Abimelech

It will have a form of godliness, but it will have no power.

God came to a man called Abimelech the dream and said, you are a dead man.

Because this woman is the wife of a man and is a prophet.

Now, but I didn't touch her.

And therefore, Avi Melech, the king of Gerar, sends and takes Sarah from Avraham to bring her to his palace.

God comes to Avimelech in a dream that night.

And he tells him, God in a prophetic dream tells Avimelech, this lady that you're about to sleep with, you're going to die if you touch her because she's married.

Avimelech did not come close to her.

And he says to God, Would you kill the leader of an innocent nation even though he's righteous and did nothing wrong? He told me she was his sister.

And she also agreed that he's my brother.

It was with an innocent heart and clean hands that I did this.

God answers Avimelech back in this prophetic dream.

Otherwise, it would have killed him.

And what does he tell Avimelech when...

Avimelech confronts him, and I understand, like, why did you lie to me? So first he says, well, I didn't actually lie to you.

She actually is my sister.

Like, well, she explains because she was his niece, but the Talmud rules that someone's grandchild is like their child, so she's like the child of my father, and therefore she's like my sister.

And if we go back to the Pasuk, as we know, it says, the first four words in the sentence, in the verse, it says, so obviously we need to ask ourselves, okay, so what is the story that preceded the story of the Akedah? It says, here we should apply the same ruling, which is, Says the Rashbam, I will tell you exactly what's the connection between the Akedah and the story that was before.

What was the story before? The story before was that Avimelech, who was the king of Plishtim, came to Avraham.

He came with his chief of staff and with a very honorable delegation.

And he basically says to Avraham, look, I know that you are very successful.

I know that God is with you.

I would like to create a covenant with you.

And Avimelech and Avraham basically signed a covenant that basically secured Avimelech's descendants for many generations.

Basically, Avraham promised Avimelech that he will not touch him and his descendants will not harm his descendants for generations to come.

He lived in the Paran wilderness, and his mother got him a wife from Egypt.

At about the same time, Abimelech and the captain of his troops, Phicol, what is that?

Oh, whatever

you want to call it.

Swear that you'll treat me and my land as well as I've treated you.

Abraham said, I swear it.

At the same time, Abraham confronted Abimelech over the matter of the well of water that Abimelech's servants had taken.

Abimelech said, I have no idea who did this.

And that is really just before the Akedah, it's in the end of Perikav Aleph, Hosek Lamed Gimel.

So much has happened, of course we'll need to go back and consider some of the episodes in the interim, but we have, he's had his meeting with Abimelech, second meeting, and then, And he plants an Eshel.

What is an Eshel? Well, Rashi here gives two explanations.

And Rashi cites them in the name of Rav and Shmuel, the famous sages of the Talmud.

We can't believe this.

And again, the people are afflicted, and here Avraham gets up in the morning, and Avimelech calls to him again, and he asks Avraham, why did you do this? Why did you hide your wife from me? Why did you say she was my sister? And he says, I was afraid you were going to kill me.

And we have, again, Avi Melech making a treaty with Abram, and Avi Melech becomes healed, and that is the story that ends there.

And then we have in Parakop Aleph, HaShem palkada Sarah kasher diber, HaShem remembers Sarah as he said, and she gives birth to Yitzchak Avinu.

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister.

And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night, and said to him, Behold, thou shalt die because of the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife.

Now Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation? Said he not himself unto me, she is my sister? And she, even she herself said, he is my brother.

In the simplicity of my heart, in the innocency of my hands, have I done this.

And God said unto him in the dream, I know that in the simplicity of thy heart thou hast done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against me.

And if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die.

thou and all that are thine.