Why had Sarah's tent stayed empty until Rivkah arrived? Out of honor for Sarah.
Yitzchak's bringing Rivkah into Sarah's tent reflects the deep honor he showed his mother, since that tent had stood untouched since her death until he brought Rivkah into it. The verse's mention of Yitzchak's love for his wife explains the depth of his grief for Sarah, which found no comfort until Rivkah herself consoled him. The midrash adds that Rivkah's arrival restored the miraculous blessings of Sarah's household, such as the blessing in the dough, which had ceased upon Sarah's death.AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5
“Isaac then brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebekah as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort after his mother’s death.”
AND ISAAC BROUGHT HER INTO HIS MOTHER — SARAH’s TENT. The construct is missing here [for the noun ohel (tent) appears with the definite article, and in this form it cannot be used in construct with “his mother Sarah.” The verse then should be understood as if it were written, “and Isaac brought her into the tent which was the tent of his mother Sarah.”] There are many cases like this.
The purport of the verse is to tell of the honor that Isaac bestowed upon his mother for from the time that Sarah died they did not take down her tent because they said, “Let not another woman come into the tent of the honorable mistress.” But when he saw Rebekah he brought her into that tent in her honor and there he took her as his wife. This is the meaning of the words, and he loved her, and he was comforted, indicating that he was deeply grieved for his mother, finding no comforter until he was comforted by his wife through his love for her. Otherwise, what reason is there for Scripture to mention a man’s love for his wife?
But Onkelos explained: And Isaac brought her into the tent and, behold, she was like Sarah his mother. It is for this reason that Scripture mentions the love he had for her because it was on account of her righteousness and the aptness of her deeds that he loved her and was comforted by her.
And so the Rabbis mentioned in Bereshith Rabbah, “Before Sarah died there was a blessing of miraculous increase in the dough. [After her death it stopped, and when Rebekah came the blessing reappeared.”]