Commentary for Genesis 15:15

ואתה תבוא BUT THOU SHALT COME etc. Thou shalt not behold all this.

AND THOU SHALT COME TO THY FATHERS IN PEACE. And thou shalt not behold at this. Thus the language of Rashi.
This is not correct according to Rashi’s own interpretation, namely, that the decree, thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own,³²³Above, Verse 13. took effect as soon as Abraham had a child. Thus, soon after Isaac was born it states, And Abraham sojourned (‘vayagar’) in the land of the Philistines;³²⁴Further, 21:34. The word vayagar has the same root letters as geir (stranger), thus suggesting that Abraham lived as a “stranger” in a land which was not his own. And Isaac sojourned in Gerar.³²⁵Ibid., 26:6. The verse however states, vayeshev (and he “dwelled”), and not vayagar. In Rashi a different verse is quoted: Sojourn (‘gur’) in this land. (Ibid., Verse 3.) Now gur has the same root as vayagar. (See preceding note.) Now if so, Abraham was also included in the decree! But the meaning of the verse, And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace, is that “no punishment will come to you from Me even though I decree on your children punishments of servitude and affliction.”

ואתה תבא אל אבותיך בשלום. As for you yourself, you will join your forefathers in peace. Why did the Torah interrupt the promises made to Abraham's descendants with a promise to Abraham personally? Even though G'd wanted to reassure Abraham that he personally would not experience the part of the decree connected with enslavement and oppression, this could have been stated after G'd had concluded telling him which generation would experience the redemption! The meaning would have been clear since the promise was adjoining the promise that Israel would experience redemption! Besides, why did the Torah have to repeat itself, stressing: a) "in peace," and b) "in a ripe old age?" Would it not have sufficed to promise Abraham that he would die in a ripe old age before the enslavement of his descendants would commence? The promise of death in a ripe old age would have implied that Ishmael would become a penitent, as pointed out by Bereshit Rabbah 38,12.

ואתה תבא אל אבותיך בשלום, you will die in peace, i.e. you will not witness in your lifetime any of the upsetting developments of which I have spoken to you. As far as the word אבותיך is concerned, this is a common expression used by most people as a metaphor making death sound less negative. Expressions such as ויאסף אל עמיו, "he was gathered in to his people" in Genesis 49,33, or והאסף אל עמיך, "be gathered in to your people" in Deuteronomy 32,50 all express similar sentiments. Some commentators (quoted by Rashi) claim that the wording proves that Terach, Avraham's father had discarded idolatry and accepted monotheism prior to his own death. This is problematic, seeing that we find in Chronicles II 34,28 that kind Yoshiyahu is told by G'd הנני אוסיפך אל אבותיך, and we know that his father Amon died as an unrepentant sinner. תקבר בשיבה טובה, you will see sons and grandsons before you die.

ואתה תבא אל אבותיך בשלום, “but you will die and join your fathers in peace (before all this will happen.)” Rashi says that the meaning is that Avraham will not experience fulfillment of the prophecy or the decree in his lifetime. Nachmanides disagrees, seeing that Avraham has been told specifically that you will be a stranger,” a condition which will be fulfilled the moment Yitzchok was born. The Torah even refers to the fact that when he traveled to the land of the Philistines, ויגר אברהם בארץ פלשתים ימים רבים “Avraham sojourned (was an alien) in the land of the Philistines for many years.” (21,34) It follows that he himself already experienced part of the decree becoming fulfilled. Accordingly, the meaning of our verse is that he would join his forefathers immediately after death without having to experience punishment for any sins committed and not yet forgiven.

And will, therefore, not witness all this. I.e., the enslavement and the oppression. But being a foreigner applied to Avraham as well, since the 400 years began immediately upon Yitzchok’s birth, as Rashi said on v. 13.

אל אבותיך UNTO THY FATHERS — His father was an idolator and yet it (the text) announced to him that he (Abraham) would go to him! But this teaches you that Terah repented of his evil ways (Genesis Rabbah 30:4).

His father was an idol-worshipper and He foretells that he will join him ... This is a statement, not a rhetorical question. For Rashi does not say afterwards, “Rather, this teaches you ... (Maharshal)

Righteous people, and especially our patriarchs, were always concerned with losing part of the reward they had stored up for use in the Hereafter through some act of kindness G'd would perform for them in this world. According to Bereshit Rabbah 44,4 Abraham worried that he might have caused the death of an innocent person in his war against the four kings and that as a result he had forfeited some of his eternal reward. G'd therefore reassured him by saying in 15,1: "Do not worry, your reward will be great." In view of the concern that Abraham displayed then it is reasonable to assume that he was similarly worried whether the eventual redemption from Egypt would not use up too many merits if it were accompanied by extraneous perks such as the רכוש גדול, acquisition of material wealth that would accompany it. What troubled Abraham was that clearly G'd would have to perform miracles in order to free his enslaved descendants when the time came. G'd wanted to put his mind at rest immediately; this is why He interrupted the prediction of what was going to happen by promising Abraham that his peace of mind would not be disturbed. The promise of שלום, refers to Abraham's peace of mind in the Hereafter, whereas the שיבה טובה, ripe old age, refers to his concerns about life on earth.

תקבר בשיבה טובה THOU SHALT BE BURIED IN A GOOD OLD AGE — He announced to him that Ishmael would repent during his (Abraham’s) life-time (Genesis Rabbah 38:12). Esau, too, did, not become degenerate during Abraham’s life-time. It was just for this reason (in order that he might not witness Esau’s evil conduct) that Abraham died five years before his proper time, for the very day when he died Esau rebelled against God (Genesis Rabbah 63:12).

And on that very day that Eisav rebelled. As it is written (25:29), “When Eisav came in from the field, exhausted,” on which Chazal comment (Bereishis Rabbah 63:12): “[Exhausted] as a result of committing murder.” And that was the day Avraham died. (Kitzur Mizrachi)