לֹא־הִנִּ֤יחַ לְאִישׁ֙ לְעָשְׁקָ֔ם וַיּ֥וֹכַח עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם מְלָכִֽים׃
사람이 그들을 해하기를 용납지 아니하시고 그들의 연고로 열왕을 꾸짖어
Rabbeinu Bahya
וינגע ה' את פרעה, “G’d smote Pharaoh with plagues, etc.” Most commentators believe that this statement is to be interpreted literally, i.e. that Pharaoh was personally smitten with afflictions. They interpret Genesis 20,18 as meaning that the vaginal openings of the women and the penises of the men in Avimelech’s household were blocked by divine action (Baba Kama 92). This is also based on Chronicles I 16,21 לא הניח לאיש לעשקם ויוכח עליהם מלכים, “He allowed no one to oppress them; He reproved kings on their account.”
On the other hand, Rabbi Saadyah Gaon understands our verse as a threat by G’d to afflict Pharaoh. His reasoning is that if G’d had afflicted Pharaoh prematurely this would not have been fair justice as Sarai had been brought to Pharaoh’s palace by others (without his having ordered this) and he personally had not yet laid a hand on Sarai. Seeing that he had not yet committed a sin why would G’d punish him as a preventive measure? Rabbi Saadyah Gaon applies the same reasoning to what happened later at the court of Avimelech (chapter 20). As to Genesis 20,17 where the Torah expressly reports that G’d healed Avimelech and his household in response to Avraham’s prayer, Rabbi Saadyah understands this verse not so much as a healing after an affliction but as a preventive medicine G’d provided against Avimelech and his household suffering such afflictions in the future. This would be a demonstration of the verse in Exodus 15,26 כי אני ה' רופאך, “for I the Lord am your Healer.” In that passage the Torah had also spoken about afflictions which were not going to be visited upon the Jewish people, and G’d describes this as a result of His acting as Israel’s Healer. As to the verse we quoted from Chronicles, Rabbi Saadyah understands this as referring to verbal warnings not to actual occurrences.
Our sages clearly did not understand matters in this way and believed that seeing that these two kings both had evil intentions G’d countered their evil intentions by forestalling the harm they were about to do and effectively smiting them by disabling the respective organs with which they were going to commit their sin. The sages of the Talmud understand our verses literally.
On the other hand, Rabbi Saadyah Gaon understands our verse as a threat by G’d to afflict Pharaoh. His reasoning is that if G’d had afflicted Pharaoh prematurely this would not have been fair justice as Sarai had been brought to Pharaoh’s palace by others (without his having ordered this) and he personally had not yet laid a hand on Sarai. Seeing that he had not yet committed a sin why would G’d punish him as a preventive measure? Rabbi Saadyah Gaon applies the same reasoning to what happened later at the court of Avimelech (chapter 20). As to Genesis 20,17 where the Torah expressly reports that G’d healed Avimelech and his household in response to Avraham’s prayer, Rabbi Saadyah understands this verse not so much as a healing after an affliction but as a preventive medicine G’d provided against Avimelech and his household suffering such afflictions in the future. This would be a demonstration of the verse in Exodus 15,26 כי אני ה' רופאך, “for I the Lord am your Healer.” In that passage the Torah had also spoken about afflictions which were not going to be visited upon the Jewish people, and G’d describes this as a result of His acting as Israel’s Healer. As to the verse we quoted from Chronicles, Rabbi Saadyah understands this as referring to verbal warnings not to actual occurrences.
Our sages clearly did not understand matters in this way and believed that seeing that these two kings both had evil intentions G’d countered their evil intentions by forestalling the harm they were about to do and effectively smiting them by disabling the respective organs with which they were going to commit their sin. The sages of the Talmud understand our verses literally.