King David was sick and bedridden for thirteen years. His enemies waited. "When will he die and his name perish?" (Psalm 41:6). The midrash reports that seven sheep were laid beside him daily, trying to restore his warmth — and it wasn't enough. He groaned in his psalms: "All night I drench my bed with tears; I soak my couch with weeping" (Psalm 6:7). This was not saintly detachment. This was a man suffering in full.
The Binding of Isaac enters this passage because the rabbis saw in David's suffering a parallel structure: the righteous are tested in proportion to their capacity to bear it. Abraham had been tested thirteen times before the binding — and the binding was the culmination, the test that proved everything. David's thirteen years of illness were their own ordeal, and at the end of it, he begged for mercy and was heard. Isaiah's promise applied: "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles" (Isaiah 40:31).
The connection the rabbis make is about the structure of faith under pressure. Both Abraham and David were at the end of their physical resources when the rescue came. The Binding was not resolved because Abraham was strong enough to endure it — it was resolved because he trusted beyond his strength. David's recovery was not the result of medical success. It came when he turned back to prayer. The eagle's flight is not about power. It is about letting the wind carry you when your own wings have given out.
Chapter 37: Torah [1] "These are the generations of Isaac" (Genesis 25:19). This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said across the river, "Come and see how righteous these sons are, they are a great gift. How great was the gift that God gave to Abraham when He said, "I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). And because he had no son, he began to ask God, "How will I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8). "What benefit have you given me, seeing I have no children?" (Genesis 15:2). As it says, "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I am childless?" (Genesis 15:2). God said to him, "I will give you," as it is said, "I cause those who love me to inherit substance" (Proverbs 8:21), and it is also written, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children" (Proverbs 13:22). Therefore, He gave him the great gift of Isaac, as it is said, "And I will give him Isaac" (Joshua 24:3). And why did Abraham ask, "What will you give me?" It was not because he doubted God's ability to provide, but because he was an astrologer and saw that he would not have children, neither he nor Sarah, and all the astrologers agreed. He asked God, "Is it possible for me to have children?" because even though everyone said it was impossible, he didn't believe it until he saw for himself in the stars. God said to him, "Stop looking at these things and leave this state of mind," as it is said, "And He brought him forth abroad" (Genesis 15:5). When they told Abraham that he would not have children and Sarah would not give birth, as it is written, "And Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children" (Genesis 16:1), he asked, "When will you give me children?" And God said to him, "Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but Abraham," as it is written, "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham" (Genesis 17:5). God said to him, "Abram cannot have children, but Abraham can," and Sarah gave birth, as it is written, "And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son" (Genesis 21:2). Therefore, it is said, "These are the generations of Isaac." [2] Another interpretation: "And these are the generations of Isaac. The crown of the elders are the children's children, and the glory of children are their fathers. (Proverbs 17:6) There are good children who give a crown to their fathers, and there are wicked children who take the crown from their father, as it says, "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw..." (Genesis 9:22). But Shem and Japheth covered the nakedness of their father. (Genesis 9:23) Ishmael serves idols, but Isaac, who was the burnt offering of the Lord, gave a crown to his father. These are the generations of Isaac. Reuben, unstable as water... (Genesis 49:4) and Joseph hurried and went up to his father... (Genesis 50:4). Absalom said, "I will strike down the king alone." (2 Samuel 17:1) But Solomon rode on his own mule... (1 Kings 1:33) Hezekiah stood and added to the work, as it says, "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done." (2 Kings 18:3) Be the crown of the elders, children's children. These are the generations of Isaac." [3] Another interpretation: "These are the generations of Isaac. They shall not labor in vain or give birth to children for terror, for they are the blessed seed of the Lord (Isaiah 65:23). 'They shall not labor in vain' refers to Abraham and Sarah who worked hard until they were blessed with Isaac, and 'they shall not give birth to children for terror' means that if Ishmael had been left with them, he would have killed Isaac, as it says, 'And Sarah saw' (Genesis 21:9). There is no 'mocking' except for someone who seeks to kill, as Solomon explains, 'Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I am only joking" (Proverbs 26:18-19). The Lord said, 'If he kills him, the foundations of the world will collapse.' Sarah began by saying, 'Cast out this slave woman with her son' (Genesis 21:10), and these are the generations of Isaac." [4] Another interpretation: These are the generations of Isaac. But haven't we already heard "These are the generations of Ishmael" (Genesis 25:12)? Here we have "These are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham". One might think that they are similar, God forbid, but "the Lord knows the way of the righteous" (Psalm 1:6). This can be compared to a donkey's foal that fell into a rose oil, and although its smell became pleasant from the rose oil, in the end it returns to its previous state. So too with the donkey's foal, which is the Egyptian handmaid, as it is written "Their flesh is the flesh of donkeys" (Ezekiel 23:20), she cleaved to Abraham and bore Ishmael, and it is written "These are the generations of Ishmael, son of Abraham." But in the end, she returned to her previous state, as it is written "And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt" (Genesis 21:21), who was the Egyptian handmaid. However, look at what Abraham commanded for him, that his servant Eliezer should not take a wife for him from the daughters of Canaan, but rather from Abraham's family (Genesis 24:38). Therefore, "These are the generations of Isaac" and so on, but "Ishmael, these are the generations of Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maidservant, bore to Abraham" (Genesis 25:12). [5] Another interpretation: "And these are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham." Abraham begot Isaac. And do I not know that Abraham begot Isaac? Rabbi Chanina Rabba gave a parable: It is like a dove that was pursued by falcons and crows. It fled from them and entered and sat on a nest, and people said, "These eggs are from the dove." And this one said, "They are from the crow." One [wise man] said to them, "As long as they are eggs, it is not known whether they are from the crow or from the dove. But when they hatch and produce offspring, you will know who they are from." Similarly, Sarah was moved many times. By Pharaoh and by Abimelech, they began to say, "She was not impregnated by anyone other than Pharaoh" or "She was not impregnated by anyone other than Abimelech." God said to them: "You will be silenced with shame's silence, you liars" (Psalm 31:19). They waited until she gave birth, and then they saw to whom he resembled. Immediately, God commanded the angel in charge of the form of the fetus not to form him to resemble his mother, but to form him to resemble his father, so that everyone would know that he was only from his father. The fetus immediately came out resembling his father. Therefore, it is said, "And these are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham" [Abraham begot Isaac]. [Talmud Bavli, Yevamot 64a:5-6]
