Sarah Hidden in a Box and Pharaoh Struck at Her Word

What is written above concerning this matter? "And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth... to the land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1). "To such-and-such a land" is not written here, but rather "to the land that I will show you." And Abraham went on traveling until he came to the land of Israel. May the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, be blessed! He sought to test the righteous one and to make known his good deeds; immediately a famine came upon his heels. When he encountered the famine, he said to Sarah his wife: Behold, there is a famine here. Our Rabbis said: There was never a famine in the world more severe than that one. Abraham said to Sarah: This Egypt, it is good to dwell in, since the famine has come, and provision is found there, and meat is plentiful; let us go there. At that hour they went down to Egypt. When they reached the gates of Egypt, Abraham said to Sarah: My daughter, Egypt is a place of harlotry, as it is said, "whose flesh is the flesh of asses" (Ezekiel 23:20). Rather, let us put you in a box and lock it before you. And so he did. When they reached the gates of Egypt, the customs officers said to him: What are you carrying in the box? He said to them: Beans. They said: No, it is nothing but peppers; give us the duty for peppers. He said to them: I will give it. They said to him: It is not so, rather this box is full of gold coins. He said to them: I will give you the duty for gold coins. When they saw that whatever they said he accepted upon himself, they said: Were there not some precious thing in his hand, we would not be raising the price for him this way and he accepting. At that hour they said to him: You shall not move from here until you open the box. And he said to them: It is upon me to give whatever you ask, only do not open the box. Even so, they stood over him and opened the box against his will, and they found Sarah. When they saw her, they said: For one such as this, it is not fitting that any but the king should rule over her. Immediately they took her and brought her to Pharaoh, and they brought her into his palace. When Abraham saw that they had taken her and brought her to Pharaoh, Abraham began to weep. She too said: Master of the World, Abraham came with You under a promise, because You said to him, "And I will bless those who bless you" (Genesis 12:3), and I knew nothing at all; only, since he told me that You had said to him "Go forth," I believed Your words. And now I am left alone, away from my father, from my mother, and from my husband; this wicked one comes to abuse me. Act for the sake of Your great Name, and for the sake of our trust in Your words. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: By your life, no evil thing shall touch you, as it is said, "No harm shall befall the righteous, but the wicked are filled with evil" (Proverbs 12:21). And Pharaoh and his house, I will make of them an example, as it is written, "And the Lord struck Pharaoh with great plagues, and his house, on account of Sarai" (Genesis 12:17). At that hour an angel came down from heaven with a rod in his hand. When Pharaoh came to slip off her sandal, he would strike him with his hand; when he came to touch her garments, he would strike him. And the angel would take counsel with Sarah upon each and every blow: if she said he should be struck, he was struck; and when she said, "Wait for him until his spirit returns," the angel would wait for him, as it is said, "on account of Sarai." What is "on account of Sarai" (al devar Sarai)? That it does not say "concerning the affair of," nor "concerning the matters of," nor "for the sake of," nor "because of," but rather "at the word of Sarai" — that if she said he should be struck, he was struck, and if not, he was not struck. Rabbi Yehudah ha-Levi son of Rabbi Shalom said: The Holy One, blessed be He, did not give the wicked one even the chance to occupy himself with the righteous woman. Our Rabbis said: When he came to slip off her sandal, leprosy immediately came upon him; and his prefects too were stricken with him, and the princes too, and the servants too, and his bed too, and the walls too were stricken with him, as it is said, "And the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house" — why? "On account of Sarai, Abram's wife" (Genesis 12:17).