Abramo, nostro padre, fu sottoposto a dieci processi: [uno —Ur Kasdim, dove Nimrod lo gettò nella fornace ardente; Due—"Vai dalla tua terra"; tre—"E c'era una fame"; quattro—"E la donna fu portata a casa del faraone"; cinque—la guerra dei re; sei—l'alleanza tra i pezzi, dove gli fu mostrato il soggiogamento (di Israele) da parte delle nazioni; Sette—circoncisione; otto—"E Avimelech mandò e prese Sarah"; nove—"Scaccia questa serva e suo figlio"; dieci— il legame di Isacco], e ha resistito a tutti loro, per apprendere (gli uomini) del grande amore di nostro padre Abramo, che la pace sia su di lui.
Gur Aryeh
"For if they will say..." Now, you may argue that the verse is still problematic; for how does the issue of the giving of the land connect to Torah's mitzvot? This is clear, since most of the Torah's mitzvot are performed in conjunction with (the Jewish people's sovereignty or dwelling in) the land. Donations, tithes, and the construction of a temple must be done in the land. When Jewish people do not have the land, they cannot fulfill these mitzvot at all.
It is within this context of natural human existence that we need to study the various tests encountered by Avraham in the Torah. In our attempt to grasp the relevance of his tests for us, we must remember that Avraham was a spiritual giant. Yet it is critical that we also note that he was not born that way. In other words, Avraham was not a static individual. He is not the exact same person when he is first told to move to Eretz Yisrael as he is much later, when God asks him to kill his son Yitzchak. He has developed in a way that is natural and, therefore, instructive. Indeed, from the point of view of natural human development, the well-known rabbinic tradition that Avraham encountered ten different trials (Avot 5:3) takes on a significance that may otherwise be overlooked. Rather than seeing these tests as independent of one another, as would be the case with ten distinct missions given to ten different people, we can understand the ten trials as one singular path outlining Avraham’s moral and spiritual development.
In order to understand the need for Avraham’s first nine tests, it is worthwhile to focus our attention on what may be the most revealing of these earlier tests – the expulsion of Avraham’s first son, Yishmael. Rambam enumerates this as the penultimate test.6Commentary on the Mishna – Avot 5:3, possibly based on Yalkut Shimoni, Parashat Vayera 94, which also identifies this as the ninth trial. This test almost immediately precedes and somehow sets the stage for Avraham’s final ordeal with his other son, Yitzchak.