“And Sara was listening at the entrance of the tent, and he was behind him” (B’reishis 18:10). The meaning of the last two words in this verse, which I translated as “and he was behind him,” is unclear. Who was behind who? ArtScroll, following Rashi, translates it as “which was behind him,” i.e. the entrance of the tent, from where Sara was listening, was behind the angel who was talking to Avraham. The angels had asked Avraham where his wife was, to which he responded that she was inside the tent (18:9). The “lead” angel then told Avraham that in exactly a year his wife would have a son, words that Sara heard. In case we couldn’t picture where everyone was situated (aside from knowing that Sara was inside the tent), the verse tells us that the angel was facing Avraham while having his back to the tent (as the tent was behind the angel while he was addressing Avraham).

This explanation seems rather strained, for several reasons. First of all, does it really matter where each of them was standing? Isn’t it the contents of the message that was important, not their relative positions to each other? Once we are told that Sara could hear the conversation from the doorway, do we need to know how she was able to hear it because the angel who was talking was nearby? Secondly, if the angels asked where Sara was so that she could hear the message, why aren’t we told that she came to the doorway before the message is delivered? The way it’s presented makes it seem as if she was eavesdropping on a conversation between the angels and her husband. Additionally, if the first “he” refers to the doorway, shouldn’t the wording (in the text, as opposed to how it’s translated) have been “which was behind him” (“she’haya acharav”) rather than “and he was behind him” (“v’hu acharav”)?

Targum Yonasan and B’reishis Rabbah (48:16) explain the “he” to be Yishmael, who was either behind the angel so that Sara wouldn’t be alone with him, or behind the door listening to what the angel was telling Avraham. It would be difficult to say that this is “p’shat” (the plain, straightforward meaning) in the verse, since Yishmael is not mentioned in this narrative. Even if Yishmael was the “young lad” who helped prepare the food (see Rashi on 18:7), the pronoun “he” is used five times afterwards, with (at least) the last four (and perhaps all five) referring to Avraham, as the pronoun “you” (18:9) is referring to the same person as the previous “he” (which obviously refers to Avraham since Sara was his wife). Nevertheless, it can be suggested that the plain meaning is as Rashi explained it, with the awkward wording used to include the Midrashic inference to Yishmael.

Meshech Chuchma has a very different approach, explaining the last two words as being directed towards Sara. After telling Avraham that Sara would give birth to a son, the angel then turned to Sara, who was in the tent (for modesty reasons) yet able to hear the conversation, and told her that “he,” i.e. the son whom I just told Avraham you would give birth to, “will be after him,” i.e. will follow in Avraham’s footsteps and continue the mission (as opposed to Yishmael or the sons of K’turah). Meshech Chuchma quotes several instances where the promises made to Avraham for becoming circumcised were extended “to your descendants after you” (17:7-10), indicating that the word “after you” (or in this case “after him,” since the “him” is referring to Avraham) is a euphemism for “those who will continue the Abrahamic mission.” I would add that the very same word (“acharav,” i.e. “after him”) is used later in this same narrative, when G-d explains why he telling Avraham about His plans for S’dom; “for I know that he will command his sons and his household after him, and they will keep the way of G-d, by doing righteousness and justice” (18:19). The angel was informing Sara (and Avraham) that the son born to Sara would be the progeny through which all of their dreams would be realized.

Although at first glance this approach seems strained (Meshech Chuchma cites other examples, as well as the justification for reading the verse this way), a closer look at the context of the verses frames them in a way that reads quite well: The angels asked Avraham where Sara is (18:9) because the message was intended for her as well. The answer (that she is in the tent) was not meant to indicate that she is not around to hear it, as is obvious from the next verse. Rather, it explains why the first part is directed to Avraham, as Sara is out of sight, even though they also want her to hear what they tell Avraham. Sara was not eavesdropping on a conversation between them and her husband, she was being included in the conversation. Nevertheless, just as Avraham addressed the leader of the angels (18:3 and the first part of 18:4) even though his intended audience was all three, the angel addressed Avraham even though he was talking to Sara as well. Had the Torah told us right away that Sara was listening from the entrance of the tent, we might have thought that she had been listening even before the angel asked where she was. By waiting until after the first part of the message was delivered to tell us that Sara could hear the conversation from the tent, we not only know that she wasn’t eavesdropping, but are being made aware that at this point the message is being directed towards her rather than towards Avraham (even though Avraham was supposed to hear it too). [The information, that it will be through the son she bears that Avraham’s mission will be fulfilled, was directed at her because she will be the one who makes sure that others will not get in the way of Yitzchok going “after him,” by protecting him from Yishmael’s influence even though Avraham wasn’t thrilled about sending his older son away (21:9-12).]

The words “and Sara was listening at the entrance of the tent” are a parenthetical statement placed in the middle of the angel’s words, functioning as (l’havdil) stage directions, as if the “script” read “(turning to Sara, the angel continued by saying),” separating the part of the message that was directed to Avraham from the part that was directed to Sara. The message, though, was clear. Sara will give birth in a year to a son, who will be the one to continue the mission “after” Avraham.