Pensée juive sur Isaïe 55:3

We read in Midrash Rabbah Deut. 4, that the Rabbis say "there are people who benefit by listening, whereas others lose out by listening." Adam lost out by having listened to his wife, as the Torah says "because you have listened to your wife...you will have to toil in the sweat of your brow,..the earth will be cursed on your account etc.." (Genesis 3,17) On the other hand, Abraham listened to his wife, as is recorded in Genesis 16,6. "Abraham listened to his wife Sarah." The Lord said: "if he who listened to his wife benefitted, how much more will he benefit who listenes to Me." Proverbs 1,33, tells us "he who listens to Me, will dwell securely, not concerned with fear of evil."

Since the question of reward and punishment revolves around the consciousness and intent accompanying human actions, the Torah concludes the book of Numbers by detailing the guilt of the involuntary killer, the killer who has failed to excercise due care in a potentially lethal activity. Chapter thirty five details a graduated scenario of human beings being killed due to various degrees of intent. Man listens, i.e. responds in one of two ways. Either he responds to the voice of materialistic instincts to the extent that he becomes deaf to the voice of his teacher, in which case he acts like Adam, causing himself all the curses including mortality itself; or he listens to the voice of reason and intellect, like Abraham. The latter, in spite of his misgivings about what Sarah had demanded, was rewarded because he had conquered his yetzer hara, evil urge, when expelling Hagar and Ishmael. G'd had agreed with Sarah, saying to Abraham "listen to all she tells you." Abraham's situation was the exact opposite of Adam's situation. Superficially, one could reason that both women had wanted to impose their wills on their husbands. Yet there is a subtle difference. Eve, having eaten from the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and having become aware of its impact, wanted to drag Adam down to her level also. Sarah, having shown previously that she did not want Abraham to die without an heir, by giving him Hagar as a wife, had already proved that she had Abraham's best interests at heart. Abraham had not taken Hagar except to have a child by her.