The Lord Remembered Sarah and the Keys of the Womb

"And the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken" (Genesis 21:1). Let our master teach us: what is the wronging that they said one may not wrong his fellow? Thus our masters taught: one may not say, how much is this object worth, when he does not intend to buy. And if he is a penitent, one may not say to him, remember your former deeds. And if he is a convert, one may not say to him, remember your deeds and the deeds of your fathers (Mishnah Bava Metzia 4:10). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: it is enough that you are like Me, as it were. When I created My world I did not seek to wrong any creature, and I did not publicize which tree it was that the first man ate from and died. What tree was it? Rabbi Meir said it was wheat. Rabbi Yose said it was a fig. Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Ilai said it was grapes. Rabbi Abba of Acco said it was a citron, "the fruit of a goodly tree" (Leviticus 23:40). Rabbi Azariah and Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: He did not reveal it and will not reveal it, so that people would not say, this tree brought death to the world. And so it says, "and you shall kill the animal" (Leviticus 20:15): if the woman sinned, what did the animal sin? Rather, so that people would not see it and say, this is the one through whom so-and-so was stoned. They would shame the woman, and whoever shames his fellow is punished. You find that Sarah wronged herself and received her reward, for she said, "behold, the LORD has restrained me from bearing" (Genesis 16:2). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: you wronged yourself; by your life, you say "the LORD has restrained me" — with that same language I will remember you. From where? From what we read in this matter, "and the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said." "And the LORD remembered Sarah." Thus Rabbi Tanchuma opened: this is what the holy spirit said through David king of Israel, "Forever, O LORD, Your word stands firm in the heavens" (Psalms 119:89). Even Solomon said, "You have spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled with Your hand" (1 Kings 8:24). You said to my father, behold a son shall be born to you, and Solomon shall be his name, and peace and quiet shall be in his days (1 Chronicles 22:9); and so it was, "and Judah and Israel dwelt in safety" (1 Kings 5:5). You said to him, and he shall build a house for My name; and so it was, "and Solomon built the house" (1 Kings 6:14). You said to Abraham, "Look now toward heaven and count the stars; so shall your seed be" (Genesis 15:5); and so it was, as Moses says to them, "behold, you are this day as the stars of heaven" (Deuteronomy 1:10). You said to him, "I will surely return to you at the time of life, and behold a son for Sarah your wife" (Genesis 18:10); and not only what You said, but more, You did, "and the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said." "And the LORD remembered Sarah." Rabbi Eliezer said: wherever it says "and the LORD," it means He and His court, for the angels were saying to Him, Master of the universe, it is just that Abraham be remembered with a child, for if You do not remember him now, Your Torah, as it were, would be falsified. How so? Rabbi Yehudah the Levite said in the name of Rabbi Shalom: Abraham was seventy years old when the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with him at the covenant between the pieces and decreed upon him, "know surely that your seed shall be a stranger" (Genesis 15:13), from when you have offspring your children will be enslaved four hundred years. And the Torah preceded the creation of the world, and it is written in it, "and the dwelling of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years" (Exodus 12:40). And now Abraham is a hundred years old; if You do not remember him now You falsify Your Torah and delay the end. Therefore it is just that he be remembered, "and the LORD remembered." Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered." What is written above this matter? "And the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven" (Genesis 19:24) — the destruction of Sodom. When the angels came they brought out Lot and his two daughters. Lot's daughters thought perhaps He had destroyed the whole world as in the generation of the flood, so they gave their father drink and lay with him and conceived from him, as it is written, "and they made their father drink" (Genesis 19:33). Rabbi Eleazar said: although it is not the way of a woman to conceive from a first union, these mastered themselves and conceived from the first union; and they did not intend to act lewdly with their father, but said, the Holy One, blessed be He, created man only for fruitfulness, and now the world is destroyed as in the flood; how shall it endure? He surely spared us only to perpetuate it through us. They did not know that only Sodom was destroyed, but they knew the angels had said, "we are about to destroy this place" (Genesis 19:13). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I do not withhold the reward of any creature; although the daughters of Lot did not think a worthy thought, yet I know hearts, "I the LORD search the heart and test the kidneys" (Jeremiah 17:10). Therefore when He came to distance them, He distanced the male Ammonite but not the female Ammonite, the male Moabite but not the female Moabite. The angels said, Master of the universe, these went and lay with their father in a single union and raised up bastards in the world, and this righteous man grieves all these years; it is just that he be remembered. "And the LORD remembered." Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered." What is written above? The destruction of Sodom. While Sodom existed, Abraham dwelt in those lands and would receive the passersby and travelers; and once it was destroyed he arose and journeyed from those lands and went to the land of the Philistines, as it is said, "and Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev" (Genesis 20:1). "And Abimelech king of the Philistines sent" (Genesis 20:2): once he sent and seized Sarah, the Holy One, blessed be He, sprang upon him, "and God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night" (Genesis 20:3). Rabbi Yochanan said: this is one of the places where the pure one defiled himself; when he came to approach her, immediately He revealed Himself to him and said, "you are a dead man because of the woman, for she is married to a husband" (Genesis 20:3). What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do to him? He dried up all his fountains and those of his household and of all the places, "for the LORD had closed up tight every womb" (Genesis 20:18). Rabbi Eleazar taught: both the great and the small, the men and the women and the servants — the Holy One, blessed be He, sealed their openings; not one of them passed water, nor relieved himself, nor brought moisture from his nostrils nor a tear from his eyes; all were closed and sealed and covered. And all this why? "Because of Sarah, the wife of Abraham" (Genesis 20:18), to clear Sarah. How so? One of them would stand with his fellow in the morning and say, do you not know what happened to me this night, such and such befell me; and the other would say, I too the same; and they would converse with one another and say, heaven forbid, one more night and we die. How was Sarah cleared? They would say back and forth, if what was distant from her caused us this, what happened to the one who lay beside him, you must ask what judgments were done to him. Thus "for the LORD had closed up tight... because of Sarah." He said to him, "you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken" (Genesis 20:3). Abimelech said, Master of the universe, the hidden and the revealed are open before You, and I did not recognize her, that You should slay me; "and Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, will You slay also a righteous nation" (Genesis 20:4)? Another interpretation: "will You slay a nation though righteous" — he said, even though I am a gentile, I fear Heaven. Another interpretation: he said, if You slay me, a gentile, will You also slay a righteous one? Even the generation of the flood and the generation of the dispersion were righteous; did You then judge them without warning? "Will You slay a nation though righteous?" Another interpretation: he said, if You slay a gentile, will You also slay a righteous man? If You slay Abimelech, slay Abraham too. Why? Rabbi Berekhiah the priest said in the name of Rabbi: I asked him, who is this with you, and he said, she is my sister; I went back and asked her, are you his wife, and she said, no, I am his sister; even so I asked the members of his household, and they said, she is his sister. He himself told me "she is my sister," and she too said "he is my brother"; "in the integrity of my heart I have done this" (Genesis 20:5). And not she alone but the members of his household too, "in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this" (Genesis 20:5). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "I also know that you did this in the integrity of your heart" (Genesis 20:6), and it is not for you to praise yourself, "and I also withheld you from sinning against Me" (Genesis 20:6). Rabbi Levi said: this is like a man riding a horse, and a child cast before him; the horse ran on and was about to trample the boy, and the man seized the reins and the horse halted. They all began praising the horse. The man said to them: had it not been for me who seized the reins, would he be alive? So the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "and I also withheld you from sinning against Me; now therefore restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet" (Genesis 20:7). Immediately Abimelech rose early and restored her and honored Abraham and asked of him that he pray for him that they be relieved; and Abraham prayed and they were all healed of their closure. And not only that, but all the members of Abimelech's household conceived and bore males, as it is said, "and Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his maidservants, and they bore children" (Genesis 20:17). This is like a friend of the king whose ship was seized for forced service for many years. They said to him, your friend's ship is seized, and he did not trouble to free it; and now he frees others' and not his own. It is fitting that his own be freed. So when Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his wife and they conceived and bore, the angels rose crying out and saying, Master of the universe, Sarah was barren all these years and Abimelech's wife was barren, and now Abraham prayed and Abimelech's wife was remembered; and these were remembered while Sarah is barren? It is just that she too be remembered. Thus well did Rabbi Eliezer expound: wherever it says "and the LORD" it means He and His court. "And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants and they bore children" (Genesis 20:17); immediately "and the LORD remembered Sarah." Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered Sarah." Rabbi Yehudah says: He remembered Sarah with a son, "and the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken" with milk. Rabbi Nechemiah says: "and the LORD remembered Sarah" with a son; what is "and the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken"? That He restored her to her youth. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: "and the LORD remembered Sarah" with a son; "and the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken," that she had no womb-organ and He made her a womb-organ. Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered Sarah." Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Chanin in the name of Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Yitzchak: all the barren women in the world were remembered with Sarah and conceived with her, and when she gave birth they all gave birth with her. That is why Sarah says, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me" (Genesis 21:6). Reuben rejoices and Simeon is busy with his hoe in the field — what joy has he? Rather, all the barren women in the world were remembered with her. And not only this, but when Sarah gave birth, every blind person in the world was given sight, every lame person was made whole, every mute was opened, every fool was healed. This is like a king who had a friend, and joy reached him; the king wished to show how honored his friend was to him, and he gave a command that the prisons be opened. From where do you derive this? It is written, "and Abraham made a great feast" (Genesis 21:8); by a verbal analogy, it is written here "a great feast" and it is written there, "and the king made a great feast" (Esther 2:18). Just as the "great feast" mentioned there — "and he made a release for the provinces" (Esther 2:18), he opened the prisons — so here every fool and blind and mute in the world was healed. Rabbi Chanina ben Levi said: a thing greater and more sublime than this, that on the very day Isaac was born the Holy One, blessed be He, increased the light of the sun's sphere forty-eight times over what it had; and because this world was yours and others', He stored it away; when your world comes He will restore it to you, and the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold, as the light of the seven days (Isaiah 30:26), and it shall shine only for you, "and for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 3:20). Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered Sarah." This is what Scripture says, "and all the nations shall know that I am the LORD; I have built the ruined places, I have planted the desolate; I the LORD have spoken and done it" (Ezekiel 36:36). Because the rulers, male and female, would shame Sarah and call her barren, He says of them, I the LORD have built the ruined — this is Abraham and Sarah who were ruined, "and Abraham and Sarah were old" (Genesis 18:11); I have planted the desolate — for her who said, "after I have grown old shall I have pleasure" (Genesis 18:12); I the LORD have spoken and done it, "and the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken." Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered Sarah." This is what Scripture says, "though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines... yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation" (Habakkuk 3:17-18). "Though the fig tree" — "like the first fruit on the fig tree in its beginning" (Hosea 9:10), this is Abraham; "and there is no fruit on the vines," this is Sarah, "and Abraham and Sarah were old" (Genesis 18:11). "The labor of the olive fails," "it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women" (Genesis 18:11); "and the fields yield no food," "after I have grown old shall I have pleasure" (Genesis 18:12); "the flock is cut off from the fold," "shall a child be born to one a hundred years old" (Genesis 17:17); "and there is no herd in the stalls," "and Sarah was barren" (Genesis 11:30); "yet I will exult in the LORD," in what He promised me through the angels, "but Sarah your wife" (Genesis 17:19); and what He promised me He did at once, "and the LORD remembered Sarah." Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered Sarah." This is what Scripture says, "behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor uphold the hand of evildoers" (Job 8:20). This is Abimelech and all his household, "for the LORD had closed up tight every womb" (Genesis 20:18), for the Holy One, blessed be He, closed the eyes of his whole household so they brought forth no tears, and their ears ceased from hearing, of all his household and his flock and his herd and his beasts. Could this be on account of Abraham alone? Scripture teaches, "because of Sarah, wife of Abraham" (Genesis 20:18). "Two are better than one, for they have a good reward" (Ecclesiastes 4:9). So "the LORD remembered Sarah," and therefore He does not uphold the hand of evildoers but at once "and God healed" (Genesis 20:17), "and the LORD remembered Sarah." Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered Sarah." Three keys the Holy One, blessed be He, entrusted to no creature, not to an angel, not to a seraph, not to a host, but they are held in His hand. The key of rain, as it is said, "the LORD will open for you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season" (Deuteronomy 28:12). The key of the resurrection of the dead, "behold, I will open your graves" (Ezekiel 37:12). And the key of the womb, "and the LORD remembered Sarah," and so it says, "and God remembered Rachel and opened her womb" (Genesis 30:22). Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered." This is what Scripture says, "those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful song" (Psalms 126:5). This is Abraham who wept and pleaded before the Holy One, blessed be He, "behold, to me You have given no seed" (Genesis 15:3); immediately he was given good tidings of children, "for through Isaac shall seed be called to you" (Genesis 21:12). Thus "they shall reap with joyful song." "And the LORD remembered." There are many remembered: some who were charged and did not act, and some who were charged and acted. I charged the first man and he did not act, "and of the tree of knowledge you shall not eat" (Genesis 2:17), and he ate, "of the tree which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat of it" (Genesis 3:17). I charged the angel of death and he acted; I decreed upon him "for dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19), and so it was, "and all the days of Adam that he lived... and he died" (Genesis 5:5). I charged the generation of Enosh and they did not act but provoked Me, "then men began to call upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 4:26). I charged the ocean and it acted, "He who calls to the waters of the sea and pours them out" (Amos 5:8). I charged the generation of the flood and they did not act but said, we have no need to serve Him, "and they said to God, depart from us" (Job 21:14). I charged the windows and the deep and they acted, "all the fountains of the great deep burst forth" (Genesis 7:11). I charged the generation of the tower and they did not act but said, "come, let us build us a city" (Genesis 11:4). I charged the tongues and they acted, "for there the LORD confounded the language of all the earth" (Genesis 11:9). I charged the Sodomites and they did not act but persisted in their measure, "and the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners" (Genesis 13:13). I charged fire and brimstone and they acted, "and the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah fire and brimstone" (Genesis 19:24). I charged Abraham and he acted, "and Abram went as the LORD God had spoken" (Genesis 12:4); therefore I remembered him and his household, to give them a reward, "and the LORD remembered Sarah." Another interpretation. "And the LORD remembered." There is a remembering for blessing, "and from the time he made him overseer... the LORD blessed the Egyptian... and the blessing of the LORD was" (Genesis 39:5). There is a remembering of the gathering of bones, "God will surely remember you, and you shall carry up my bones" (Genesis 50:25). There is a remembering of redemption, "I have surely remembered you" (Exodus 3:16). There is a remembering of faith, "and the people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had remembered" (Exodus 4:31). There is a remembering of the spirit, "may the LORD, the God of the spirits" (Numbers 27:16). There is a remembering of counting, "these are the numbered ones whom he numbered" (Numbers 1:44). There is a remembering of war, "I have remembered what Amalek did to you" (1 Samuel 15:2). There is a remembering of oppressors, "and I will punish all his oppressors" (Jeremiah 30:20). There is a remembering of the uncircumcised, "and I will punish all the circumcised in their uncircumcision" (Jeremiah 9:24). There is a remembering of those who wear mixed cloth, "and I will punish the officials... and all who wear foreign garments" (Zephaniah 1:8). There is a remembering to exact payment from idolatry, "and I will punish Bel in Babylon" (Jeremiah 51:44). There is a remembering over the flocks, "My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats, for the LORD of hosts has remembered His flock" (Zechariah 10:3). There is a remembering of plenty, "for the LORD had remembered His people to give them bread" (Ruth 1:6). There is a remembering of salvation, "remember me, O LORD, with the favor You bear Your people; visit me with Your salvation" (Psalms 106:4). There is a remembering of life, "You granted me life and steadfast love, and Your visitation has preserved my spirit" (Job 10:12). There is a remembering of the earth, "You visit the earth and water it" (Psalms 65:10). There is a remembering of the angels, "the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high" (Isaiah 24:21). There is a remembering of Leviathan, "the LORD will punish with His hard sword... Leviathan the fleeing serpent" (Isaiah 27:1). There is a remembering of the nations, "and You, O LORD God of hosts, God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations" (Psalms 59:6). And there is a remembering of children, "and the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said."