Comentário sobre Gênesis 21:17

את קול הנער THE VOICE OF THE LAD — From this we may infer that the prayer of a sick person is more effective than the prayer offered by others for him and that it is more readily accepted (Genesis Rabbah 53:14).

באשר הוא שם, seeing she could not see him from the place where she had sat down, the angel had to use this manner of referring to Ishmael. He would be provided with water at that location.

WHERE HE IS. He shall be judged according to his present deeds, and not according to those actions which he may do in the future. This was because the ministering angels laid charges, etc. Thus the words of Rashi quoting from the teachings of our Rabbis.³³⁶Ibid., 19.
The correct interpretation, in line with the simple meaning of Scripture, appears to me to be that the verse is stating that G-d heard the voice of the lad in the place in which he was. He informed her that she will not need to go from there to a fountain or well for in that very place he will quench his thirst immediately. He thus said to her, “Arise, lift up the lad³³⁷Verse 18 here. after you will have given him to drink, for I will make him a great nation.³³⁷Verse 18 here. Similarly, the word sham (there) in verses, Where he sunk, there he fell down dead;³³⁸Judges 5:27. Meaning, “‘in the place’ where he fell.” And where the slain are, there is she,³³⁹Job 39:30. Meaning “And ‘in the place’ where the slain are.” alludes to the place.

וישמע אלוקים את קול הנער, he too had raised his voice and was crying.

There where he is: Also before he drank and he was in danger from thirst, God heard. So He brought him out of his sickness.

וישמע אלוקים אל קול הנער, “G’d listened to the voice (cries) of the lad.” Rashi derives from this wording that the prayer of the sick person himself concerning his recovery is more likely to be heard than all the prayers of other people on his behalf. This is so although we have a principle according to which a person whose hands and feet have been tied is unable to free himself, i.e. the stricken need outside assistance. We know that Chizkiyah whose sickness had been declared by the prophet to be terminal, was healed after he personally appealed to G’d on behalf of himself.

כי שמע אלוקים אל קול הנער באשר הוא שם, ”for G’d has heeded the cry of the lad in his present state.” This means that “I” will give him water and he will drink it before leaving this site. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 16 learn from here that a person is not judged or convicted for sins which G’d foresees that he will commit in the future. He is judged merely on the basis of his present state of guilt or innocence. This is the meaning of the otherwise redundant words באשר הוא שם.

And He heard: This is [along the lines of], "Though my father and mother have abandoned me, the Lord will take me in" (Psalms 27:10). "As God has heard the voice of the youth (meaning that He accepted his prayer, as that is the definition of listening which is followed by [the word,] God) there where he is" - meaning to say that in the place in which the youth was, a well of water was found there. And it can also be explained that it means to say [that] since God was found there, He was looking over him him and available to save him.

The prayer of the sick person is more effective than the prayers of others... Rashi is answering the question: Hagar also cried, as it is written (v. 16), “She wept in a loud voice.” Why did Hashem not hear her voice? [You might object:] The Gemara asks in Berachos 5b, “Why was R. Yochanan unable to heal himself [through prayer]?” and answers, “A prisoner cannot free himself from jail.” The reason must be that R. Yochanan was not able to concentrate [in prayer]. But if he were able to do so, his own prayer would be better. (Re’m)

Gott hat schon dein Kind erhört, da, wo es jetzt ringt. Hättest du Vertrauen auf Gott gehabt, hättest dein Kind dorthin nicht geworfen, sondern gelegt, hättest du dich nicht entfernt, sondern wärst bei ihm geblieben, wie es einer Mutter ziemt, du hättest da, wo es sich jetzt befindet, den rettenden Brunnen schon gesehen.

An angel of God from heaven: Angels that appear to people on the earth are in the image of people; it is not known that they are angels, as it is not the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, to reveal [them]. But it is known that the one that is speaking from the heaven is an angel [and not God], since he said, "because God has heard the voice of the youth"; and he did not say, "I heard."

את קול הנער, “the voice of the lad;” Rashi uses this line to state that the prayer of a sick person on his own behalf reaches heaven faster than the prayers of others on his behalf. If you were to counter that the Talmud in B’rachot 5 teaches that a prisoner cannot liberate himself from jail, [that he needs outsiders to do that for him, Ed,] what is meant is that the state of mind of the average sick person is such that he cannot pray with the required devotion. If he could, G-d will respond to him first. (Rabbeinu Ovadiah mibartenura)

באשר הוא שם WHERE HE IS — According to the actions he is now doing shall he be judged and not according to what he may do in future. Because the ministering angels laid information against him, saying, “Master of the Universe, for him whose descendants will at one time kill your children with thirst will You provide a well?” He asked them, “What is he now, righteous or wicked?” They replied to him, “Righteous.” He said to them, “According to his present deeds will I judge him.” This is the meaning of what is written: “[For God hath heard the voice of the lad ] באשר הוא שם in that condition in which he now is” (Genesis Rabbah 53:14). Where did he (Ishmael) kill Israel with thirst? When Nebuchadnezzar carried them into exile — as it is said, (Isaiah 21:13, 14) “The burden upon Arabia … O ye caravans of Dedanites, unto him that is thirsty bring ye water! etc.” When they were bringing them near the Arabians the Israelites said to their captors, “We beg of you bring us to the children of our uncle, Ishmael, who will certainly show pity to us”, as it is said, “O ye caravans of the Dedanites (דדנים)”; read not דדנים but דודים, kinsmen. — These indeed came to them bringing them salted meat and fish and water-skins inflated with air. The Israelites believed that these were full of water and when they placed them in their mouths, after having opened them, the air entered their bodies and they died (Eichah Rabbah 2:4).

מן השמים, she heard his voice without seeing the source of the voice as opposed to the first encounter she had with an angel in 16,13. At the beginning of the verse the Torah uses the proposition את, whereas at the end of the verse it switches to the preposition אל. The letters ת and ל are used interchangeably here without the meaning of the preposition undergoing any change.

באשר הוא שם, “considering his present state of relative innocence.” When G’d asked the angels if Ishmael was guilty or innocent in their opinion at that time, they replied that he was innocent. This was in spite of the fact that he had previously been described (מצחק) as having displayed heretical behaviour. Nonetheless, concerning the matter which they (the angels) had accused him of, (harm he would cause to the Jewish people in the future) he was as yet not guilty. This is especially interesting seeing that a בן סורר ומורה, a 13 year old who steals a little meat and wine from his parents and who displays tendencies of becoming a delinquent, is executed at such a tender age. (Deuteronomy 21,21) The reason offered by our sages for what seems such a harsh way of dealing with a young boy is psychological. The Torah prefers to have him executed before he will become guilty of far worse crimes, and to thereby preserve his share in the world to come. Nonetheless, there is a difference between applying retribution for crimes decreed in heaven and those decreed on earth on the basis of the Torah. Human beings are not held accountable in heaven until they have completed 20 years on earth. Pre-emptive retribution does not exist in the vocabulary of Divine justice when it is meted out by heavenly tribunal, as opposed to justice handed out by human tribunal. The juvenile delinquent, בן סורר ומורה, although not yet guilty of the death penalty, has already begun a career of criminal acts and it is an act of love by his parents which brings about his “premature” violent death so that his eternal life may be preserved. Ishmael had not been guilty of any crime while he was in Avraham’s household for which he would have had to face a tribunal. Only his descendants would become guilty of such crimes. According to the plain meaning of the text, the words באשר הוא שם, mean that G’d listened to the prayer Ishmael offered up at the location he found himself in, in that the well which was to save his life suddenly caught his eye. He did not even need to have water brought to him from a more distant location.

He is judged according to his present deeds... The question this raises on בן סורר ומורה, who is killed for his future sins (Sanhedrin 71b), will be answered in Parshas Ki Teitzei (Devarim 21:18). Re’m asks: Why did the angels not condemn him for the sins he already did, rather than for those of the future which will be done not by him but by his descendants? He answers: Perhaps this Aggadah is according to R. Shimon, who differs with R. Akiva and all those who interpret מצחק (v. 9) as speaking of [Yishmael’s] misdeeds. But to answer that the Aggados are in disagreement seems to me forced, unless we see clearly that it is so. Thus it seems the answer is: The angels could not condemn Yishmael for his present deeds because the Heavenly Court punishes only from the age of twenty, and Yishmael was just seventeen. [You might ask:] Why did they not condemn him for his present deeds, but in terms of the future [when he will be of punishable age]? The answer is: At the end of his life he repented for his present deeds, as Rashi explains on (25:9): “His sons Yitzchok and Yishmael buried him [Avraham].”

באשר הוא שם, “due to the condition he found himself in;” according to Rashi the “condition” referred to is his legal/moral condition. He had not been wicked enough as yet to deserve to die on account of that. If you were to ask that the Talmud in Sanhedrin,72 when stating that a 13 year boy who has committed a far lesser offense is to be stoned to death to prevent him from becoming a far more guilty person, (the rebellious son) the difference there is that that son had already begun his career as a teenager by committing criminal deeds, whereas at that age Ishmael had voluntarily submitted to circumcision, something for which he deserved a great deal of credit. [I have departed from the author’s text somewhat by pointing to a great merit acquired by Ishmael. Ed.] He had not exhausted that merit at this stage. באשר הוא שם, seeing he was “there,” as opposed to “here;” Hagar had distanced herself from her dying son to avoid having to watch his death throes. A totally different interpretation: “even though He was in a desert with no chance of obtaining water.” [The emphasis is on the word הוא, a reference to G-d Who can provide everywhere.]

באשר הוא שם, at the very site where Hagar had thrown the boy. The message to Hagar was that at the very site where she thought that her so was going to die, there G’d heard his voice, his prayer. Our sages (Rosh Hashanah 16) derive from this wording that human beings are not judged by the Heavenly Court on the basis of what they might become guilty of in the future, but their judgment is based on their status at the time judgment is in progress. If someone is wicked at the time the Heavenly Court is in session, the fact that G’d foresees that he will (would) become righteous at some point in the future is not taken into consideration. Equally, if someone at the time when the Court is in session is deemed innocent, the fact that G’d foresees that he will become a great sinner is not used to influence his judgment at that time. There is an interesting aggadah, according to which the angels remonstrated with G’d at this time, challenging G’d’s mercy on the basis of the untold harm Ishmael’s descendants would visit upon G’d’s people, the Jews in the future. The angels referred specifically to the Ishmaelites denying Jews on the march into exile water to quench their thirst. (a reference to Isaiah 21,13-14) G’d silenced them by asking whether at this particular point in time Ishmael deserved to die. They had to admit that he did not. Hence G’d felt free to exercise His mercy and to let him live.

One whose descendants will eventually kill Your children with thirst, You will provide for him a well? You might ask: Is it not written (Devarim 24:16), “Fathers shall not be put to death because of sons”? The answer is: Hashem asked the angels if Yishmael had sinned through water. Regarding water, was he righteous or wicked? They answered he was righteous regarding water but was otherwise wicked, and moreover, “His descendants will kill Your children with thirst. Will You then provide him a well?” Hashem answered: “Since now he is righteous regarding water, I will provide him the well.” (Maharshal)