וְאַבְרָהָ֣ם זָקֵ֔ן בָּ֖א בַּיָּמִ֑ים וַֽיהֹוָ֛ה בֵּרַ֥ךְ אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֖ם בַּכֹּֽל:וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֗ם אֶל־עַבְדּוֹ֙ זְקַ֣ן בֵּית֔וֹ הַמּשֵׁ֖ל בְּכָל־אֲשֶׁר־ל֑וֹ שִֽׂים־נָ֥א יָֽדְךָ֖ תַּ֥חַת יְרֵכִֽי: וְאַשְׁבִּ֣יעֲךָ֔ בַּֽיהֹוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וֵֽאלֹהֵ֖י הָאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־תִקַּ֤ח אִשָּׁה֙ לִבְנִ֔י מִבְּנוֹת֙ הַכְּנַֽעֲנִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָֽנֹכִ֖י יוֹשֵׁ֥ב בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ:כִּ֧י אֶל־אַרְצִ֛י וְאֶל־מֽוֹלַדְתִּ֖י תֵּלֵ֑ךְ וְלָֽקַחְתָּ֥ אִשָּׁ֖ה לִבְנִ֥י לְיִצְחָֽק:וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ הָעֶ֔בֶד אוּלַי֙ לֹֽא־תֹאבֶ֣ה הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה לָלֶ֥כֶת אַֽחֲרַ֖י אֶל־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את הֶֽהָשֵׁ֤ב אָשִׁיב֙ אֶת־בִּנְךָ֔ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יָצָ֥אתָ מִשָּֽׁם:וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו אַבְרָהָ֑ם הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֔ פֶּן־תָּשִׁ֥יב אֶת־בְּנִ֖י שָֽׁמָּה:
1 And Avraham was old, advanced in days, and Hashem had blessed Abraham with everything.
2 And Avraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that was his, "Please place your hand under my thigh.
3 And I will adjure you by the Lord, the God of the heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose midst I dwell.
4 But you shall go to my land and to my birthplace, and you shall take a wife for my son, for Yitzchak."
5 And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not wish to go after me to this land. Shall I return your son to the land from which you came?"
6 And Avraham said to him, "Beware, lest you return my son back there.
A few questions:
First questions on pasuk aleph:
a] Why does the parsha start by telling us that Avraham was blessed by Hashem? If he wasn't blessed, would he not need to find a wife for Yitzchak?
b] Why does the pasuk have to tell us that he was old? By reading the psukim until now we can know that he was old [in Lech Lecha he was already 99!!]?!
c] What is the meaning of the double lashon "זקן ובא בימים"?
d] The gemara in Bava Metzia [88] it says that until Avraham there was no old age [see there]. What does that have to do with this parsha?
e] The gemara in Yoma [28b] learns from the first pasuk that Avraham was a זקן ויושב בישיבה - He was an elder and sat in yeshiva. What has that to do with the shidduch of Yitzchak?
f] The gemara in Bava Basra [16b] cites a machlokes on the pasuk וה' ברך את אברהם בכל, if Avraham had a daughter or not, or maybe the pasuk means that he knew astrology and all of the kings would come to consult with him or that he had a stone on his neck and everyone who looked at it was healed. What has that to do with the parsha?
3 question on pasuk beis:
g] What does Eliezer's job [elder of the house who ruled over everything] have to do with his task of finding Yitzchak a wife?
h] What is זקן ביתו and what is מושל בכל אשר לו?
i] The gemara says that מושל means that he "ruled over his Rebbe's Torah" and זקן ביתו means that he was a זקן ויושב בישיבה. What has that to do with this parsha?
j] On pasuk gimmel asked the Ramban why Avraham didn't make YITZCHAK swear that he wouldn't take a wife from the daughters of כנען?
There are a ton more questions but we will suffice with this for now. Maybe in a future post. [Based on the sefer די באר].
