Commentaire sur La Genèse 24:7

'ה אלהי השמים אשר לקחני מבית אבי THE LORD, GOD OF HEAVEN, WHO TOOK ME FROM MY FATHER'S HOUSE — Here he did not say “[The God of heaven] and the God of the earth”, whereas above (v. 3) he said, “And I will make thee swear etc. … [and the God of the earth]’’. But, in effect, Abraham said to him: Now He is the God of heaven and the God of the earth, because I have made him (i. e. His Name) a familiar one in peoples’ mouths: but at the time when He took me from my father’s house He was God of heaven only and not God of the earth for people did not acknowledge Him and His Name was not commonly known on earth (Genesis Rabbah 59:7).

FROM MY FATHER’s HOUSE, ‘UMEI’ERETZ MOLAD’TI’ (AND FROM THE LAND OF MY NATIVITY). Rashi comments: “From my father’s house — from Haran. And from the land of my nativity — from Ur of the Chaldees.” If this is so, the expression, Unto my country and to ‘molad’ti’ thou shalt go,⁸⁷Verse 4 here. must also refer to Ur of the Chaldees. But Heaven forbid that the sacred seed should mix with the sons of Ham,⁸⁸The Chaldees and the entire land of Shinar belonged to the sons of Ham. See Ramban, above, 11:28. the sinful one!⁸⁹Above, 9:22-24. Even if one would say that Abraham had some family there from the seed of Shem, the fact is however that the servant went to Haran as his master said! Now perhaps the Rabbi [Rashi] thinks that eretz molad’to⁸⁷Verse 4 here.(the land of his birth) was Ur of the Chaldees, but molad’ti⁸⁷Verse 4 here. means “my family,” and my country⁸⁷Verse 4 here. means the land wherein he lived. But all these are futile words since here, in the verse before us, he said, And thou shalt take a wife for my son from there, [and according to Rashi, who explained ume’eretz molad’ti, mentioned in this verse, as meaning Ur of the Chaldees, it would follow that Abraham commanded Eliezer to go there to get a wife from the children of Ham]! Moreover, Abraham stayed in the land of Canaan for a longer period than he did in Haran, and so why should Haran be called his country simply because he lived there for some time? Instead, the meaning of the expression, unto my country and to ‘molad’ti’,⁸⁷Verse 4 here. is “unto my country in which I was born,” [namely, Haran in Mesopotamia], for there he stayed and from there his ancestors came, as was already explained.⁹⁰See Ramban above, 11:28 and 12:1. In Bereshith Rabbah we find:⁹¹59:13. “From my father’s house — this is the house of his father. And from the land of my birth — this is the environs [of his father’s house].”
It is possible that unto my country and unto ‘molad’ti’ means “Unto my country and unto my family,” for he did not want a wife to be taken for Isaac even from the people of his country but only from his family. Similarly in the verse, And thou shalt take a wife for my son from there, [the word misham (from there)] alludes to the expression, from my father’s house, mentioned at the beginning of the verse. And so did the servant say when quoting Abraham, And thou shalt take a wife for my son of my family, and of my father’s house,⁹²Further, Verse 40. and again he said, quoting his master. Then shalt thou be clear from my oath when thou comest to my family.⁹³Ibid., Verse 41. These words were said by the servant to honor them so that they would listen to him.

אלוקי השמים, the One Who has brought me here and has granted me seed in this country (whereas previously I had no offspring) He surely would not want me to now bring back my son to the land He made me leave. If He did, what point was there in His making me move here in the first place?

אלוקי השמים...ישלח מלאכו, may it be the will of the Lord that He will send His angel from the celestial regions. Seeing that it was he Who had taken me from there, and all events are under His constant supervision, He will not arrange matters in such a way that my son would be legally obligated to migrate to that land.

אשר לקחני, since He took me out from there to give this land to my offspring, He would surely not want me to bring my son back there.

אלוקי השמים, “the Lord of the heavens.” In this verse Avraham did not refer to G’d as the “Lord of the earth,” according to Rashi, because when Avraham describes the state of mankind when he left Charan, G’d had not had a foothold on earth that could justify us in describing him as “the Lord of the earth.” Nachmanides says simply that the time frame described by Avraham in that verse refers to when he had resided outside the Holy Land, and we have a tradition that anyone residing outside the Holy Land is considered as if he did not have a G’d (protecting him individually)

Whereas, above he did say, “And I will have you swear...” I.e., it says in v. 3: “[God of heaven] and God of earth.”

Oben Raw Hirsch on Genesis 24: 3, beim Schwure, hieß es auch: ואלקי הארץ, denn, indem der Schwörende, dem Begriff des הִשָבֵעַ zufolge, sich mit allem irdischen Seinen dem strafenden Gottesarm für den Fall des Wortbruches unterstellt, so ist dort der Ausdruck der unmittelbaren Gottesgegenwart auf Erden wesentlich an seiner Stelle. Wenn wir aber hier bei einem Ausspruch des hingebendsten Gottvertrauens, den Ausdruck der echtjüdischen unmittelbaren und speziellsten השגחה פרטית erwarten, die dem bestimmten Manne das bestimmte Weib zuführt, so weist ja auch Abraham auf Gottesoffenbarungen, auf alles das, was Gott speziell für ihn und an ihm getan, hin, welches alles noch weit mehr diese השגחה פרטית bekundet, als der verhältnismäßig noch allgemeine Ausdruck אלקי הארץ sagen würde. Der Gott des Himmels, der doch zugleich mich — nicht הוציאני — sondern לקחני, mich für seine besonderen Zwecke als Werkzeug herausgenommen hat und der דבר לי — nicht אמר לי, was eine Verheißung wäre, sondern — der eine Bestimmung über mich ausgesprochen, z. B. ושמרו דרך ד׳ וגוי ,והיה ברכה und für diese Bestimmung נשבע לי, mir die Verheißung gegeben, mein Same solle dieses Land haben (der hat mir freilich weder direkt verboten, meinem Sohne eine Frau von den jetzigen Bewohnern des Landes zu geben, noch meinen Sohn wieder in meine Heimat zurückwandern zu lassen; allein beides erkenne ich als natürliche Folge dieser Bestimmung und dieser Verheißung, beides als das einzige ihnen Gemäße), der — sei du nur ganz ruhig — der wird seinen Engel — nicht אתך, mit dir — sondern vor dir hersenden, du wirst gar nichts dabei zu tun haben; der mich aus meinem Vaterhause zu finden gewusst, wird auch für meinen Sohn dich das rechte Mädchen aus meiner Verwandtschaft finden lassen — ולקחת so gut wie לקחני.

אלוקי השמים, “the G–d in heaven, etc.;” we must note that Avraham did not, at this stage, describe G–d as also being the G–d acknowledged on earth. He described the situation as it was, i.e. that up until this time the G–d of Israel, or even the G–d of creation had not been acknowledged as such on earth. This fact is reflected in our central daily prayer the עמידה, consisting of 18 (+1) benedictions we do not refer to G–d as “King” in the opening benediction which describes Him as the G–d of Avraham and that of the other two patriarchs. [Whenever we recite a benediction before eating even a morsel or drinking a mouthful of water, we do add the fact that He is the King of the universe. Ed.] (Compare Sifrey on parshat Ha-azinu, section 313).

ה' אלוקי השמים, “the Lord, the G-d of heaven;” Rashi comments that Avraham did not add that this “G-d” was also the “G-d” of the earth. The reason was that the time frame Avraham spoke about was before he had preached monotheism to his peers, none of whom had until then recognised Him as their G-d. If that approach to G-d’s stature were correct, we would have to ask how G-d could have been referred to as the G-d of heaven in Genesis 1,1, when, according to tradition the heaven as we understand it was created only on the second day of the six days of creation? [In our daily prayers, אדון עולם, we commence by stating that that the Master of the universe was “king” before any creature had been created? In other words, the title “King” is not dependent on this King already having subjects over whom to rule. Ed.] The same point has been made by Isaiah 43,10: “before Me no god was formed and after Me none shall exist.” The point that the prophet makes is that G-d’s existence is dependent on His having loyal subjects. Only He is eternal. This is also the reason why the first blessing in our thrice daily amidah, שמונה עשרה, does not contain a reference to G-d as “king,” as do other blessings. It would be inappropriate to commence with the sequence: מלך העולם אלוקי אברהם וגו', “the King of the universe, the G-d of Avraham, etc.” seeing that in the chapter of the Torah whereAvraham is introduced He could not truthfully have been described as the “King” of the whole universe. When Avraham in our verse credited G-d with having taken him out of his father’s house, etc., he thereby “crowned” G-d as “king” also on earth, he being His first subject. Nonetheless this was a far cry from being recognised as king of mankind.

מבית אבי FROM MY FATHER S HOUSE — from Haran.

AND WHO SPOKE ‘LI’ (UNTO ME). Rashi comments: “The word li means ‘in my interest,’ just as in the verse, which He spoke ‘alai’ (concerning me).⁹⁴I Kings 2:4. In the same way, in every case where li and lo and lahem follow the word dibur (speaking), they are to be explained in the sense of al (concerning). For proper usage of the verb dibur [in the sense of speaking to a person, the pronouns li and lo and lahem are not appropriate, and] only eilai and eilav and aleihem are appropriate, and their renderings in the Targum are imi and imei and imhon. In the case of the word amirah, however, the expressions li and lo and lahem are appropriate.”
In the section of Vayeitzei Yaakov, Rashi brought [proof of his above mentioned principle which states that li or lecha, etc., following the word dibur, must be explained in the sense of al (concerning)] from that which is written there, that which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach,’⁹⁵Further, 28:15. [which must be interpreted to mean “in thy interest and concerning thee”] since He had never spoken to Jacob before this occasion.
But this difference is not valid for we find: And now go, lead the people unto the place of which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach’;⁹⁶Exodus 32:34. Here the word dibur is found in connection with lach, and yet it means “to you,” and not “concerning you,” as Rashi claimed. And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic;⁹⁷Daniel 2:4. This too is a case similar to the above. And thou shalt drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as the Eternal hath spoken unto thee.⁹⁸Deuteronomy 9:3. This too is similar to the above. Similarly the verb amirah is used with both li and eilai: And they shall say ‘li’ (to me), What is His name? What shall I say ‘aleihem’ (to them)?⁹⁹Exodus 3:13. And as for [the verse which Rashi mentioned as his proof], that which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach,’⁹⁵Further, 28:15. [which must mean, as Rashi said, “concerning thee,” since He had never spoken to Jacob before this occasion], its interpretation is as follows: “that which I have said to you now that I will give the land to you and to your seed, and I will bless you.” [Thus the word lach (to you) follows the understood verb “give” and is not related to dibarti.]

ואשר דבר לי, furthermore, I remember that he assured me specifically that my offspring will become known as offspring of Avraham though my son Yitzchok.

This is why I am certain that ישלח מלאכו, He will send His angel to make your mission successful to ensure that He can fulfill His promise.

הוא ישלח מלאכו, to ensure the success of your errand to take a wife for my son from there.

אשר לקחני מבית אבי, “the One Who has taken me out of my father’s house, etc.” according to Rashi, the words מבית אבי refer to Charan, and the words מארץ מולדתי refer to Ur Casdim. Nachmanides considers this explanation flawed as if true, when Avraham instructed Eliezer to proceed to אל ארצי ואל מולדתי, he would in fact have instructed him to go to Ur Casdim, something Eliezer did not do. Avraham’s birthplace was Aram Naharayim and not Ur Casdim. G’d forbid that the seed of Avraham should become fused to a girl stemming from that region of the most blatant idolatry. Furthermore, why did Avraham call Charan ארצו, “his homeland,” when he did not even refer to the land of Canaan as “my homeland,” but described himself as a stranger there. He had lived in Canaan for over 60 years at that time, far longer than he and his father had stayed in Charan. Avraham’s birthplace had been Aram Naharayim, and this is where his family had resided from the earliest time. This is also how the matter is explained in Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer, the most ancient of our Midrashic texts where we read: “and take a wife from my family.”

From Ur Kasdim. Re’m and Ramban discuss this at length. But it is clear that Rashi holds that ארץ מולדתו refers to Ur Kasdim, while מולדתו [without ארץ, as in v. 4] refers to his family in the city of Charan. (Nachalas Yaakov)

אשר לקחני מבית אבי, “Who has taken me out of my father’s house;” He removed me from my relatives in order to give me this land, and He certainly would not want me to return my descendants to the land which He had taken me out of. This is why I am so certain that He will send His angel before you to make your mission successful. Why else would He have brought me to this country, if not in order to be able to fulfill His promise to give this country to my descendants.

ומארץ מולדתי AND FROM THE LAND OF MY NATIVITY — from Ur-Kasdim.

ואשר נשבע לי, seeing that He made me this promise reinforced by an oath, I am certain that He will not renege on it. [even if I were to fall out of favour in His eyes due to my own fault. Ed.] He will see to it that my son will be able to marry a suitable soul-mate and thus make His oath come true.

ואשר דבר לי, both before I left that country and afterwards.

אשר לקחני מבית אבי, “Who has taken me from my father’s house;” the meaning of these words which sound as if Avraham had been removed from his father’s house against his will, is that it was G’d’s promise which had been instrumental in Avraham moving to a land where he had no family, to whose members he could marry off his son.

ולקחת אשה לבני, “you will take a wife for my son.” This is not a commandment or a prayer, but a prophecy. We find confirmation for this interpretation in the words: 'כאשר דבר ה “as the Lord has said,” in verse 51 of this chapter.

ואשר דבר לי AND WHO SPOKE לי—The word לי means “in my interest”, just as (1 Kings 2:4) “which He spake concerning me (עלי)”. In the same way, in every case where לי or לו or להם follow after the verb דבר they must be explained in the sense of על “concerning” — and in the Targum they should be rendered by עלי or עלוהי or עליהון regarding me etc. — for with this verb דבר in the sense of speaking to a person, the expressions לי and לו and להם are not the appropriate ones, but אלי and אליו and אליהן, and their renderings in the Targum should be עמי and עמיה and עמהן i. e., to speak with me or him or them. In the case of the verb אמר, however, the expressions לי and לו and להם are the appropriate ones.

ואשר נשבע לי, at the time when I had bound Yitzchok.

ואשר נשבע לי לאמור לזרעך אתן הארץ הזאת, “and Who has sworn to me; ‘to your descendants I will give this land, etc.” It is also written concerning the heir of Avraham :כי ביצחק יקרא לךזרע, “for your descendants will be named after Yitzchok,” so that it is quite clear that this G’d will send his angel with you to make your mission successful. Therefore I can tell you without reservation that under no circumstances are you to allow my son to move back there, seeing it was G’d Who had taken me away from there.

ואשר נשבע לי AND WHO SWORE UNTO ME at the Covenant between the Pieces (Genesis Rabbah 59:10).