The Plot Thickens

In my last post, we began an investigation of the following question:

In B'reshith (Genesis) 23:2, Scripture records that Sarah (wife of Avraham/Abraham) died in Chevron (Hebron). This implies that Avraham and Sarah were living in Chevron at this time. Furthermore, it is an accepted Jewish tradition, although not explicit in Scripture, that Sarah died at the time of the Akeydah (the "binding") of Yitzchok (Isaac) described in 22:1-19. If so, why does Avraham's journey to perform the Akeydah at Mt. Moriyah, synonymous with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, take 3 days (22:4)? Chevron and Jerusalem are not so far apart! Furthermore, verse 19 there states that Avraham went to B'er Sheva after the Akeydah. Why did Avraham not go home to Chevron? And if he lived in B'er Sheva, why was Sarah in Chevron?

We presented an excerpt from Sepher haYasher suggesting that they lived in B'er Sheva but that Sarah had reached Chevron and died there on her search for Avraham and Yitzchak.

In a comment to that post, Andrew challenged this answer with a citation from Rashi's classic commentary on the Torah, as follows:

22:19
Avraham returned to his attendants, and they rose and went together to Beer Sheva. Avraham dwelt in Beer Sheva.

Rashi
"Avraham dwelt in Beer Sheva."

his does not refer to a permanent dwelling for he lived in Chevron. Twelve years before Yitzchok's akeidah he left Beer Sheva and moved to Chevron, as it is said: "Avraham lived in the land of the Philistines for many days," more than the first years in Chevron which totaled 26 years as we explained above.


Now... I'm not sure exactly what math Rashi is doing at the end of that but he seems to disagree with you. Avraham was living in Hebron, not Beer Sheva, at the time of the akeidah.

So the question still remains. Why did he go to Beer Sheva afterwards?

First off, good snoop work, Andrew!

As for the math Rashi does at the end, Rashi is referring back to his comments on 21:24:

"Avraham lived in the land of the P'lishtim (Phillistines) many days."

B'er Sheva is understood by Rashi to be within the land of P'lishtim, and therefore we understand that the verse refers to his sojourn there. Rashi on this verse, based on Seder Olam (an ancient Jewish chronology), calculates, according to the Scriptural narrative, how Avraham spent 25 years in Chevron, 26 years in B'er Sheva, and then another 12 years in Chevron until the death of Sarah, as follows (this is complicated; if you don't care about the calculation, skip the next paragraph):

The phrase "many days" in this verse implies that Avraham lived there longer than anywhere else until that point. Avraham left Charan (Haran) for the land of K'na'an (Canaan) at the age of 75. At that age he arrived and settled in the Plains of Mamre that are in Chevron (13:18). At the age of 99 he was circumcised, and on the 3rd day after his circumcision he was visited by angels predicting the birth of Yitzchak one year later and proceeding to overturn S'dom (Sodom). Avraham was still living in the Plains of Mamre at this time (18:1). Immediately after the destruction of S'dom, (20:1) in Avraham's 99th year, Avraham relocates to G'rar, in the land of P'lishtim, where the incident with Avimelech, king of P'lishtim, occurs (see there), after which Avimelech tells Avraham (20:15), "Behold, my land is before you; dwell wherever it is good in your eyes." Scripture is not explicit at this point about where in the land of P'lishtim Avraham chooses to dwell, although it is implicit later on, as when Avraham sends Hagar and Yishma'el (Ishmael) away (21:14) the verse tells us: "She went and wandered in the wilderness of B'er Sheva," and when Avraham meets Avimelech again (21:22-34) Scripture tells us that the place was named B'er Sheva after the oath (sh'vu'ah) taken between Avraham and Avimelech there. So Avraham was in Chevron from the age of 75 until 99, which, including the 75th year, totals 25 years in Chevron. Now, if he dwelt in B'er Sheva from the age of 99, and lived there more years than in Chevron, as implied by 21:34, he must have lived there for at least 26 years. If Avraham would have lived in B'er Sheva more than one year longer than in Chevron, Scripture would have been explicit about it, therefore we can assume that Avraham's years in B'er Sheva totalled no more than 26. That would make Avraham 125 when he left B'er Sheva. Accordingly, Sarah would have been 115 at the time. Since Sarah died in Chevron at the age of 127, this implies that Chevron was their destination after leaving B'er Sheva. So, Sarah's last 12 years were lived in Chevron. Since she died at the time of the Akeydah, they were certainly living in Chevron at this time. Thus is Rashi's calculation. And thus we fall right back into our initial questions:

Why did Avraham's journey from Chevron to Mt. Moriyah take 3 days?
Why did Avraham go to B'er Sheva after the Akeydah and not back home to Chevron?

As for the first question, Rashi, in his comments to 22:4, explains, according to the Midrash Tanchuma (VaYera 22), that G-d did not show Avraham the place right away, because if Avraham would have carried out G-d's directive to slaughter his son immediately, it would appear that Avraham lost his mind, abducted his son and killed him. However, since the journey took a number of days, it would have been enough time for a crazed Avraham to come to his senses. This delay, then, made it clear that Avraham acted with sound mind and body under the influence of nothing other than a divine directive.

As for the second question, the Ramban, in his comments to 23:2, suggests that Avraham went back to the place of his eshel, the orchard/inn he had established in B'er Sheva in 21:33, in order to give thanks to G-d for the miracle of the Akeydah. The Ramban does not, however, elaborate as to why it was necessary for Avraham to go all the way to B'er Sheva to do so.

In the meantime, then, this detail remains shrouded in mystery and subject to speculation. I invite the reader to submit his/her own thoughts as to the mystical B'er Sheva connection. For my part, I do intend to dig deeper and hope to requite the readership in due time with my conclusions.

Get to work, gumshoes!