Tucked in between the well-known episodes of our Parsha, including the birth of Yitzchak, the banishment of Yishmael, and Akeidat Yitzchak, there is an oft-passed-over sugya. I want to focus on this chapter and present an approach that takes us from Avraham Avinu to David HaMelech, adding context to a very long period that stretches through multiple books of Tanach. We will deviate from our tradition of opening with topics from the Parsha and instead begin by reviewing a section from the Nevi’im. From there, we’ll return to our Parsha and establish a great connection.
Sefer Shoftim, the Book of Judges
(13:1–15:8), speaks of Shimshon, a Shofet (Judge), whose parents were childless until an angel brought word of their forthcoming son. The angel informed them this child would be a nazir from the womb and would have the distinction of being a savior to the people:
He shall be the first to deliver Israel from the Philistines
Many commentators, including Metzudat David, explain יָחֵ ל to mean Shimshon will only start the process, whereas David HaMelech will complete that liberation from the Plishtim. We will skip the multiple conversations involving the angel and Shimshon’s parents – deep and significant exchanges – and fast-forward to a grown-up Shimshon.
The opening of the 14th chapter tells us Shimshon went down to Timnah, where a daughter of the Plishtim caught his eye. He requested his parents arrange for this girl – whose name we do not know – to be his wife, only to be challenged if there were no girls from Bnei Yisrael he could take instead. Shimshon, however, insisted on this one girl. The Navi tells us the story was not as simple as it appeared to the parents. Hakadosh Baruch Hu was looking to start a fight with the Plishtim, and Shimshon was laying the groundwork for it:
His father and mother did not realize that this was the Lord’s doing: He was seeking a pretext against the Philistines, for the Philistines were ruling over Israel at that time.
Shimshon’s parents accompanied him back to Timnah but separated from their son upon reaching כַּרְמֵי תִמְנָתָה – the Timnah Vineyards. The Vilna Gaon explains, his parents took a direct route through the vineyards but Shimshon took a circuitous route since he was a nazir and needed to avoid the temptation of tasting grapes. This follows the teachings of the Gemara (Bava Metzia 92a):
Go, go, we say to a nazirite, go round, go round; do not approach a vineyard.
While alone on the road, a young lion came roaring at Shimshon. The spirit of Hakadosh Baruch Hu gripped him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands. However, he did not tell his parents, or anyone else, of this incident.
Meanwhile, his parents were in Timnah and arranged for their son to marry the girl he sought. Shimshon met the girl, and their wedding plans were set. He returned the following year to marry her and, on his way, stopped to look at the remains of the lion he had killed. Behold, a swarm of bees and honey was now in its skeleton. Shimshon scooped out some honey to eat and brought the rest to his parents. Once again, he did not tell them, or anyone else, where the honey came from or how that lion met its fate. Mishpetzot Zahav says Shimshon could have passed through the vineyards this time, as no grapes were present during that season. He chose to travel via the spot where a miracle was performed for him, to offer thanks to Hakadosh Baruch Hu: שֶׁעָשָׂה לִי נֵס בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה.
Following their marriage, they threw a feast for seven days. (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (16:15) says that from this episode, and from Yaakov Avinu, we learn that sheva brachot festivities last seven days.) Given that Shimshon knew nobody in Timnah, the Plishtim invited thirty men (i.e., mesamchim, in modern parlance) to celebrate with the newlyweds. During the celebration, Shimshon turned to the townsmen and offered them a challenge, which was accepted. He presented a riddle and offered a prize of thirty sheets and thirty sets of clothing if they could solve it before the festivities wrapped up. They would provide Shimshon with the same prize if they failed to solve it.
So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, Out of the strong came something sweet.” For three days they could not answer the riddle.
The townsmen were stumped. Upon realizing they would lose the challenge and be required to pay the prize to Shimshon, the thirty men confronted Shimshon’s wife and delivered an ultimatum – either she retrieved the answer from her husband and divulged it to them, or they’d burn her and her father’s house to the ground. She immediately confronted Shimshon, angry that he posed a challenge to these friends without letting her in on it. Shimshon responded, “I haven’t even told my father and mother; shall I tell you?" – which caused his bride to break down in tears and pressure him relentlessly. On the seventh day, Shimshon gave in and explained the riddle to her – that he encountered a lion, killed it with his own hands, and later found bees and honey inside it. She didn’t hesitate to relay the answer to her townsmen. Just ahead of the buzzer on the final day, the men ran to Shimshon with the answer: מַה מָּתוֹק מִדְּבַשׁ וּמֶה עַז מֵאֲרִי – What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion. Shimshon responded: “Had you not coerced my wife, you’d have never solved it!” Shimshon now had a debt to pay – thirty sheets and thirty sets of clothing. Rather than running to the mall, the spirit of Hashem gripped him again, and he went to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty men and took their clothing. He wrapped it nicely and presented the prize.
Furious that his wife divulged the answer, he returned to his parents. His father-in-law interpreted this act as being a divorce. According to the Rambam, there was no concept of a get in Noahide law, and divorce was performed by simply saying, “I no longer want you; go home.” The girl’s father then arranged another marriage for his daughter with one of the thirty men invited to their wedding party.
After some time, Shimshon calmed down and was ready to return to his wife. Her father, however, prevented him from entering, explaining she was now married to one of his friends. As a consolation, he offered his more beautiful younger daughter. Shimshon walked away and declared:
Now the Philistines can have no claim against me for the harm I shall do them.
The stage was now set for a confrontation. Shimshon went out and caught three hundred foxes – not nearly as easy as catching three hundred cats in Bnei Brak overnight! We will soon see the reason he targeted foxes and not cats. Shimshon twisted each fox’s tail into the next and placed a torch between the two tails. He then set fire to the torches and sent the foxes into the fields of the Plishtim, where they destroyed haystacks, grain fields, and orchards. The Plishtim asked who was responsible and were told it was Shimshon, the husband of the girl from Timnah, because she was given to another man by her father. The Plishtim burned her and her father, to which Shimshon said:
Is this the way you behave? Nothing but vengeance against you, and only afterward will I stop!
The battle between Shimshon and the Plishtim continued, eventually reaching the lands of Bnei Yisrael and drawing them in.
You may ask yourselves if I’ve switched my shiur from Parsha to Navi, and while there would be nothing wrong with that, as Navi is something we need to learn, I would now like to connect this story of Shimshon back to our Parsha. The story of Akeidat Yitzchak begins with the words:
וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְהָאֱ-לֹהִים נִסָּה אֶת־אַבְרָהָם
After these events, Hashem tested Avraham.
There is a rule to remember – everywhere in Tanach where it says וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, there were previous connected events that led to what is being presented. Rashi asks what devarim – words or events – are being referred to here. He brings two answers from the Gemara (Sanhedrin 89b).
Rashi’s first answer: After the words of the Satan, who denounced Avraham for throwing a big party with the presence of world leaders but failing to offer direct gratitude to Hakadosh Baruch Hu after receiving a son. Hakadosh Baruch replied to the Satan, “Nonsense. If I commanded him to sacrifice that son to Me, he would not refuse.” The Midrash (Midrash Rabbah 55) records the same version, except it being Avraham who professed he hadn’t yet given thanks to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Rashi’s second answer is: After the words of Yishmael, who boasted to Yitzchak that he had been circumcised not at the innocent and unaware age of eight days but at thirteen years, with no resistance. Yitzchak replied, “You try to intimidate me by mentioning the loss of one part of the body. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu were to tell me, ‘Sacrifice yourself to Me’ I would not refuse!” Following these words, whether immediately or after several years, Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded that Yitzchak be brought as a sacrifice.
The Torah’s first instance of וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה was in last week’s parsha, just prior to Brit Ben HaBetarim. After defeating the kings, Avraham worried he had just received all the reward promised to him, yet he was still without a son. He also feared Hakadosh Baruch Hu was angry at him for killing so many people and cutting off their own offspring. Brit Ben HaBetarim and the rewards promised to him once again told him otherwise.
Two additional instances occur later in Sefer Bereshit where the words וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה introduce the story of Pharoah finding a bug in his drink and rock in his cake and proceeding to launch high-profile criminal cases against the sar hamashkim and sar ha’ofim. The devarim this story follows were from the national tumult involving Potiphar’s wife levying wild accusations against Yosef and the country being preoccupied with this viral news. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, “Yosef? They speak this way about My Yosef HaTzaddik?” So, after the devarim they spoke about Yosef, breaking news arrived regarding Pharoah’s kitchen and failed health inspections to steal the spotlight. וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה also prefaced that lead-up:
וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַתִּשָּׂא אֵשֶׁת־אֲדֹנָיו אֶת־עֵינֶיהָ אֶל־יוֹסֵף
After these events, his master’s wife [Potiphar’s wife] cast her eyes upon Yosef.
What devarim does this story follow? The Midrash says (Bereshit Rabbah 87:4), Yosef spoke to himself and wondered if he would have to face a test like the trials and tribulations his father Yaakov endured and as Avraham and Yitzchak also experienced. He considered himself relatively unscathed even after being shunned by his brothers and sold into slavery in a foreign land! So, after those devarim, the wife of Potiphar entered the room and served up a significant test.
We can see that all cases of וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה involve words being spoken and a subsequent response.
The Treaty with Avimelech
The Midrash in Tanna debei Eliyahu Rabbah (7:1) says not to do business and make verbal pacts with idol worshipers because we find that Avraham Avinu formed such a pact with Avimelech. This treaty is found in our Parsha (Bereshit 21:22-32).
Avimelech – after the mix up involving Sarah was resolved and his household cured of affliction – welcomed Avraham to his land: הִנֵּה אַרְצִי לְפָנֶיךָ שֵׁב בַּטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ - Behold, my land is before you. Live wherever you see fit (Bereshit 20:15). Shortly thereafter, he said to Avraham:
G-d is with you in all that you do... Now, swear to me here, by G-d, that you will not deal falsely with me, with my son, or my grandson. The kindness that I have done to you, do to me and to the land in which you lived for a while.
Avimelech, king of the Plishtim, reminded Avraham of his kindness and asked Avraham to swear he’d return that kindness to him, his children, and his grandchildren – three generations of Plishtim. Avraham’s response was affirmative: אָנֹכִי אִשָּׁבֵעַ – I will swear. Avraham then informed Avimelech of wells illegally overtaken by his servants. Acting dumbfounded, Avimelech said he would investigate the matter, and the treaty was signed. The Torah tells us the location was called Be’er Shava (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע) since the two made an oath (שְׁבוּעָה) there.
We’re then told Avraham lived peacefully in the land of Plishtim for twenty-six years, one longer than he lived in Chevron.
What chapter comes next in our parsha? It is none other than וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְהָאֱ-לֹהִים נִסָּה אֶת־אַבְרָהָם. The story of Akeidat Yitzchak!
Tanna Debei Eliyahu brings a description of what took place after the treaty. The angels came before Hakadosh Baruch Hu and said: “Why would Avraham make an alliance with an idol worshiper?” Hakadosh Baruch Hu replied: “I gave him a lone son after one hundred years. I will now tell him to bring his son as a korban. If he does, you will know his intentions were good, and it was for darchei shalom—ways of peace. And if not, you are right.” Avraham was immediately given the commandment of Akeidat Yitzchak.
Paraphrasing the angels’ words to Hakadosh Baruch Hu: “How and why did Avraham enter such a treaty? Does he not see You are the one protecting him? You took him out of Ur Kasdim. You saved him from Pharoah. You chose him from the seventy nations of the world. And now he’s turning to them for peace? Is he afraid of Avimelech? You punished Avimelech’s household until he begged for mercy – which Avraham delivered through tefilla – and now Avimelech sought a treaty because he was the one afraid! Avraham had no need for it, which is a lack of emunah on his part!” Hakadosh Baruch Hu responded that he’d test the emunah of Avraham Avinu.
R’ Avraham Sabah, in his sefer Tzror Hamor (Bereshit 22:2) explains the inherent problem in forming this pact, based on the wording כִּי שָׁם נִשְׁבְּעוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם – they both took an oath. He says Avimelech’s oath must have been in the name of Avodah Zarah. The Gemara says (Sanhedrin 63b), one may not vow in the name of an idol nor cause others to affirm their vows in its name, as it says:
וְשֵׁם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לֹא תַזְכִּירוּ לֹא יִשָּׁמַע עַל־פִּיךָ
Do not mention the name of other gods; you must not cause it to be heard through your mouth.
Avraham first tried to swear alone – אָנֹכִי אִשָּׁבֵעַ – but inevitably the pact involved Avimelech swearing in the name of Avodah Zarah. Hashem is מְדַקְדֵּק כְּחוּט הַשַּׂעֲרָה – exacting to a hair’s breadth in the judgment of tzaddikim, and Avraham was tested לְלַבְּנוֹ וּלְזֻכְּכוּ כְּכֶסֶף צָרוּף מְזֻוקָּק עֶשֶׂר פְּעָמִים – to purify and shine him like pure silver refined ten times.
The Rashbam is even stronger in his commentary. He says וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה refers to a treaty that established Avraham’s descendants could not register a claim on lands inhabited by the Plishtim for three generations. Avraham’s action angered Hakadosh Baruch Hu, seeing that he had effectively given away certain regions within the lands promised to his descendants. Consequently, Hakadosh Baruch Hu subjected Avraham to a painful test, something bound to cause him grief. נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם – Hakadosh Baruch Hu rebuked Avraham for thinking he could guarantee the well-being of his son through an unauthorized deal with Avimelech. Hakadosh Baruch Hu asked rhetorically, “What if I were to tell you to bring me that son, and he is no longer even around to protect? What good will your treaty do?” The Rashbam lists several resultant punishments. Corresponding to the seven sheep given to Avimelech as part of the treaty, the Aron HaBrit spent seven months captive in Plishtim hands; the Plishtim were victorious in seven wars; and they killed seven tzadikim: Shimshon, Chofni, Pinchas, Shaul and his three sons. Corresponding to the seven altars Avraham built, seven מִשְׁכְּנוֹת (temples) were destroyed after Bnei Yisrael entered Israel: Moshe’s Mishkan, Gilgal, Nov, Shiloh, Givon and the two Batei Mikdash.
Tanna Debei Eliyahu adds historical context:
There isn’t a nation that tortured and enslaved Bnei Yisrael more [than the Plishtim]... and all because Avraham made a pact with an idol worshiper.
Because of this treaty and its limitations placed on Bnei Yisrael, the Plishtim effectively had more control over them than anyone else for hundreds of years.
Connecting Back to Shimshon
We can now connect the dots back to our opening story of Shimshon. The Ramban comments on the pasuk דָּן יָדִין עַמּוֹ – Dan shall judge his people (Bereshit 49:16). Dan will avenge the cause of his people, all the tribes of Israel as one, as the Plishtim wronged all of Israel many times. He recalls some of these occurrences and adds that Shimshon was from the tribe of Dan.
The Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 54:2) says David HaMelech pleaded to Hakadosh Baruch Hu regarding the arichut yamim (longevity) of his enemy: וְאֹיְבַי חַיִּים עָצֵמוּ – My enemies are in vigorous life (Tehillim 38:20). Seven generations passed from Avraham Avinu to Moshe Rabbeinu (Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Levi, Kehat, Amram, and Moshe), but how many generations of Plishtim lapsed during that same period? Not even three! Avimelech’s grandson was still alive during yetziat mitzraim and was the reason why Bnei Yisrael did not travel דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים – via the land of the Plishtim. The Torah states כִּי קָרוֹב הוּא – because a relative, a קָרוֹב, was still there and Avraham Avinu swore to reciprocate chesed and stay clear of Avimelech for three future generations (לִי וּלְנִינִי וּלְנֶכְדִּי).
As the Rashbam pointed to in his commentary, there are many occasions in Tanach where this treaty affected Bnei Yisrael’s behavior in settling Eretz Yisrael. Rashi says (Devarim 2:23) because of Avraham’s oath, Bnei Yisrael would not have been able to take the land of Chatzerim from the Avim (Plishtim) if not for the Caphtorim conquering it first and dwelling in that land (Chullin 60b).
Another instance appears in the book of Yehoshua (15:63) as the land is being divided. An area of the Yevusim could not be taken, and its inhabitants remain there, within Yerushalayim, to this day. Rashi explains, based on the Sifrei (Devarim 72:1), these were not from the Yevusi nation we’re familiar with. מִגְדַּל דָּוִד – the Tower of David was called Yevus, and the inhabitants of that area were Plishtim, children of Avimelech. This story in Yehoshua was not a case of Bnei Yehuda being physically unable to capture that land but not being permitted to capture it because of the oath Avraham made to Avimelech, whose third generation was still alive! Bnei Yisrael reached Yerushalayim, and there was territory off-limits to them! Who could imagine such a travesty?
There are many more cases in Tanach where this treaty threw plans off the rails. David HaMelech pleaded with Hakadosh Baruch Hu for a solution to the third generation of Avimelech being seemingly immortal.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu said “enough” and sent in Shimshon. הוּא יָחֵל לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל. While traditionally explained as Shimshon will only start the process, the Radak says there is more to it. He says previous judges did not fight back with because of Avimelech’s treaty, but Avimelech’s oath would now be negated by Shimshon – הוּחַל שְׁבוּעָתוֹ שֶׁל אֲבִימֶלֶך. The word יָחֵל is from the context of לֹא יַחֵל דְּבָרוֹ - he shall not break his word (Bamidbar 30:3). Because of Shimshon, Avimelech’s treaty would be broken, and Bnei Yisrael exempted from its obligations. Shimshon had no desire to marry the girl from Timnah but did so just to settle the score with the Plishtim. His true intent was to set a pretext for the Plishtim to renege on Avimelech’s oath so that his treaty be nullified. The Shulchan Aruch states (Yoreh De’ah 236:6) when two people swear to undertake a matter and one breaks the oath, the other is now exempt and no longer needs to abide by their oath. The Shach adds pertinent commentary to this halacha:
Like making a covenant like Avraham's oath to Avimelech, who swore to each other that there would be peace between them, and then the Plishtim broke the oath and Israel was exempted from their oath and Shimshon fought with them:
The Gemara (Sotah 10a; Berachot 61a) discusses Shimshon’s actions. He caught three hundred foxes and tied their tails together. Why foxes? Because the fox is the smartest animal. It is the only animal that walks in reverse to evade its hunters, creating confusing footprints that allow it to escape. According to the Gemara, Shimshon was saying:
Let the fox, who goes backwards in its tracks, come and exact punishment from the Plishtim who reneged on their oath that Avimelech swore to Avraham.
The Plishtim were just like the fox in that they went backward on their word. And why did he tie their tails together? The Radak explains in order for them to bump into one another and travel backward together with their torches, rather than...
