Pensée juive sur La Genèse 18:13

At any rate, we believe in the complete and detailed awareness by G-d of man's deeds, thoughts, hopes etc. Granted that we are unable to fully comprehend the nature of this knowledge of G-d, its existence has been spelled out in the Torah and holy writ so many times that it cannot be doubted. The very attempt to try and understand His mind by using our limited powers of perception is not only foolish, but shows a lack of faith on our part. Abraham was taught this lesson both at his circumcision and on the occasion G-d asked him to offer his son Isaac as a total offering. Both commandments completely defy our way of reasoning. They prove, therefore, that we cannot arrogate to ourselves the right to presume what His will would be. All attempts to define the nature of His knowledge, therefore, are childish. Suppose man decided to sacrifice his dearest possession out of love for G-d, what good is it to G-d, what need does He have for it? Besides, if that person has that much love for G-d, why not present G-d with his own life, surely his dearest possession?! The fact that G-d has gone out of His way to tell us about His awareness of our individual psyches as well as our deeds is to avoid His appearing deficient in any way in our eyes. If G-d says to Abraham after the akeydah, "Now I know that you are G-d-fearing," this shows that Abraham's motives are well known to G-d. If Sarah is accused of harboring certain unworthy thoughts (Genesis 18,13), this clearly shows G-d’s awareness of all that goes on in any individual's mind. The question arises why we need to know of this process of G-d’s knowledge altogether, seeing we do not understand it? There are two answers. Someone ignorant of the state of world affairs is considered both an ignoramus and a fool. G-d says, "How can information be withheld from Me?" The idea is "How can I be considered ignorant?" Ignorance would result in reduced stature. Man, too, by being given certain information is raised in stature, though he may not comprehend how this information is arrived at. We all know that spectacles are apt to improve one's failing vision. Glasses, though an aid to seeing, do not have independent vision themselves. How can any person who needs spectacles in order to improve his vision judge the quality of the eyesight of someone who does not require spectacles? Our study of optics teaches that the image is recorded by our eye upside down, distorted. Only with the aid of our mind are we able to compensate for that distortion. Surely there is a lesson here for us. We must not compare the quality of our "seeing" to His "seeing". In Psalm 94,9, David already mocks those who belittle G-d’s knowledge of the minutia and trivia, by exclaiming ,"Shall the Creator of the eye be unable to see?" When our sages tell us that the Torah uses the idiom of human language to convey concepts that are beyond our imagination, it is this kind of thing they have in mind. This is why Maimonides explains in Moreh 1 Section 52, that all anthropomorphic expressions relating to G-d are to be understood as describing G-d’s activities, not His essential attributes. At the end of the akeydah, when G-d is reported as having gained a new insight, i.e."Now I know that you are G-d-fearing," this creates an erroneous impression. What is meant is that G-d was as aware of the changed state of mind and degree of piety of Abraham after the event as He had been aware of Abraham's previous state of mind and piety.

It is an accepted principle that the donor should advise the recipient of a gift so the latter can express his appreciation (Shabbat 10). The reason G-d desires the prayers of the tzaddikim, the righteous, is so that man can express his gratitude for the favors G-d does for him every single day (Yevamot 30). Even the good which man deserves because of merits he may have accumulated, contains elements of grace, since the idea that a lessee of a field who pays his dues to the owner may ask for a reward is absurd. Where would the lessee be without the owner? This is the meaning of Psalms 62,13, "When You pay man his deserts, You perform an act of kindness." This is why righteous people never demand what they deserve, and always ask only for an act of kindness, a gift. (5) G-d, on the other hand, goes far and beyond any merit man has accumulated when He recompenses him. Had G-d granted Abraham and Sarah children in their youth, they would never have been sure whether this had required G-d’s personal intervention in their fates, or whether it had been a natural occurrence. This is why G-d waited until they had become aware of their need, and would pray for it to be granted. Since Abraham still did not get around to praying, G-d had to provoke him into the comment, "See You have not given me any seed!" (2) He wanted Abraham to realize that the riches he had returned to the king of Sodom, or even the glory attained through his military accomplishments, were minor compared to the reward G-d had still in store for him, and that he had no cause to fear that the four kings would return with reinforcements. So G-d evoked the desired response from Abraham when the latter asked Him, "What can You give me, seeing You have denied me children?" (1) That is the point at which G-d took Abraham "outside," to acquaint him with the fact that considerations based on horoscopic knowledge were not absolute, that He, G-d could and would alter the fate in store for Abraham, which according to horoscopic constellations seemed to preclude his having natural issue. (3) The oblique introduction "and here,” shows that G-d had held His response in store all the time, but that He had had to wait for Abraham's complaint (statement of resignation) to be able to reveal to him that he would become a father. (6) Abraham's belief in this hashgachah peratit, G-d’s personal Providence, is what was new, and for this he deserved credit. Having established that Abraham was bothered by his childlessness to the point of speaking out about it, the Torah reports that Sarah too was upset about it, and proceeded to do what was in her power to relieve the problem. (8+9) She did this by offering Hagar as a wife to Abraham also. Although both Abraham and Sarah knew a great deal about the power of G-d, they were still under the impression that it was not within His domain to change the physical nature of barrenness. Therefore, they did not pray, since they had no reason to believe that prayer would be a key to success. Their knowledge of G-d was restricted to their conceiving of Him as the ultimate Cause, but not as the constant guardian of individual fates. Ultimately, this lack of understanding prompted the angel in Genesis 18,14 to say, "Is anything too wonderful for G-d (to accomplish)?"

(8) According to some, the promise that Abraham and Sarah would sire a child, made Abraham wonder if perchance Ishmael was destined to die, since otherwise his existence would have enabled G-d to fulfil His promise to Abraham to become the ancestor of a multitude of nations in a far more natural way. This consideration prompted Abraham to pray for Ishmael's continued existence. (6) When Abraham questioned G-d’s promise, his concern was legitimate, whereas when Sarah did so she had no such legitimate concern. Therefore, G-d criticized Sarah without criticizing Abraham. However, it is more likely that Abraham's remark was just as unseemly as Sarah's later, just as was that of Moses when he questioned G-d’s ability to feed all of Israel meat in the desert (Numbers 11,21). Since however, it was a day of glad tidings, a day on which Abraham had cheerfully accepted the commandment to circumcise himself, G-d did not want to spoil the occasion by criticizing him. Similarly, on the day the Torah was given, the leaders of Israel were not punished, although their conduct was deserving of punishment (Exodus 24, see Vayikra Rabbah 20). When G-d did criticize Sarah eventually for her similar lack of belief, He did so via Abraham. "Why does Sarah laugh?" (Genesis 18,13). He could have criticized Sarah without addressing Abraham on the subject. However, G-d wanted Abraham to get the message that he, too, had erred in a similar fashion on the same subject. (9) As it was, G-d’s answer was only meant to emphasize that Sarah deserved to bear a son. Ishmael's future was not in doubt at all. Abraham was to call the new son Isaac, as a reminder that he had considered his conception and birth as too amusing a flight of fancy to entertain seriously. G-d would let Ishmael become great, but the new covenant under discussion would be maintained with Isaac. (10) The statement that "G-d had finished speaking with Abraham" proves, that this whole vision had been of a superior nature compared to previous ones. This vision was more like the ones Abraham would enjoy from this point on, though in this instance we still find Abraham falling down due to the overwhelming impact of G-d’s Presence. The promptness with which Abraham carried out G-d’s commandment reflects the newly won awareness that he was as yet incomplete as a human being. Rabbi Berechya points out in Bereshit Rabbah 39 that in promising Isaac, G-d did not say, "I will place you," but rather "I will make you." This indicates a direct action on G-d’s part, similar to such actions by G-d during the creation of man. The meaning is "When I make a new creature out of you, be fruitful and multiply!" When G-d had made a covenant with Noach, the sign of which was the rainbow, He limited the power of the forces of water and assured the continued existence of man. He promised that the future of a nation based on Abraham and Isaac would be assured just as the future of mankind had been assured through the covenant with Noach. No matter what sins will call for retribution, the nation as a whole will not perish. This implies that Israel's character even amid persecutions due to its infidelity vis a vis the Almighty, will exhibit traits that will qualitfy it for eventual redemption.