Shabbat Vayeira - 5786

Shabbat Vayeira - 5786

Rabbi Hal Miller

  And he said, I will surely return to you at this time next year, there will be life, and

  behold a son to Sarah your wife. Now Sarah heard at the entrance of the tent and

  it was behind him. [Bereishit 18:10]

This verse, and its companion 18:14, use the phrase ca'eit chayah. There are many explanations as to what that may mean. The second word, chayah, is pretty clear on its own, meaning life. The first word is a little more flexible, but still fairly clear. The 'ca' part usually means like or as. 'Eit' is a word for time, time period, season, or similar. Thus a literal translation of the phrase would be "as a time of life". Here, the Torah seems to mean something more.

It is not clear what life is being mentioned in the verse. Some understand 'chayah' to refer to newborn life, meaning Yitzchak. But many others disagree. Onkelos translates it "as this time when you are alive" referring to Avraham and Sarah. Ibn Ezra expands that to say that "you be alive and well next year when we return". Radak seems to follow this pattern that chayah refers to Avraham and Sarah, "at this time next year seeing that you both be alive Sarah will bear a son." Ramban, and even Rashi follow the idea in their alternative explanations.

The first word of the phrase, ca'eit, yields many opinions. Rav Hirsch explains "There are two words for time, zman and eit. Zman is time in general in its duration and effect, eit designates a point in time", in other words Rav Hirsch thinks the Torah here is referring to a specific date in the future. The verses do not actually say "next year", but most commentators believe that this is implied. The Gemara [Rosh Hashanah 11a] tells that Yitzchak was born on Pesach, thus the point in time of our verse must also be Pesach. Rashi notes that the verse does not say c'eit, rather ca'eit, meaning not at a general time but at this specific time. Rashbam and Radak disagree with this specification and say that the 'ca' means 'approximately'.

Torah Temimah reads the verse as "at this time I will return to you, as you now live Sarah shall have a son", interpreting the ca'eit as referring to the time of the return of the angel rather than the matter of who is living then, which he separates off.

Ramban explains ca'eit as "at the return of the year", which is his interpretation of Shmuel II [11:1]. According to Ramban, the angel was saying "I will surely bring back this very season for you", adding that Avraham and Sarah will be alive and Yitzchak will have been born. He then notes that neither the angel nor God returned to Avraham at this future time, and wonders whether the verse [21:1] "God remembered Sarah" fulfills this promise.

What we get from our verse is that all of Avraham, Sarah and Yitzchak would be alive the next year. Perhaps the 'surely return' applies merely to the fulfillment of Sarah giving birth rather than the reappearance of an angel.