How Abraham Was First With Old Age and Trials

Abraham was the first with old age, with sufferings, with the inn, and with the legatum (bequest). With old age—for the father and the son would enter a city, and no one knew whom to honor. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life, with you I begin, as it is said, "And Abraham was old" (Genesis 24:1). And with sufferings—from where? Abraham said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, had You not granted ease to the generation of the Flood, they would not have provoked You to anger; and had You brought sufferings upon them, they would not have rebelled against You. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: With you I begin, that one be afflicted through his son, as it is said, "And the child grew and was weaned" (Genesis 21:8). Rabbi Oshaya and Rabbi Avin differed: one said that he was weaned from the sufferings, and one said that he was weaned from the evil inclination to the good inclination. And with the inn—as it is written, "And he planted an eshel in Beersheba" (Genesis 21:33); this is an inn. And with the legatum—that is, a gift—from where? As it is said, "But to the sons of the concubines whom Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts" (Genesis 25:6).