Génesis 9:20 Midrash: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Bamidbar Rabbah & Midrash Tanchuma

[(Gen. 24:1:) NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD.] This text is related (to Prov. 31:10): WHO CAN FIND A GALLANT WIFE?¹¹Cf. Tanh., Gen. 4:4. About whom were the words spoken? < They were spoken about Sarah > since it is written above (in Gen. 23:2): AND ABRAHAM PROCEEDED TO MOURN FOR SARAH AND WEEP FOR HER, < i.e., > he began to weep and eulogize. So he said: When shall I be able to get < another wife > like you?¹²The midrash is interpreting Prov. 32:10ff. as Abraham’s eulogy over Sarah. (Prov. 31:10:) A GALLANT WIFE. This was Sarah, as stated (in Gen. 12:11): SEE HERE NOW, I KNOW THAT YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL-LOOKING WOMAN. (Prov. 31:10, cont.:) HER VALUE WAS FAR BEYOND THAT OF RUBIES, in that you came from afar. Thus it is stated (in Is. 46:11): SUMMONING A BIRD OF PREY FROM THE EAST, MY CONFIDANT FROM A FAR COUNTRY. (Prov. 31:11:) HER HUSBAND'S HEART HAD CONFIDENCE IN HER: This was Sarah, as stated (in Gen. 12:13): [PLEASE SAY YOU ARE MY SISTER] SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH ME BECAUSE OF YOU. (Prov. 31:11, cont.:) AND HE HAS NO LACK OF PROFIT. This refers to our father Abraham, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 13:2): NOW ABRAHAM WAS VERY RICH. (Prov. 31:12:) SHE DID GOOD FOR HIM AND NOT EVIL. This refers to Sarah, since it is stated (in Gen. 12:16): AND BECAUSE OF HER, IT WENT WELL WITH ABRAHAM. (Prov. 31:13:) SHE LOOKS FOR WOOL AND FLAX, < in choosing > between < flaxen > Ishmael and < the pure wool of > Isaac. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 21:9f.): THEN SARAH SAW THE SON OF HAGAR THE EGYPTIAN … AND SAID TO ABRAHAM: CAST OUT THIS SLAVE WOMAN < AND HER SON >…. (Prov. 31:14:) SHE WAS LIKE THE MERCHANT SHIPS, in that she was moving from place to place and from country to country. Like such a vessel which goes from place to place on the sea (according to Prov. 31:14, cont.): SHE BRINGS HER FOOD FROM AFAR. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 20:16): THEN HE SAID UNTO SARAH: SEE, I HAVE GIVEN YOUR BROTHER A THOUSAND SILVER PIECES. (Prov. 31:15:) SHE ALSO AROSE WHILE IT WAS STILL NIGHT AND GAVE FOOD TO HER HOUSEHOLD. When? (In Gen. 22:3:) SO ABRAHAM AROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING…. (Prov. 31:15, cont.:) AND GAVE FOOD TO HER HOUSEHOLD, EVEN A STATUTE¹³The usual translation here is PORTION, but STATUTE better fits the Tanhuma context. FOR HER YOUNG WOMEN. (Gen. 17:26:) ON THAT VERY DAY ABRAHAM WAS CIRCUMCISED…. Now STATUTE can only mean circumcision, as shown (in Ps. 105:10): AND HE ESTABLISHED IT (i.e., Abraham's covenant) FOR JACOB AS A STATUTE, FOR ISRAEL AS AN EVERLASTING COVENANT.¹⁴Of course, Abraham’s EVERLASTING COVENANT meant circumcision. (Prov. 31:16:) SHE SET HER MIND ON A FIELD AND BOUGHT IT. Thus, while she was alive, she had her mind on obtaining the cave of Machpelah AND BOUGHT IT, for here she is buried in it (cf. Gen. 23). (Prov. 31:16, cont.:) FROM THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS SHE PLANTED A VINEYARD, as stated (in Gen. 21:33): AND HE PLANTED A TAMARISK TREE. What is the meaning of AND HE PLANTED? < It is > as you say (in Gen. 9:20): AND HE PLANTED A VINEYARD. (Prov. 31:17:) SHE GIRDED HER LOINS WITH VIGOR, when Abraham said to her (in Gen. 18:6): HURRY UP WITH THREE SEAHS OF FINE MEAL…. (Prov. 31:18:) SHE PERCEIVED THAT HER MERCHANDISE WAS GOOD; AND (in Gen. 21:7) SHE SAID: WHO WOULD HAVE SAID TO ABRAHAM THAT SARAH WOULD SUCKLE CHILDREN? (Prov. 31:18, cont.:) HER LAMP WOULD NOT GO OUT AT NIGHT. When? (In Gen. 14:15:) THEN HE DEPLOYED < HIS FORCES > AGAINST THEM BY NIGHT.¹⁵The verse assumes that Sarah was waiting up for Abraham to return from battle. (Prov. 31:21:) SHE WOULD NOT BE AFRAID FOR HER HOUSEHOLD BECAUSE OF SNOW. When? When the Holy One showed him Gehinnom (with its snow), she foretold that none of her children would go down into its midst. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 15:17): THERE APPEARED A SMOKING OVEN AND A FLAMING TORCH. Why? Because they fulfilled two commandments, (as shown in Prov. 31:21, cont.): BECAUSE ALL HER HOUSEHOLD ARE CLOTHED TWOFOLD,¹⁶The traditional text vocalizes TWOFOLD to mean CRIMSON. i.e., with the Sabbath and with circumcision. (Prov. 31:22:) SHE MADE COVERINGS FOR HERSELF. When? When they said to him (in Gen. 18:9): WHERE IS YOUR WIFE SARAH? He said to her: You have received good news that you are to bear < children >, and from them will go forth high priests who will serve in the Tent of Meeting. (Prov. 31:22, cont.:) HER CLOTHING IS LINEN AND PURPLE, as stated (in Exod. 26:31): < AND YOU SHALL MAKE A VEIL OF > {LINEN} [BLUE] AND PURPLE…. (Prov. 31:23:) HER HUSBAND WAS KNOWN IN THE GATES. When Sarah died, old age sprang upon Abraham and he was called elderly. Now it is stated (in Gen. 23:6, after the report of Sarah's death): HEAR US, MY LORD, YOU ARE A PRINCE OF GOD IN OUR MIDST. Ergo, HER HUSBAND WAS KNOWN IN THE GATES; < and the verse continues > immediately: AS HE SAT AMONG THE ELDERS OF THE LAND. He had become old; therefore, it is stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD.

(Fol. 70) R. Chanan said: "Wine was created for nothing else than to comfort mourners and to compensate through it the wicked for any good thing they do in this world, as it is said (Pr. 31, 6) Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine to those who have an embittered soul." R. Isaac said: "What does the passage (Ib. 23, 31) Do not look for wine when it looketh red, mean? You shall not look for wine which makes the faces of the wicked in this world red, and makes them pale (puts them to shame) in the world to come." Raba said: "You shall not look for wine because its end is bloodshed." R. Cahana raised the following contradiction: It is written (Pr. 104, 15) Y'shamach (waste), and we read Y'samach (rejoice); i.e., If he merits (takes care) it will cause him to rejoice; if not, it will cause him ruin, and this is meant by Raba who said: "Wine and good odor made me wise." R. Amram, the son of R. Simon b. Abba, said: "What does the passage (Ib., ib. 26, 30) Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath quarrels? Who hath complaints? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry late over the wine; they that become sick for mixed drink, mean? When R. Dimi came from Palestine, he said: "It was said in the West that he who tries to explain the passage above from the beginning to the end is correct, and he who tries to explain it from the end to the beginning is also correct. Eubar the Galilean lectured: Thirteen vavs are enumerated concerning wine. (Gen. 9, 20, 25) And Noah, who was a husbandman, began his work and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine, and became drunken, and he uncovered himself within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told it to his two brothers without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon the shoulders of both of them, and went backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned backwards, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and discovered what his younger son had done unto him. And Noah began his work, and planted a vineyard. R. Chisda in the name of Ukba (according to others Mar Ukba in the name of R. Zakkai), said: "The Holy One, praised be He! said to Noah: 'Noah, why didst thou not learn from Adam the First that all the troubles he had were caused by wine?'" This is in accordance with R. Maier, who maintains that the tree of whose fruit Adam partook was a vine; for we are taught in a Baraitha: R. Maier says: "The tree of whose fruit Adam partook was a vine (Ib. b) as there is no other thing which brings lamentation upon man except wine." R. Juda says: "It was wheat, since a child is not able to call mother or father before it has tasted wheat." R. Nechemiah says: "It was a fig tree, for they were mended (restored) by the same thing by which they were impaired (sinned), as it is written (Gen. 3, 7) And they sewed fig leaves together."

(Prov. 31, 1) The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy with which his mother instructed him. R. Jochanan, in the name of R. Simon b. Jochai, said: Infer from this that his motlier tied him to a pillar, saying (Ib.) What hast thou done, O my son? and what, O son of my body? and what, O son of my vows? i.e., O my son — all are aware that thy father was God-fearing, and now [seeing you go in a wrong way], they will say: 'It was caused by his mother.' The son of my body; i.e., all the wives of thy father never saw the king after their pregnancy, but I have troubled myself to see him even after pregnancy. The son of my vows; i.e., all the wives of thy father offered vows [to the sanctuary] praying I wish I would have a son fit for the throne, but I offered vows and asked: I wished to have a son who should be healthy, a bright student, and should be powerful in the Torah, and fit for prophecy." Not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings [is it fitting] to drink wine, not for princes [rosnim] strong drink! She said to him: "What hast thou to do with kings who drink wine, become intoxicated, and say: Lama-El (why do we need God)? And to rosnim (strong drink) i.e., is it right that he to whom all the mysteries of the world are revealed should drink wine to intoxication? According to others: He, to whose door all the princes of the world are hastening, shall he drink wine to intoxication?" R. Isaac said: "Whence do we know that Solomon repented and confessed to his mother? From the following passage (Ib. 30, 2) Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a common man; i.e., I am more brutish (M'lsh) than any man means more than Noah, as it is written (Gen. 9, 20) And Noah, who was (Ish) a husbandman, began his work, and he planted a vineyard. Of a common man (Adam), refers to Adam."