard this, she cried out, groaning first and then wailing, and her soul departed from the abundance of grief. Therefore it is said: "And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her" (Genesis 23:2).

"And he said: Do not stretch out your hand." Abraham said to him: Perhaps you are Ha-Satan, and you seek to deceive me. He said to him: No, rather I am an emissary of the Holy One, blessed be He, who does not desire a human sacrifice. And so Ha-Satan said to Abraham: Thus I heard from behind the curtain — "a lamb for the burnt offering," and not Isaac for the burnt offering. Abraham said to him: All the dealings of a liar are such that even when he speaks the truth, he is not heeded. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to him and said, "By Myself I have sworn," and so forth. "And do not do anything to him." Abraham said: Let me bring forth from him a drop of blood, and it will be reckoned as though I had slaughtered him. The angel said to him: But does the Holy One, blessed be He, not know that Abraham feared the Lord? Rather, "now I know" — I have made known to all the world that you have done My will, until they will say: It is just that He cut a covenant with Abraham and with his seed; and all will know that everything I do well for Abraham, I do in justice.

"You shall not go with them" (Numbers 22:12) — because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire the destruction of the wicked. Balaam said: You stipulate to me that I shall not go with them; I will curse them from my own place. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "You shall not curse the people." Balaam said: And do You wish that I bless them? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: They do not need your blessing, for they are blessed.

"And behold, a ram." This is the ram that was created at twilight on the very day that Adam the first man was created, and it was created for the need of Isaac. "Caught in the thicket by his horns." Because it tarried and was not running toward Abraham so that Abraham might offer it, it said: "I will go from here without an offering"; and Satan came and caught it in the thicket so that it could not go. Another interpretation of "in the thicket": At the time when Israel are caught in the thicket of the iniquities of all the days of the year, they are delivered by the blowing of the horn of a ram. Another interpretation: At the time when Israel are caught in the thicket of the kingdoms, He is destined to redeem them by the horns of a ram, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown" (Isaiah 27:13). The ram had two horns. With one of them He blew on the day that the Torah was given to Israel, as it is said, "And the voice of the shofar" (Exodus 19:19); and with the right horn the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to blow at the ingathering of the exiles. Therefore he called it "great," because it is the one of the right. "And offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." When he was offering it, Abraham said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "May it be Your will that this ram be reckoned before You as though I had slaughtered my son." Abraham said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "You said to me that I should slaughter Isaac my son, and now You say, 'Do nothing to him.' Is it not written, 'God is not a man, that He should lie' (Numbers 23:19)?" The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Did I say to you, 'Take now your son, your only one, and slaughter him before Me'? I said to you only, 'And offer him up there' — I brought him up, bring him down." And so it is written, "which I commanded not" — Abraham, that he should slaughter his son before Me.

"For the LORD refused to give me leave to go with you" (Numbers 22:13). He did not wish to tell them the words of the Omnipresent; rather, this is what he said to them: the Omnipresent desires my honor and commanded me not to go with them, for it is not to my honor that I go with them, because you are small men. Therefore those princes said to Balak, "Balaam refused to go with us" (Numbers 22:14). Once Balak heard this — that on account of this he did not go, because they were not great princes — Balak added still further to send princes more numerous and more honored than these, as it is said, "And Balak sent yet again princes" (Numbers 22:15). And Balaam thought that Balak would not add to send more princes, and [he reasoned] that thereby they would know that the Omnipresent had restrained him. And once Balak saw [this], he sent many and honored princes, and sent word to him that he would honor him greatly; [Balaam] began to say to them that it was not in his power, as it is said, "If Balak would give me [his house full of silver and gold]" (Numbers 22:18).

"And Abraham called the name of that place 'The LORD will see'" (Genesis 22:14) — that the Omnipresent should see [it] as if I had slaughtered my son before You. "This day, on the mountain the LORD will see" — tomorrow, when the children of Isaac come to pray before You, You will forgive them for their iniquities. "Will see" — may it be seen before You as if the ashes of Isaac were heaped before You, and You will forgive them. From here they said that Rosh Hashanah was at the time when Isaac was bound.

"For I will surely bless you" (Genesis 22:17) — a blessing for the father and a blessing for the son; and "I will surely multiply" — abundance for the father, abundance for the son. "As the stars of the heavens" — when they are on high. "And as the sand which is on the seashore" — just as the sand is a fence for the sea, and at every time that the sea rages, when it comes to the sand the waves are broken, so too Israel: however much the nations of the world raise themselves up over Israel, in the end they are broken before them. And so you find with Pharaoh, and with Sisera, and with Babylon, and with Haman, and with the Greeks. And so too the children of Edom are destined to fall before them, as it is said: "And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom" (Ezekiel 25:14).

"And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Had Israel not accepted the Torah, the world would have been laid waste; and likewise, all the good things that come into the world come for the sake of Israel, who accepted the Torah. "Because [ekev] you have hearkened to My voice" — to the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He. From here you learn that at three years old Abraham recognized the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He, and knew his Creator. For he was only one hundred and seventy-five years old, and he did the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, for one hundred and seventy-two years — corresponding to the numerical value of "ekev" (ekev).

"And Abraham returned to his young men" (Genesis 22:19) — Ishmael and Eliezer were disputing with one another. Ishmael was saying: Abraham will slaughter Isaac, and I will inherit him. And Eliezer said to him: You will not inherit, for he has already driven you out; but I am the son of his house, and I will inherit him. When Abraham returned to his young men, to the place where he had left them, and they did not see Isaac, they supposed that he had slaughtered him. They said to him: Isaac — where is he? He said to them: I have brought him to the house of Eber his teacher, to study Torah. Therefore it is said, "And Abraham returned" — that is to say, alone, and he did not mention Isaac. "And they rose up" — because he had said to them, "Stay here," therefore it says, "and they rose up." "And they went" — just as it was in Abraham's heart that Isaac was alive, so too they knew that Isaac was alive, for they believed the words of Abraham, since they knew that he does not lie.

"And now, please stay here this night" (Numbers 22:19). Bilam said to them: "I will know what more the LORD will speak with me" — if He should wish that I go with you, and if not. And let Balak reckon to himself that, even if he honors me as he said to me — that is to say, that I should set aside the command of the LORD my God — it is not that I am unable to curse them, for I am able, but I do not wish to transgress His word.

"And it came to pass after these things" (Genesis 22:20). "After" (aharei) is adjacent; "after" (ahar) is removed. "After these things [devarim]" — there were musings of words [hirhurei devarim] there: Ishmael and Eliezer were musing, for they supposed that Isaac had been slaughtered; and the tidings came that his son's mate had been born.

"He said to him: 'If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them.' After the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to him once, 'You shall not go with them' — for He desired that his portion not be with them — yet he wished to go, He granted him permission, as it is said: 'If it concerns the scoffers, He scoffs at them' (Proverbs 3:34). And furthermore, so that he would not exalt himself, saying, 'If He gives me permission to go, I will do all my will, and I would only have refrained on His account' — the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him that all that He had withheld from him He did only to shame him, and made known to him that even though he goes by the permission of the Holy One, blessed be He, he stands subject to Him, and can do nothing without His permission.

"And he saddled his donkey" (Numbers 22:21). From here we learn that hatred upsets the proper order. For did he not have many servants? So it is written, "and his two young men were with him." Rather, because he greatly hated Israel, he rose early and saddled his donkey himself. Our Sages of blessed memory said: that donkey was created on the sixth day of the creation of the world. And Jacob gave this donkey to Balaam, so that he would not give evil counsel to Pharaoh, that he should not decree an evil decree against his children. But it did not avail him; rather he gave Pharaoh the counsel of the bricks.

"And God's anger was kindled because he was going" (Numbers 22:22) — because he went toward destruction, for the Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire the destruction of the wicked. "In the way as an adversary against him" — to kill him. "And his two servants were with him" — such is the way of the world, that an important person does not set out on the road with fewer than three people. For two reasons: so that one will not go off to another place and he be left alone; and further, that if the two of them quarrel, the third will stand up and make peace between them. Rabbi Meir would do thus: if he saw one man going out on the road, he called him "two: death"; two — "of the manner of strife"; three — "of the manner of peace." This is what is written, "Two are better than one" (Ecclesiastes 4:9), and it says, "And the threefold cord is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12). And so too with our father Abraham, it says, "And he took his two young men" (Genesis 22:3).

"And his sword drawn in his hand." Now, could he not have slain him even if his sword were not drawn in his hand? And why did he come against him with a sword? Because the craft of Israel is in the voice, and the craft of the nations is the sword. And this wicked Balaam exchanged his craft and took up the craft of Israel, which is the voice, in order to curse them with his voice. Therefore the angel came against him with a sword, to make known to him that if he seizes the craft of Israel, he will fall by the sword — for Israel will take his craft and fell him by the sword. And so it was for him, for thus it is written, "And Balaam son of Beor they slew with the sword" (Numbers 31:8). "And the donkey turned aside from the way." In three places the angel stood. And why so? At first he stood for him on a wide road, where the donkey was able to go to every side, and he hinted to him that if he sought to curse the seed of Abraham, he would have to curse from two sides: the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. The second time, he stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall on this side and a wall on that side — that if he came to curse the worthy seed of Isaac, he would find there Abraham on one side and Isaac on one side; but it was wide enough that she was pressed to the wall, so that if he sought to curse the seed of Isaac, Esau and Eliphaz he was able to curse. The third time, the angel stood for him on a narrow road, where there was no way that he could turn aside, neither right nor left — that is to say, that if he came to curse Israel he would not be able, for the merit of Abraham and Isaac is on one side, and Jacob and Levi on one side, and the Holy One, blessed be He, from above.

"And his concubine, whose name was Reumah" (Genesis 22:24). Just as the sons of the concubines are four, so too the sons of the maidservants are four. Tebah — that the Holy One, blessed be He, slaughtered them. Gaham — that He comforted them out of the world. Tahash — that He hastened them. Maacah — that He crushed them, so that they were neither nations nor families, for He destroyed them from the world. Another interpretation: "After these things" (Genesis 22:20). There were musings of words there. And who mused? Abraham mused, saying: Had Isaac died on Mount Moriah, he would have died without children; but now a miracle has been done for him. I shall marry him to the daughters of Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, who are righteous women — and what do I care about lineage? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You have no need, for his mate has been born, as it is said, "Behold, Milcah also has borne" (Genesis 22:20). What is "she also"? Just as this one is the son of a noblewoman, so she too is the daughter of a noblewoman. Another interpretation: He feared the sufferings. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Do not fear, there is one who will receive them — "Uz his firstborn" (Genesis 22:21), and it is written elsewhere, "There was a man in the land of Uz" (Job 1:1).

"And it pressed Balaam's foot against the wall" (Numbers 22:25). This was the wall of the stones of the heap that Jacob made and set up between himself and Laban, as Jacob said, "Gather stones," as it is stated, "And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones" (Genesis 31:46), and he said, "This heap is a witness" (ibid. 31:52). And he transgressed the covenant, for that heap turned against him for ill; therefore he was struck in his foot, and he was lame in one of his feet.

"And he stood in a narrow place" (Numbers 22:26) — corresponding to Jacob, of whom it is said, "And Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed" (Genesis 32:8). "Where there is no way to turn right or left" — this teaches you that since he comes to curse the seed of Jacob, who are all righteous, he could not prevail against them, for he has no permission to curse them.

"And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey." From the day she was created, the Holy One, blessed be He, had opened her mouth, for [the gift of speech] was deposited within her mouth; but she was not permitted to speak, for her mouth was stopped up until that hour. For it does not say, "And the LORD placed a word in her mouth," but rather, "And the LORD opened [her mouth]" — from here [we learn] that the matter [of speech] had [already] been placed in her mouth, and she lacked nothing but the opening.

"And the donkey said to Balaam." The princes of Moab said to Balaam, when they saw how the donkey crouched beneath him: Why do you ride a donkey and not ride a horse? He said to them: My horse has a swollen, ailing leg, and so for the moment I took her. She said to him, "Am I not your donkey" — that is to say, you are not riding upon a horse but upon me. Balaam said to her: You are my donkey merely for bearing burdens, and not for riding. She said to him: No, but rather "upon which you have ridden"; and not only that, but I perform with you the act of riding by day, and the act of a woman by night — for he used to come upon his donkey. And "was I ever wont" refers only to the act of a woman, as you say, "and she became a companion to the king" (1 Kings 1:4). "And he said, No" — that he was not able to stand up against her rebuke.

"And the LORD uncovered the eyes of Balaam." From here we learn that human eyes are not granted permission to see as He grants the beasts to see, for concerning the she-donkey it is said "and she saw," whereas concerning Balaam it is said "and the LORD uncovered." And why is it so? Because if a human being were granted permission to see the angels who walk upon the road, he would at once be terrified and go out of his mind. "And he bowed down and prostrated himself to his face." For he recognized that he was an angel and that he had come to kill him.

"And the angel of the Lord said to him: Why have you struck [your donkey these three times]?" The angel said to him: Know for what reason I have come. I did not come to claim the quarrel of the donkey, but to claim the quarrel of an entire nation, which you are going to curse, and which is destined to behold the face of the Shekhinah three times in the year. Therefore [it is said] "three regalim" (pilgrimage-feet), and it did not say "three times" (pe'amim). "Because the way 'yarat' (is perverse) before me." From here we derive a notarikon: 'Y' she feared (yare'ah), 'R' she saw (ra'atah), 'T' she turned aside (natetah). Another interpretation: "Because the way 'yarat' before me" — it is none other than a term of revealing, as it is said, "that it may have brightness, it is made bare (morattah)" (Ezekiel 21:15); for it was revealed and known to me that you are going to curse Israel, and therefore I went out to slay you, since [the way] is before me. Another interpretation: "Because 'yarat'" — a term of fear, as it is said, "trembling (retet) has seized [her]" (Jeremiah 49:24); for at the time when the angel goes and stands in the way, even though the person does not see it, his constellation (mazal) sees it, and the constellation dreads, as it is written, "a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled into hiding" (Daniel 10:7).

"For now I would also have killed you, [and let her live]" (Numbers 22:33). It does not say "I would have left her," but "I would have kept her alive" — from here we learn that the angel killed her, because she came before the angel together with Balaam for judgment, and the angel killed her. And if regarding the honor of the wicked He was concerned — so that people should not say, "This is the one who rebuked Balaam the prophet and silenced him" — how much more so does the Holy One, blessed be He, concern Himself with the honor of the righteous. This is what is written: "and you shall kill the animal" (Leviticus 20:15).

"And Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, I have sinned" (Numbers 22:34). Balaam the wicked one leaped to confession, for he knew that there is none who can stand before fierce wrath except confession. "Now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again" (ibid.). Balaam said: It is thus, that the Omnipresent says a thing and the angel reverses it — for He said to Abraham, "Take now thy son etc." (Genesis 22:2), and an angel reversed His command, as it is said, "And the angel of the LORD called unto him [a second time] out of heaven, and said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad etc." (ibid. 22:11–12). He too said to me, "Rise up, and go with the men" (Numbers 22:20), and now you wish to turn me back. If it displease thee because I am going, I will get me back — that is to say, even if it be not to go, that He may do all His own will. Therefore the angel said to him: Do you suppose that if you go, you will be under your own authority? No. And moreover, all these things that I did to you, I did only for your good; but since I see that you wish to go and to destroy yourself, "Go with the men" (Numbers 22:35) — that is to say, your portion shall be with them.

"But only the word" (Numbers 22:35). But if you wish to reveal a word that I told you not to say, know that you will speak that very word against your will. And "efes" ("only") is nothing but a term of consuming, as it is said, "for the money is gone (efes)" (Genesis 47:15). "And Balaam went with the princes of Balak" (Numbers 22:35). Come and see the hatred of that wicked man: all the warnings the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him, and the angel commanded him that he had no permission to go — even so, he thought to bribe the Holy One, blessed be He, with his sacrifices, so that He would let him curse.

"And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep" (Numbers 22:40). This teaches that he sacrificed only a single ox and a single sheep. Now Balaam had a haughty spirit and an impatient soul, so Balaam grew angry at him and said: Did he not have oxen and did he not have sheep? Rather, Balak sent the least of his oxen and the least of his sheep. Tomorrow I will rise early at his morning, so that I will take from them none but bulls and rams as well.

"And he brought him up to Bamoth-baal" (Numbers 22:41). Balak was a master of divinations and enchantments more than Balaam, for Balaam walked after him like a blind man. This was because Balak foresaw the future, that Israel were destined to sin with Baal-peor, so that the Holy One, blessed be He, would remember that iniquity against them, and would also allow them to be cursed.

"And the life of Sarah." Why did it say "and the life of Sarah"? Rather it is to teach that she did not truly live until Isaac was born. From where do we know this?

From the numerical value of "and they were (vayihyu=37, Isaac's age when Sarah died)". From here we learn that anyone who does not have children does not have life. Not only that, rather that person is considered like one who is dead, as it is stated, "give me children." (Genesis 30:1) Another interpretation: "And the life of Sarah." When she was 100, she was like 20 in sin, and when she was 20 she was like a 7 year old in beauty.

Therefore, they said 100 and 20 and 7 years. Another interpretation: "And the life of Sarah." Why is this parsha next to the verse above, as it is stated: "Milcah has borne?" This is what that sage said: "The sun rises and the sun sets." (Ecclesiastes 1:5) That the sun of Rebecca rose before the death of Sarah, our mother.

Another interpretation: "And the life of Sarah etc." Therefore they counted out Sarah's years of life to tell you that it was due to the merit of Sarah who lived 127 years, that Esther would rule over 127 provinces. Another interpretation: "And the life of Sarah." Why is Sarah's death placed after the binding of Isaac? To tell you that when Abraham came from Mount Moriah, he found Sarah had died because of the words of the Satan.

Therefore they blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah in order that Sarah's death can serve as atonement for them, since the shofar blast is a cry and a wail.

"Build me here seven altars" (Numbers 23:1) — corresponding to those that the first fathers built, from Adam until Moses our teacher. And these are they: Adam the first man built an altar, as it is said, "And it shall please the LORD better than a bull, than an ox" (Psalms 69:32). And Noah also built an altar, as it is said, "And Noah built an altar to the LORD" (Genesis 8:20). And Abraham built an altar, and Isaac built an altar, and Jacob built an altar, [as it is written, "And he built there an altar,"] "and he called the place El-beth-el" (there, 35:7). Behold, seven altars that the first ones built. [Balaam reasoned:] Perhaps He will show me favor and let me be.

"In Kiriat Arbah." Because she had four masters/husbands. Another interpretation: That in it were buried four pairs: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. "It is Hevron." Named for that same friend who bought the cave, and that was Abraham.

"And I will go; perhaps the LORD will chance to meet me" (Numbers 23:3) — that is, perhaps He will show me favor. "And he went shefi" (Numbers 23:3). From here our Sages, of blessed memory, said: Balaam was lame in one foot, and Samson in both his legs, concerning whom shefi is said; and concerning Samson it is written "shefifon" (Genesis 49:17, "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a horned viper by the path"). Another interpretation: "shefi" — he went alone. Another interpretation: "shefi" teaches that he scrutinized for the hour in which the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry.

"And God happened upon Balaam" (Numbers 23:4) — this is an expression of impurity, as you say, "a nocturnal occurrence" (Deuteronomy 23:11). That is to say, when He spoke with him, He regarded it as though He were speaking to one who is impure; and were it not for the love of Israel, He would not have spoken with him after he transgressed His word. "And he said to Him: I have arranged the seven altars" (Numbers 23:4) — Balaam said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Behold, Israel arranged for You but one altar, whereas I have arranged for You seven altars. Is it not better for You to leave Israel and to be with us? This is what is written: "Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams" (Micah 6:7).

"And he took up his parable and said" (Numbers 23:7) — because he would speak his words in a parable. And he said, "From Aram Balak has led me." From the exalted ones I was, and Balak has led me down to Gehinnom. "From the mountains of the east" — from the great exalted ones I was, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Balak has distanced me from them. "Come, curse Jacob for me." That is to say: if I curse them, I curse myself, for so it is written, "Those who curse you shall be cursed" (Numbers 24:9). And this is what is written, "Jacob" and "Israel" — Jacob had two names, and concerning both of them he said to curse his sons, so that they should have no standing; and what can I do?

"How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?" (Numbers 23:8) — For the Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire to curse them. For on the day that they made the Calf they were deserving of a curse, and not only that, but He blessed them, as it is said: "Yea, and he shall be blessed" (Genesis 27:33). And this is the meaning of "whom God has not cursed." "And how shall I rage?" — For He did not rage on this day, for the Holy One, blessed be He, blessed them, as it is written: "For the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance" (Deuteronomy 32:9).

"For from the top of the rocks I see him" (Numbers 23:9): from Abraham, who is called a rock, as it is said, "Look to the rock from which you were hewn" (Isaiah 51:1), for the Patriarchs are called a rock. Just as the rock supports and bears the whole house that a person builds, so the merit of the Patriarchs bears and stands over their children. Another interpretation: "For from the top of the rocks I see him" — for from the top of the rocks I see them, who preceded the Creation. When the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to create the world, He would sit and gaze and contemplate the generation of Enosh, and of the Flood, and of the Sodomites, and He would say: How shall I create the world on account of these wicked generations, who provoke Me to anger? When He saw and foresaw that Abraham was destined to arise and to declare the unity of His name, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Behold, I have found that upon which I may establish the world. And this is what is said, "Look to the rock from which you were hewn." "And from the hills" — these are the Matriarchs. "Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone" — that is to say, they are destined to inherit the world. "And shall not be reckoned among the nations" — even though they are called among the nations, it is not reckoned a people like the rest of the nations, as the verse says, "All the nations are as nothing before Him" (Isaiah 40:17); and it says, "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket" (Isaiah 40:15).

"And Ephron was sitting" (Genesis 23:10). [The word] "sitting" (yoshev) is written defective, lacking a vav. At that hour they advanced him to be king. When they heard Abraham, who says, "and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar" (Genesis 23:8), [they did this] so that one as great as Abraham should not be purchasing from a lowly man. And from where did Abraham know of the cave? From the ox that ran and entered there.

"Who has counted the dust of Jacob." These are the commandments that they perform with dust, and these are they: "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together" (Deuteronomy 22:10) — behold, a commandment of dust; and further, "You shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds" (ibid., ibid. 9). That is to say: since these commandments shield them, for they heeded the words of the Creator, the curses shall not take hold upon them. Another interpretation: "Who has counted the dust of Jacob." Who is able to curse them and to entice them so that they might be able to count them? And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob their father, "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth" (Genesis 28:14). "And the number of the fourth part of Israel." The leapers of Israel, who are a fourth part — that is to say, that no man is able to curse them so that they should be diminished, so that they should fall to the earth in number. Another interpretation: "the fourth part (rova) of Israel" — the seed of Israel, as they say "the first rainfall (revi'ah)," and Scripture says, "You shall not mate your animal with diverse kinds" (Leviticus 19:19). "Let my soul die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his." That wicked one set a sign for himself: that if he should die the death of the upright — that he should die upon his bed in the way of the world — and that his end should be like their end, that is to say, that he should have a portion in the world to come.

"Four hundred shekels." He said: The land is worth four hundred kantarin (talents) of silver, yet in my eyes they are not worth anything because of my love for you; so bury your dead. And concerning this it is said, in my intention that I say, "I will give it to you."

"Take it from me." If you wish, take it as a gift; and if not, but you wish to buy it, this is its price. And when Abraham heard that this was Ephron's answer, that he said, "Such is the price of my field," neither less nor more, immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, had compassion upon Abraham, and he weighed out the silver that Ephron had named and gave it to him, as it is said, "And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron." Thus said the Sages: All the shekels mentioned in the Torah are sela'im, except for these, which are kantarin (talents). And thus said our Sages, of blessed memory: Every "Ephron" in this portion is written full (plene), except for "And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron" and "And Abraham weighed to Ephron," which is missing a vav. And why? Because Abraham was weighing out the silver to Ephron, while Ephron was stealing from the coins; and for this reason it is missing a vav.

"Current with the merchant." That he gave him money of the kind that all the merchants would carry about, and there was lacking from its value not a single perutah.

"And the field of Ephron rose up" (Genesis 23:17). It had a rising up, for it went out from the hand of a commoner and came into the hand of a king. Another interpretation: "And the field of Ephron rose up" — that it was higher than the ground that was around it by about half a cubit, so that it would be distinguishable from the other fields. "Ephron" is written deficient of a vav, because he took from Abraham all those centenaria; and concerning him it is said, "He that hastens to be rich is a man of an evil eye, and knows not that want shall come upon him" (Proverbs 28:22) — for one letter was diminished from his name.

"To Abraham as a possession." For he made for himself a deed, and the children of Heth signed the document that Abraham wrote, so that his children would not inherit Jebus, as it is said, "And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, 'You shall not come here'" (1 Chronicles 11:5), because of the oath that Abraham made to them; and they sealed the oath with "Tzalmon Noach Shet." Eight times are the children of Heth written in this passage, and why? Because of the kindness they did with Abraham; and therefore "Heth" is called eight times. "Among all who came in at the gate of his city." This teaches that they all sat in mourning on behalf of the righteous woman.