Ohr HaChaim HaKodosh
Shov oshuv – “I shall surely return” (18:10)
The Ohr HaChaim HaKodosh explains that the reason why the double expression "shov oshuv" - "return" is used is to hint at a teaching by our sages that when Yitzchok was born he was unfit to have children because his birth came through the feminine attribute known as Sitra Denukva. During the Akeida [his feminine soul departed and then] he merited a masculine soul and was subsequently able to have children.
This is why the Maloch said, “Shov oshuv eilecha ko’es chaya vehinei vein leSora, meaning: “This child is ben leSora – he is a son of Sora, the female, and he comes from Sitra Denukva, making him unfit to have children (since he is a male). However, shov oshuv – I shall certainly return,” said the Maloch, and “Oshuv – I shall come back to give him a masculine soul, through Avrohom from Alma Deduchra – from the masculine realm through his father. I shall return to him at the Akeida and there give him a new masculine soul so that he can have children, as it says at the Akeida (22:11) that the Maloch called to him from the heavens, referring to two visits: the first, the Maloch’s visit to tell them the news that Yitzchok would be born, and the second, the Akeida, to grant him a masculine soul capable of having children.
The reason that Yitzchok was born this way, explains the Ohr HaChaim, was because Avrohom had said (17:18,) “Would that Yishmoel live before You!” The Ohr HaChaim explains there that because Avrohom disbelieved Hashem’s Maloch that he would father a son, and asked that Yishmoel live, the Maloch replied that Sora would give birth. Thus, Yitzchok became known as Sora’s child rather than Avrohom’s, inheriting her feminine quality, and because Yitzchok was a male, he was therefore unable to have children.
Avrohom therefore suffered greatly at the Akeida because of this incident. There, he bound Yitzchok on the altar, and at that time Yitzchok’s soul was exchanged for a masculine soul capable of having children. This is also why at that time his soulmate, Rivka, was born, so that he could marry and start a family.
The Ohr HaChaim explains this idea further at the end of our Parsha (22:20): “And it was after these matters”. This teaches us that Rivka, the partner of Yitzchok, was born, and the reason she was born now and not before is as we explained, that Yitzchok was born from the feminine aspect called Sitra Denukva and only after the Akeida was a male soul placed within him.
