Pharaoh and Sarah

Sources

AND PHARAOH CALLED ABRAM. It is possible that when the plagues suddenly came upon him and his house at the very time Sarah was taken to his house, he thought to himself, What is this that G-d hath done unto us? And so he asked her, and she told him that she is Abraham’s wife. For this reason he called Abraham and accused him. Or it may be, as our Rabbis say, that Pharaoh was smitten with a certain skin disease which is aggravated by intimacy with a woman. Therefore he suspected that perhaps she is Abraham’s wife, and so he said to him with uncertainty…

Ramban on Genesis 12:18:1

וינגע ה' את פרעה נגעים גדולים, only Pharaoh was struck with “great” afflictions, whereas his household suffered lesser afflictions. This was arranged by G’d so that the Egyptians, when they saw that only Sarai had remained completely immune to these afflictions, would conclude that the afflictions were on account of her and her fate.

Sforno on Genesis 12:17:1-2

על דבר שרי, so that they could not claim that the plague was a coincidence, not related to Sarai’s abduction. An allegorical approach (related to a Midrash quoted by Rashi) the words על דבר שרי אשת אברם were spoken by the angel who inflicted this plague on Pharaoh and his household. The plain meaning is that after suffering this affliction, Pharaoh searched in his mind why this should have happened to him, and it eventually occurred to him that Sarai might have been a married woman. He then asked Sarai to tell her the truth…

Radak on Genesis 12:17:3

For the Shekinah did not leave Sarai all that night. When Pharaoh tried to approach her, the angel came and smote him. Whenever Sarai said “smite”, he smote, and meanwhile Abram firmly trusted in God that He would allow no harm to come to Sarai, as it is written, “the righteous are bold as a lion” (Prov. 28, 1). This is one of the trials which Abram endured without complaining against God.

Zohar, Lech Lecha 13:123

קח ולך, go and leave immediately before any person in my kingdom tries to rape her. She is too beautiful for most of my subjects to resist the temptation she represents for them. The reason why Avram did not bother to answer Pharaoh as he did Avimelech later (20,11-13) was because Avimelech had not expelled him, so that he deserved an answer.

Radak on Genesis 12:19:3

AND PHARAOH GAVE MEN CHARGE CONCERNING HIM: why so? In order that no man should come near to hurt them. AND THEY BROUGHT HIM ON THE WAY: i.e. they conducted him through the land of Egypt. Said God to him: So art thou destined to do to his descendants: thou shalt conduct them from thy land, as it is written, “And it came to pass when Pharaoh let go (beshallach, lit. escorted) the people” (Ex. 13, 17).’

Zohar, Lech Lecha 15:139

על כן לא נתתיך, as we explained already, this is a reference to G’d having made Avimelech impotent. By doing this, G’d had done Avimelech a great favour. The reason why G’d extended Himself on his behalf was because He knew that Avimelech had indeed believed that Sarah was unattached. G’d did not want that Avimelech would become a sinner in regard to the wife of the prophet Avraham. Even though, granted that in the final analysis G’d intervened due to Avraham and Sarah being the potential victims, He could have saved Sarah from Avimelech’s clutches by a variety of other means…

Radak on Genesis 20:6:4

As he was about to cross the Nile, the tax-collectors gathered about him and asked: “What are you carrying in the cabinet?” “Barley,” he replied. They retorted: “It is not barley, but wheat.” “Then charge me the duty for wheat,” said he. “But it may be pepper,” they argued. “Then take the tax for pepper,” he insisted. They said to him: “It must be gold coins.” Finally, they compelled him to open the box. When they beheld her countenance, which was as radiant as the sun, they said to him: “Truly, she is not meant for a commoner…

Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 5:2-3

Thus had not Sarai been taken to Pharaoh, he would not have been plagued, and it was his castigation which caused the subsequent castigation of the Egyptians. The word “great” is applied here to the plagues inflicted on Pharaoh and also to the “signs and wonders which God showed upon Egypt” (Deut. 6, 22), to indicate that here, as there, were ten plagues, and that just as God performed wonders for Israel by night, so He performed wonders for Sarai by night.’

Zohar, Lech Lecha 13:117

The first Pharaoh, seeing that Sarah was a beautiful woman, commanded his artists to make a likeness of her. They painted her picture on one of the walls of his bed- chamber, but he was not satisfied until they made a picture of her on wood, which he took with him to bed. Each successive Pharaoh used similarly to feast his eyes on that picture. For that reason Pharaoh was punished more severely than his subjects; the frogs entering even into his bed.

Zohar, Vaera 17:155

SO THAT I TOOK HER TO BE MY WIFE. The meaning thereof is that it was Pharaoh’s intention that she be his regal wife, not just his concubine. Pharaoh mentioned this to Abraham so that he should confess to him if she is his sister, as I have explained.

Ramban on Genesis 12:19:1

למה לא הגדת לי, even if you had reason to suspect the ordinary citizens would harm you on account of her, surely you could have told me, the king, the truth, seeing that it is my task to rule with justice. ?למה אמרת אחותי היא, even after she had already been brought to my palace? ואקח אותה לי לאשה, so that I took her to be my wife, not my concubine. I though that seeing that she is your sister you would surely approve of this union!

Sforno on Genesis 12:18:1-19:2

Reish Lakish said in the name of bar Kappara: Pharaoh was stricken with raatan. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: A certain elder afflicted with a skin disease encountered me in Tzippori. He said to me: ‘There are twenty-four types of skin disease and none is more difficult regarding [sexual relations with] women than raatan.’ It was this with which Pharaoh was afflicted.
Rabbi Aḥa said: Even the beams of his palace were afflicted. And everyone was saying: “It is over the matter of Sarai, Abram’s wife…

Bereshit Rabbah 41:2

Relatedראו גם

Abimelech and Sarah

Abraham in Egypt

Parashat Lech Lecha

Sheetsדפי מקורות

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