How, then, does this God deal with Abraham in this passage? The chapter opens with “the word of the Lord” (15:1) coming to Abraham in a vision, echoing the language used in Israelite literature of the prophets. Not only is the God of Abraham portrayed as the Yahweh of Israelite faith, but Abraham is seen as similar to the later prophets of Yahweh, and thus in another way the promises given to him by God are seen as valid for the Israelites. Yahweh’s initial words to Abraham are “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (15:1). It is difficult to account for “Do not be afraid” if chapter 15 is held to be from an entirely different source to chapter 14, as von Rad suggests. Rather, I take “After these things” as referring to the events of the previous chapter; and thus the danger Abraham is afraid of is possible reprisal from Cherdorlaomer and the other kings (14:17) from whom Abraham has rescued Lot in Genesis 14. This requires some sort of literary unity to the chapters, at least in the canonical form of Genesis, and is potentially supported by the philological evidence. The word מִגֵּן (he delivered) used in 14:20 is from the same root as the word מָגֵן (shield) in 15:1, and these are the only uses of either word in the first four books of the Pentateuch, suggesting some kind of literary link. Thus the sense of Yahweh’s words to Abraham in 15:1 would be not to be afraid of any possible military reprisals for his action in chapter 14, since Yahweh will act as his “shield” and protect him from such attacks. In addition, Yahweh reiterates his promises to bless Abraham, first given in 12:1-3, by reassuring him that “your reward shall be very great”. As the NRSV text suggests, the reward here is not viewed as Yahweh himself, so much as the blessings given by him to Abraham, principally (in view of what follows) that of descendants. Luther’s translation “Ich bin dein Schild und dein sehr großer Lohn“, and the NIV’s corresponding “I am your shield, your very great reward“ are much freer renderings – the “reward” is “first of all the innumerable posterity” first promised in 12:2 and again in 15:5. Yahweh here promises Abraham a reward, the nature of which is made clear by what follows.
In terms of the structure of the passage, there seem to be two major sections of promise, questioning, and the giving of a sign to reinforce the promise: 15:1-6 deals with the question of Yahweh’s promise to Abraham of descendants; and 15:7-21 with the promise of land. Whether these two incidents originally occurred together or not, it is significant that they are put together and narrated in a parallel way by the Pentateuchal author(s), since they both deal with different aspects of the divine promises of Genesis 12:1-3.
Abraham’s response to the restatement of these promises is, at least initially, disbelief and questioning: “What will you give me, for I continue childless…?” (15:2). The promises of 12:1-3 seem no nearer fulfilment and Eliezer, “a slave born in [Abraham’s] house is to be [his] heir” (15:3). What good is it for Abraham to enjoy Yahweh’s protection when there is still no sign of him having a son? Again Yahweh restates his promise and strengthens it – Abraham’s heir is not to be his slave but his son (15:4).
To illustrate and reinforce this verbal promise by a sign, Abraham is told by Yahweh to go outside and look at the stars in the sky. Yahweh promises that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as these (15:5). Claus Westermann suggests that this particular sign is apt as “looking at the stars … transports man’s gaze from the narrow horizon of human events” towards God’s activity. This seems to fit with the tenor of the passage: Abraham is to trust Yahweh and believe his promise, in spite of the apparent lack of fulfilment so far.
This Abraham does: “he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness” (15:6). His silence and ceasing of further questioning concerning the prospect of children is taken by the narrator to signify a belief in Yahweh; specifically that Abraham considered the assurances given by Yahweh to be true. This seems to be a faith which allows room for some questioning of God – and indeed the impression of Abraham’s faith in Yahweh’s promises given is not that of artificial, moralising piety, but that of a credible and earthly human being. From an Israelite perspective, it would presumably have been comforting to know that such a faith, found also in the Psalms of lament, was still a genuine one, which was acceptable before Yahweh.
Quite what 15:6 means when Yahweh is said to “reckon it to him as righteousness” is far from obvious. According to Wenham, צדקה (“righteousness”) and its cognates are often found in a legal setting, where it is the righteous (innocent) who should be acquitted. It is also often contrasted with wickedness, thus holding a related sense of moral blamelessness. God is frequently called righteous, and Wenham suggests that “righteousness” can be “paraphrased as God-like, or at least God-pleasing action”. This seems to be the correct nuance here; rather than referring to a strictly legal status. In Ezekiel 18:5ff. righteousness is seen as doing “what is lawful and right”: specifically obedience to the Mosaic law – a reading that cannot be what is meant here, considerably prior to Sinai in the Pentateuch’s narrative. Instead, I consider that what is probably meant is “pleasing Yahweh”. Crucially, though, the text does not say that Abraham pleased Yahweh, but that Yahweh reckoned or counted it to Abraham as if he had pleased him, because of his faith: a statement that fills this passage with a wider relevance and significance for Christian commentators from the New Testament authors to the present day.
The second, and longer section (15:7-21) deals with the question of land. This is the second major element in Yahweh’s promise in 12:1-3, and as with the issue of descendants seems to be no closer to being fulfilled. Yahweh promises to give the land to Abraham (15:7) and Abraham again responds doubtfully, and asks how he may know this (15:8). Again, a reinforcing sign is provided by Yahweh – though this time in the stronger form of a covenant agreement.
The ceremony performed here does seem reminiscent of a sacrifice, although it does not correspond to any of the sacrifices described in the Mosaic Law, and it is not done in a context of earning anything from Yahweh. Many commentators instead link the dividing of the animal carcasses with 15:18 “The Lord made (כַּרִת - literally, “cut”) a covenant with Abram” and interpret the ceremony as “an enacted curse”. The purpose of the ceremony is to bind the partners of the covenant (here, Abraham and Yahweh) together, with the implicit statement “may it be done to me as has been done to these animals, should I break the terms of the covenant”. Significantly, nothing is here asked of Abraham as a term or condition for Yahweh to fulfil his promise of land, except (implicitly) his belief. As in 15:6, Yahweh is the active partner; Abraham receives the blessings freely by faith in Yahweh’s promises. This is presumably why we are told that the smoking fire-pot and flaming torch (15:17) pass through the pieces, whereas Abraham does not. The use of smoke and fire as images of the visible presence of Yahweh is also found elsewhere in the Pentateuch, notably in the Exodus narrative and again links the God of Abraham with the God of Israel.
In addition, the narrative here has Yahweh revealing to Abraham a timescale for the reception of the land. Unlike with the promise of descendants, Abraham will not live to see this fulfilled, but it will be centuries before his progeny inherit and possess the land (15:13-16). A detailed description of enslavement in Egypt, followed by return to the land and the taking possession of it is given. From the perspective of the Israelite author(s), this has already happened, making this technically a vaticinium ex eventu. However, from the perspective of the Pentateuchal narrative, which presents a picture of a strongly sovereign God, it is not at all inconsistent for Yahweh to make such prophetic statements to Abraham. Recorded here, it becomes an expression of Israel’s faith in the sovereignty of Yahweh and a linking of the irrevocable promises made to Abraham to Israel via the Exodus tradition.
Both of these sections are thus significant developments in terms of restating and defining the fulfilment of the promises given to Abraham in 12:1-3. The promise of descendants is reaffirmed and given new force by the suggestion that these will come through Abraham’s own issue, and that they will be as numerous as the stars. The promise of land is reinforced and given a timescale, although one that places the reception of the land outside the lifetime of Abraham. Thus this chapter functions within the Pentateuchal narrative to point forward to the future fulfilment of the promises given in 12:1-3: Abraham’s God is not unable to fulfil them, but in control of events and the timing of the fulfilment, and is the same God – Yahweh – as that worshipped by the Israelites.
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Bibliography of works cited
Except where stated, Bible quotations are from the Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Anglicized Edition (© Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, 1989, 1995).
Clines, David J. A., The Theme of the Pentateuch (Sheffield: JSOT, 1978).
Kidner, Derek, Genesis (Leicester: IVP, 1967).
Goldingay, John, “The Patriarchs in Scripture and History”, in A.R Millard and D.J. Wiseman (eds), Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives (Leicester: IVP, 1980), pp.11-42.
Moberly, R.W.L., Genesis 12-50 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1992).
Routledge, Robin, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (Nottingham: Apollos, 2008).
Von Rad, Gerhard, Genesis, ET (London: SCM, 1971).
Wenham, Gordon J., Genesis 1-15 (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987).
Westermann, Claus, Genesis 12-36: A Commentary, ET (London: SPCK, 1986).
I will use the more familiar name “Abraham” throughout, although this appellation appears first in Genesis 17.
David J. A. Clines, The Theme of the Pentateuch (Sheffield: JSOT, 1978), pp.27-29.
Genesis 15:1, 5, 7, 13-16.
Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15 (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), p.258.
Gerhard von Rad, Genesis, ET (London: SCM, 1971), pp.31-34.
Moberly, R.W.L., Genesis 12-50 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1992), pp.14-15
Another conservative explanation, and one found in early Jewish commentary, is that the name Yahweh was indeed known to Abraham, and that Exodus 3 and 6 refer to the revelation of the full glory associated with the name (so Derek Kidner, Genesis (Leicester: IVP, 1967), pp.19-20). This seems to me to do less justice to the text.
Robin Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (Nottingham: Apollos, 2008), pp.92-94.
John Goldingay, “The Patriarchs in Scripture and History”, in A.R. Millard and D.J. Wiseman (eds), Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives (Leicester: IVP, 1980), p.14 n.2.
There seem to be some chronological problems with such a view: in 15:5 it is presumably already night; in 15:12 it is sunset.
The ending of 15:2 is textually problematic. Von Rad claims it is “absolutely untranslatable” (p.183). Wenham suggests that 15:3 is a gloss to explain a phrase in 15:2 which became corrupted early on (p.328). The lxx adds another explanatory gloss: ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπολύομαι ἄτεκνος· ὁ δὲ υἱὸς Μασεκ τῆς οἰκογενοῦς μου, οὗτος Δαμασκὸς Ελιεζερ (“for I depart childless, apart from the son of Masek my female household slave, this Eliezer of Damascus”). In any case, the substance of Abraham’s complaint is clear: he has yet to have a child and so someone else will inherit his estate.
Claus Westermann, Genesis 12-36: A Commentary, ET (London: SPCK, 1986), p.222.
Wenham, p.332. See von Rad, p.185; Kidner, p.135.