Rabbi Saadyah Gaon wrote that by mentioning “threads and shoe-laces,” the Torah wanted to include both vegetable, animal matter as well as inert matter. The word מחוט includes all vegetable matter including fruit and grain. The words ועד שרוך נעל refer to matters derived from living creatures such as domestic animals or birds. The words ואם אקח, “or if I will take (accept)” refer to inert matter and include silver and gold, jewels, etc. This is why he added the words: “nor will I take anything which was yours.”
Bereshit Rabbah 43,13 views the words: “if either a thread or a shoelace,” as follows. G’d said to Avram: “you have spoken about a ‘thread.’ In recognition I will give your descendants the commandment of ציצית, ‘fringes’. They too are called “threads.’” The translation of פתיל תכלת is חוטא דתכלתא “blue thread.” Regarding the expression שרוך נעל, ‘shoelace’, something else Avram refused to accept, G’d told him that the Jewish people would receive the commandment of תפילין, “the straps of the phylacteries” as compensation. The Jewish people would also receive the commandment of eating from the Passover, of which the Torah says that it should be eaten (the first time in Egypt) נעלכם בגליכם, “while you wear your shoes.” The Israelites also merited the commandment of יבום וחליצה, “the levirate marriage and its corollary the removal of the candidate’s shoe if he refused to perform that commandment and thus would enable his sister-in-law to remarry outside the family” (compare Deut. 25, 4-10). The Torah speaks of הנעל חלוץ in that connection also.
“may the Lord judge between me and you.” Bereshis 16,5
Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 45,5 state that if one invokes the attribute of Justice against a fellow human being one will not emerge from such a confrontation completely unharmed. But for the fact that Sarai invoked the attribute of Justice she would have lived to the same age as Avrohom. Because she appealed to the attribute Justice in her quarrel with Avram she lost 48 years of her life.
Rabbi Aushiyah added that seeing that at the time when Sarai said: “let the Lord judge between me and you,” Hagar was already pregnant with child seeing the Torah said ויבא אל הגר ותהר, what was the point of the angel announcing to Hagar (verse 11) “here you are pregnant and you will give birth to a son?” He should only have told her that she would bear a son. We learn from this line that Sarai had looked at Hagar with the evil eye and she had aborted her fetus.” Rabbi Chanina added that if the prophet Elisha had made such a statement under the influence of the Holy Spirit that would have been sufficient [a reference to Kings II 4,17 where he predicted that the Shunamite woman would embrace a son a year from the time of the prophecy. On that occasion the Shunamite woman suspected the prophet of raising her hopes in vain.] Thus far the comment of Bereshit Rabbah.
