Midrash sobre Gênesis 15:1

(Gen. 23:1:) NOW < THE LENGTH OF > SARAH'S LIFE WAS < A HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS >. (Gen. 24:1:) NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD, WELL ALONG IN YEARS. This text is related (to Ps. 5:13 [12]): FOR YOU BLESS THE RIGHTEOUS ONE, < O LORD, ENCOMPASSING HIM WITH FAVOR AS WITH A BUCKLER >. From when the world was created until Abraham arose, the Holy One would bless his world. So, when he had created Adam and Eve, he blessed them, as stated (in Gen. 1:28): AND GOD BLESSED THEM…. He blessed Noah and his children, as stated (in Gen. 9:1): THEN GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN. When Abraham arose, he made him a father for all creatures,¹Buber suggests emending “creatures” to “blessings.” as stated (in Gen. 12:2f): AND YOU ARE TO BE A BLESSING…. < FOR IN YOU SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED >. Ergo (in Ps. 5:13 [12]): FOR YOU BLESS THE RIGHTEOUS ONE (i.e., Abraham), O LORD, ENCOMPASSING HIM WITH FAVOR AS WITH A BUCKLER, in that the Holy One became like a shield for him, as stated (in Gen. 15:1): I AM YOUR SHIELD. Now a buckler is nothing but a shield, as shown in the verse (I Sam. 17:7): AND THE ONE BEARING THE BUCKLER WAS GOING BEFORE HIM (i.e., Goliath). What is the meaning of ENCOMPASSING HIM WITH FAVOR? That he blessed Abraham in his old age, as stated (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD.

Another interpretation: David spoke with respect to the event of the <golden> calf. The world said: This is the people who heard from the mouth of its God (in Exod. 20:3): YOU SHALL HAVE NO <OTHER GODS BESIDE ME>. Then at the end of forty days they said of the calf (in Exod. 32:4): THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL. Is there salvation for them? (Ps. 3:3 [2]:) <MANY SAY TO MY SOUL>: THERE IS NO SALVATION FOR HIM THROUGH HIS GOD. SELAH. <The word> MANY (in Ps. 3:3 [2]) can only mean the peoples of the world, since it is stated (in Is. 17:12): HERE IS THE ROAR OF MANY PEOPLES. Israel had promised (to have no other gods) and you agreed with them; so you said to Moses our Teacher (in Deut. 9:14): LET ME ALONE, AND I WILL DESTROY THEM. However, (in Ps. 3:4 [3]:) <YOU, O LORD ARE> A SHIELD ABOUT ME. You <are the one> who shielded me through the merit of our ancestors and recalled for us the merit of Abraham, in that you had said to him (in Gen. 15:1): I AM A SHIELD FOR YOU. Before I committed that < sinful > act, you had your Divine Presence dwell in our midst, but after I had committed that act, you said (in Exod. 25:8): AND MAKE ME A SANCTUARY <THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG THEM>. (Ps. 3:4 [3]): THE ONE WHO RAISES UP MY HEAD. Instead of that which we owed you, <namely> the lifting off of our head, you gave us an uplifted head at the hands of Moses our Teacher, [to whom you said] (in Exod. 30:12): WHEN YOU TAKE A CENSUS OF (literally: LIFT UP THE HEAD OF) THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL….>

Another interpretation (of Cant. 4:6): UNTIL THE DAY BECOMES COOL. Until the kingdom of the Holy One appears in this world. (Ibid., cont.:) AND THE SHADOWS FLEE, i.e., the shadows of the kingdom. (Ibid., cont.:) I WILL GO UNTO THE MOUNTAIN OF MYRRH, i.e., Jerusalem. Thus it is stated (in Cant. 5:1): WHEN I COME TO MY GARDEN, MY SISTER, MY BRIDE, I HAVE PLUCKED MY MYRRH ALONG WITH MY SPICE. (Josh. 5:3:) UNTO THE MOUND OF FORESKINS,²⁰Buber again suggests emending to fit Cant. 4:6: UNTO THE MOUND OF FRANKINCENSE. since he took the foreskins and made a mound of them. For that reason the Holy One was revealed to him, as stated (in Gen. 18:1): THEN < THE LORD > APPEARED UNTO HIM. Now when the angels saw this, they also came along with the Holy One, as stated (in Gen. 18:2): WHEN HE LIFTED HIS EYES AND LOOKED, BEHOLD, THERE WERE THREE MEN < STANDING NEAR HIM >. And so David gives praise (in Ps. 25:10): ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND TRUTH. What is the meaning of ALL THE PATHS OF THE LORD ARE STEADFAST LOVE AND TRUTH? < With reference to > the Torah, its beginning is steadfast love,²¹See above, 4:1; below, 5:2. its end is steadfast love, and its middle is steadfast love. Its beginning is steadfast love. Where is it shown? You find that when the Holy One formed Eve, he adorned her and brought her to Adam, as stated (in Gen. 2:22): THEN THE LORD GOD BUILT THE RIB < WHICH HE HAD TAKEN FROM THE HUMAN INTO A WOMAN >. What is the meaning of BUILT? R. Abbahu said: In Arabia they call the plaited coiffure a "building."²²Cf. Ber. 61a; Shab. 95a; ‘Eruv. 18a; Nid. 45b; ARN, A, 4; Gen. R. 18:1; M. Pss. 25:11; above 4:1; below 5:2. Its end is steadfast love, < i.e., > at Moses' death when the Holy One attended him in his glory,²³BKBWDW: perhaps a misprint for BKBWRW, “at his burial.” as stated (in Deut. 34:6): AND HE BURIED HIM IN THE VALLEY. At the middle there is steadfast love in the case of Abraham, as stated (in Gen. 17:2): AND LET ME PUT MY COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND YOU. When the Holy One was revealed to him, he was sitting, as stated (in Gen. 18:1): < THEN THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM > … AS HE WAS SITTING AT THE TENT DOOR IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY.²⁴Below, 8:28. Abraham went to stand up. The Holy One said to him: Do not trouble yourself to stand up. Sit down! It is so stated (in Ps. 110:1): THE LORD (God) SAID TO MY LORD (Abraham): SIT DOWN AT MY RIGHT HAND. Abraham said to him: Is this good manners for me to be sitting while you are standing? The Holy One said to him: Do not trouble yourself. You are an old man of a hundred years. Sit down! The Holy One said to him: By your life, because you are sitting while I stand, your children at the age of three years, at the age of four years, are going to be sitting in the academies and in the synagogues with me standing over them. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 82:1): GOD STANDS IN THE DIVINE CONGREGATION. Abraham began to praise²⁵Rt.: QLS, possibly related to the Gk.: kalos, which means “beautifully.” God (according to Ps. 18:36 [35]): YOU ALSO GAVE ME THE SHIELD OF YOUR SALVATION, when the kings had pursued < me >. It is so stated (in Gen. 15:1): FEAR NOT, ABRAM, I AM YOUR SHIELD. (Ps. 18:36 [35], cont.:) YOUR RIGHT HAND SUSTAINED ME, when you grasped the foreskin along with me as I was cutting. (Ibid., cont.:) AND YOUR CONDESCENSION MAGNIFIED ME, in that I was sitting while you were standing.