Vayeira 21:9 · unit 1

Parashas Vayeira · Passuk 21:9

The Complete Passuk

וַתֵּ֨רֶא שָׂרָ֜ה אֶֽת־בֶּן־הָגָ֧ר הַמִּצְרִ֛ית אֲשֶׁר־יָלְדָ֥ה לְאַבְרָהָ֖ם מְצַחֵֽק׃

And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Avraham, mocking.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Tosefta / midrashic collection (as cited; parallels in various sources).

TT lemma: מצחק.

Sefaria — context

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
מְצַחֵק. תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַאי אוֹמֵר, דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אֵין צְחוֹק הָאָמוּר כָּאן אֶלָּא עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה… רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, זֶה גִּלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת… רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, זֶה שְׁפִיכוּת דָּמִים… וַאֲנִי אוֹמֵר, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בְּבֵיתוֹ שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ צַדִּיק מִי שֶׁעוֹשֶׂה כֵּן, אֶלָּא אֵין צְחוֹק זֶה אֶלָּא יְרוּשָּׁה, שֶׁהָיָה יִשְׁמָעֵאל מְצַחֵק וְאוֹמֵר אֲנִי בְּכוֹר וְנוֹטֵל שְׁנֵי חֲלָקִים.

English: “Mocking.” It was taught: Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says in the name of Rabbi Akiva: The “laughter” spoken of here is only idolatry… Rabbi Eliezer says: This is sexual immorality… Rabbi Yehoshua says: This is bloodshed… And I say: Heaven forbid that there should be in the house of that righteous man anyone who does such things; rather, this “laughter” is only about inheritance—Yishmael was mocking and saying, “I am the first-born and I take a double portion.”

On the daf / in context: Multiple tannaitic readings of “metzachek” are offered; the preferred reading for the household of Avraham is a dispute over inheritance rights.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (baraita / midrash) — not a formal named middah of the 13. Competing interpretations of a single verb are weighed against the character of the household.

What Is Learned

The “mocking” of Yishmael is explained by some as idolatry, immorality or bloodshed, but the preferred reading is a claim of first-born inheritance rights that threatened Yitzchak.