Chazal (Bava Basra 16b) darshen from the pasuk: וה’ ברך את אברהם בכל – “Hashem blessed Avraham with everything” in Parshas Chayei Sorah, שלא היתה לו בת – “That Avraham never had a daughter”.
The Ramban and Kesav Sofer both ask, why is it that when one doesn’t have a daughter, he is considered to be blessed with everything?
Perhaps we can answer, that generally speaking people save up money to marry off their children. However, marrying off a son is much cheaper, as generally speaking it is the kallah’s side that must spend money on buying a dira for the new couple. Therefore, Chazal darshen, וה’ ברך את אברהם בכל – How could it be that Avraham still had any money left? It must be says the Gemara, שלא היתה לו בת- that he never had a daughter, therefore, he managed to keep his savings.
With this perhaps we can also answer something which I’m sure has bothered you for many years. A chosson is often referred to as the eidim, the question is, why he is he referred to as eidim in the plural which means witnesses, surely, he should be referred to as an eid, in the singular?
Peshat is, עד אחד אינו יכול להוציא ממון – “a single witness is not believed when it comes to matters of extracting money”. However, there is one case where even a single person is able to extract money – that is a chosson from his father-in-law. Since he is able to extract money, we refer to him as eidim in the plural. (Madanay Asher)
