Abraham was a trailblazer. He promoted new ideas about monotheism. These ideas would become the foundational pillars of the Jewish people and their religion Judaism.

As in the Noah story, there are two sub-plots winding through the Abraham narrative — one about Abraham’s relationship with YHWH and the other about his interactions with Elohim. The Abraham stories are configured in this way because Abraham’s ideas have both universalistic as well as tribal or particularistic implications.

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Seven blessings were bestowed upon Abraham and they offer considerable insights into the nature of the relationship between God and Abraham.1 Two blessings were in the form of covenants. The Covenant between the Pieces was transmitted by YHWH, while the second, the Covenant of Circumcision, was given over by Elohim. Because of their importance to the continuing narrative, these two covenants will be discussed in detail in this and a later chapter.

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Before going further, however, a fundamental question needs to be asked.  Why did God choose to engage with Abraham? The Torah does not address this question directly, but there are sufficient hints within the stories about Abraham to enable us to answer this question with some assurance.

 

Why did God choose Abraham?

Many commentators see Abraham’s greatness in his appreciation of God as the Creator of the universe. Hence, Maimonides, the influential Jewish thinker and legal authority, wrote in his monumental legal work the Mishneh Torah:

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He [Abraham] grasped the way of the truth and understood the just cause by his true perception. And he knew there is only one God who rules the world and He created all, and there is no other God except for Him. And he knew that the entire world erred and what caused them to err was that they worshiped the stars and other forms until they totally forgot the truth.2

 

Knowledge of God was known to Noah and his son Shem — “And he [Noah] said: ‘Blessed is YHWH, the God of Shem. . . . “ (ibid 9:26). However, with the passing of the generations, this knowledge may have been lost among many of Shem’s descendents.  The book of Joshua emphasizes that Abram’s family was pagan, including his father Terach, and that Abraham broke away from this pagan environment:

 

On the other side of the river, your father dwelt of old, Terach, father of Abraham and father of Nachor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river and led him throughout the whole land of Canaan. . . (Joshua 24:2-3).

 

But was Abraham’s rediscovery of monotheism such an earth-shattering accomplishment that it merited God appearing to him in visions and offering to create from his seed a new nation? The Torah itself reveals that Abram was not the only monotheist in his time. Following Abraham’s victory over the forces of King Chedorlaomer and his Mesopotamian coalition and his rescuing his nephew Lot, Abraham is greeted by Malchizedek, king of Salem, who “was a priest of El Elyon (God, the Most High)” (ibid 14:18). Says Malchizedek: “…  Blessed is Abram of El Elyon (God the Most High), Creator of heaven and earth . . . . “ (ibid 14:19). 

 

It is likely that Malchizedek’s conception of God was of Elohim, the transcendent God who created the universe. Abraham, on the other hand, appreciated that not only is Elohim the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, but there is another aspect of God, YHWH, Who wishes to form relationships with mankind. This is why Abraham was the first person in the world to call God “Adonai (my Master) (ibid 15:2).”3 The title Adonai (“my Master”) can be considered an active embodiment of the human response to knowledge of the individual providence of YHWH. As a Master, YHWH abets the lives of those attuned to His presence. Abraham also appreciated that a relationship with God can only be maintained by practicing moral behavior based on the way that God Himself acts in the world, what will be subsequently called “the way of YHWH” (ibid 18:19). This topic will be developed more in the next chapter.

 

Another vital aspect of Abraham was his activities in promoting knowledge of Elohim and YHWH among the population of Canaan. Abraham would arrive outside a main city, offer a sacrifice to God, and encourage the people of the city to join him in learning about the existence and attributes of God. This is termed in the Torah “to call out the name of YHWH.”

 

Hence, soon after arriving in Canaan:

 

From there [near Shechem] he relocated to the mountain east of Beth-Eel and pitched his tent, with Beth-El on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to YHWH and called out the name of YHWH (vayikra beshem YHWH) (ibid 12:9).

 

 Moreover, since Abraham recognized that he and God were in a relationship, it must be that everything God intended for him would be to his benefit. It was as if YHWH was saying to Abraham while still in his hometown in Mesopotamia: “I know that you have trust in Me. Now demonstrate this trust and begin a journey even though you do not know exactly to where I am leading you, and even its purpose. Nevertheless, be assured that this journey will be entirely to your benefit.” 

 

Abraham’s trust in God is emphasized in a number of places in the Abraham account. At the Covenant between the Pieces, YHWH promises Abraham that he will have a biological child and his offspring will be as numerous as the stars of the heavens (ibid 15:5). Until this time, Abraham and Sarah’s married life had been marked by infertility. The Bible continues: “And he trusted in YHWH, and He/he reckoned it to him as righteousness” (ibid 15:6). It is unclear from this passage who regarded whom as being righteous, and the text could be read either way, with either Abraham being regarded as righteous by God or God being regarded righteous by Abraham. Nevertheless, the Bible is again emphasizing that a foundational aspect of Abraham’s relationship with God was his trust in Him.

 

On the other hand, there is a midrashic tradition that Abraham’s greatness was not only his awareness of a Single God, but to his willingness to go through trials to demonstrate his allegiance to Him. One of these trials was his confronting the Mesopotamian ruler Nimrod and being thrown into a burning furnace when his father denounced him to the king for smashing the idols in his idol store, and this led him being placed in a fiery furnace.4 

 

However, there is no mention in the Bible of such a trial. Nor is there mention of Abraham engaging in similar destructive activities against pagan worship while in Canaan. Such actions would, in any case, have been a contradiction to his entire modus operandi. Abraham performed outreach in Canaan by befriending the pagans around him and not by confronting them as an iconoclast. 

 

Where was Abraham born?

Discussed in the chapter on Noah was the observation of bin Nun that all the stories at the beginning of Genesis are proceeded by a chapter of genealogical information and he suggests that these chapters form the scaffolding for the book of Genesis.5

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These genealogical lists begin with the phrase “these are the generations of . . .” and tell us the name of the individual, how long he lived, his firstborn male child, and his age when his firstborn was born. In general, with fits and starts, there seems to be an upward progression in spiritual awareness, at least by the end of the list and sometimes before. Invariably these genealogical lists are Elohim-passages, since it is Elohim who has the most interest in the makeup of mankind.

 

As an example; before the flood, chapter 5 begins a list of the 10 generations from Adam to Noah with the phrase “This is an account of the generations of Adam” (ibid 5:1) and ends “When Noah was five hundred years old, Noah began Shem, Ham and Japheth” (ibid 5:32).

 

By contrast, the genealogical list proceeding the story of Abraham begins not with one genealogical list but two. The first begins “these are the generations of Shem. . .  (ibid 11:10) and ends with “when Terah had lived seventy years he begat Abram, Nahor and Haran.” (ibid 11:24). Then immediately begins another genealogical list beginning “Now these are the generations of Terah. . . . “ and ends with “The days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran” (ibid 11:32).  

This sounds very much as if Terah was not a pagan-nobody, and not an opponent to the ideas of his son Abraham, but someone who made some contribution of significance to the spiritual development of the world.

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R’ Bin Nun points that both YHWH and Elohim promised Abraham that his progeny would inherit the territory we now call the Land of Israel, but both refer to it by different names.6 YHWH uses the Hebrew word “ha’aretz” with the definite article, which means “the land,” whereas Elohim calls it the “land of Canaan.” Thus, in the Covenant between the Pieces, which is a blessing given by YHWH, the term “ha’aretz (the land)” is used to describe what we now call the Land of Israel, whereas in the Covenant of Circumcision, a blessing given by Elohim, the expression “the land of Canaan” is used. This differentiation is maintained throughout the Abraham story. as well as later in the Torah when referring to these covenants.

 

The “land of Canaan” is a geographical designation first defined early in Genesis as where the Canaanites then lived:

 

And the Canaanite border extended from Zidon [now known as Sidon in Lebanon] going [down the coast] towards Gerar as far as Gaza, going towards Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha (Genesis 10:15-19).

 

The Canaanites lived in the coastal plain, the lowlands (Sh’fela) of Canaan and its valleys, and on the western side of the Jordan River. Zidon was to the north of the modern State of Israel and encompassed a large area in Lebanon, while Gerar was the southern border of the land of Canaan, somewhat to the south of Gaza, although further inland. Other tribes (although not the tribe of Canaan) inhabited the central mountain range, including the Hittites, Hivites, Perizites and Jebusites. They are sometimes collectively called Emorites in the Torah. In sum, the “land of Canaan” is the land whose perimeter is inhabited by Canaanites and whose central mountain range is occupied by other tribes descended from Ham, the son of Noah. Hence, the Book of Numbers tells us:

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The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negev, and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountain; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the side of the Jordan (Numbers 134:29).

 

In the Covenant of Circumcision (to be discussed in the next chapter), the “land of Canaan" will become the core possession of the Jewish people. This is where the forefathers walked, set up religious monuments, and prayed to God, and this is the territory that will define the Jewish nation among the nations of the world. These are also the borders that will pull the Jewish people like a magnet when they are in exile.

 

The borders of “the land (ha’aretz),” on the other hand, are more extensive than “the land of Canaan” and can be regarded as territory that is potentially available to the Israelites when there is national consensus. God through His aspect of YHWH will help them achieve this. Details about these borders are provided in Numbers chapter 34, and these more extensive borders are mentioned again in Exodus 23:29-31 and in the book of Deuteronomy (7:22, 11:22-24, 19:8-9).  

 

In actuality, the Israelites began establishing these enlarged borders early in their history at the time of Moses by capturing the east bank of the Jordan River. A considerable expansion of territory was also achieved at the time of King David.

 

The biblical leader Joshua was aware of these two promises. He entered Canaan with the explicit purpose of conquering the “land of Canaan” and distributing it to the twelve tribes. However, this did not limit the possibilities. As the YHWH aspect of God says to Joshua:

 

Now arise. Cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I give them, to the Children of Israel. Every place upon which the sole of your foot will march I have given to you, as I have spoken to Moses. From the desert and this Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River, all the land of the Hittites to the Mediterranean Sea westward will be your boundary. No man will challenge you all the days of your life. . . (Joshua 1:2-5)  

 

Both YHWH and Elohim will designate this territory by different names. The territory allotted by YHWH is called an “inheritance” or “nahala (נחלה),” while the territory allotted by Elohim is termed a “possession” or “achuza (אחוזה),” from the verb la’achoz, meaning to hold or to grasp.

 

Back to the beginning of the Abraham story.

 

All the sections now quoted (labelled for convenience 1 to 4) are consecutive in the Torah. Nevertheless, they may not necessarily have occurred in chronological order:

 

#1.  Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begot Abranm, Nahor and Haran, and Haran begot Lot. Haran died in the presence of Terah his father, in his native land in Ur Kasdim. . . . . Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran [a son of Terah who died in Ur Kasdim], and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; they arrived at Haran and they settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran (Genesis 11:31-32).

 

Here we have our first problem. The ancient city of Ur, located in modern-day Iraq, was conquered by the Chaldeans in around 600 BCE, which is well after the time of Abraham.

 

This city is located near the Persian Gulf and not that far from the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. In ancient times, Ur was closer to the Persian Gulf than it is today, as the coastline has since shifted due to sediment deposits from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was ideally located near the waterways, and this contributed to its prosperity as a center of trade, culture, and religion.

 

The Chaldeans were a Semitic people who originally settled in the southeastern region of Mesopotamia, near the Persian Gulf, in around the 10th century BCE. Before the 10th century BCE, the origins of the Chaldeans are somewhat obscure, but they are believed to have migrated from the Levant or northern Arabia into southern Mesopotamia. There is no direct evidence of them as a distinct group before they settled in the region that would become known as Chaldea in the marshy, fertile lands near the Persian Gulf, just southeast of the city of Babylon. They became known for their skilled leadership and governance in the region and played a crucial role in the formation of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, particularly in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. The Chaldean dynasty, under leaders like Nebuchadnezzar II, controlled the region until the Persian conquest by Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE, and this ended the Neo-Babylonian Empire and brought the region, including Ur, under Persian control.

 

There are therefore scholars who suggest that “Ur of the Chaldees” refers to a city at a different location than on the Persian Gulf, possibly further north and closer to Abraham's later homeland in the Fertile Crescent. Potential alternative locations include cities like Ura or Uru in northern Mesopotamia or southern Turkey, which might have been closer to the regions inhabited by early Semitic tribes. These locations would also have been geographically closer to Haran (in modern-day Turkey), where Haran located to after leaving Ur. Moreover, the very fact that Ur is referred to as Ur of the Chaldees, implies that other cities of that name existed at that time.7

 

Why Terah left Ur to move towards the land of Canaan is unclear. It could have been for agricultural, financial or trading reasons. However, I would like to suggest that Haran was not completely pagan. Nor was he a pure monotheist. He knew enough about the tradition of Shem that encouraged him to find a new location where he could build up a tribe. The land of Canaan had the reputation as the land of opportunity and this is where he initially set out for. However, he found that Haran adequately met his requirements and this is where he began building his new community. When Abraham sought out a wife for his son Isaac, he felt confident enough that Laban and Bethuel would say, with some prompting, “The matter stemmed from YHWH. We are unable to speak to you either bad or good” (ibid 24:50) when it was suggested that Rebecca accompany Eliezer back to Canaan to marry Isaac.

 

The next YHWH-sentences are meant to point out the contrast between the travels of Abraham and those of Terah. Abraham set out on a move that was not on his own initiative, but because YHWH told him. Those who came with him, such as Lot, came of their own accord. His destination was unclear at this stage: 

 

#2.  YHWH said to Abram, “Go yourself from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. . .  And Abram went as YHWH had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran (Genesis 12:1-4).

 

One might assume from the wording of this passage that Haran was the birthplace of Abraham. Yet this cannot be. We have already been told that it was Ur of the Chaldees. Moreover, in the Covenant of the Pieces YHWH reminds us that Abraham’s birthplace was Ur of the Chaldees:

 

And He said to him [Abram]. I am YHWH who brought you out of Ur Kasdim [of the Chladees[, to give you this land (ha’aretz hazot) to inherit it ((ibid 15:7).

 

Rashi states the obvious problem:

 

Had he not already left there (Ur} with his father and come to Haran? But [God} said to him as follows:” Go yet further from there and leave the house of your father.”8 

 

Ibn Ezra also assumes that that the original instruction to Abraham was given at Ur of the Chaldeens.9

 

The next passage is probably an Elohim-passages since Abram now travelled to “the land of Canaan” to fulfill the mission of father, to build up a nation.

 

#3.  Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth they had amassed, and the persons that they had made in Haran; and they left to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:5).

 

In other words, Abraham was fulfilling two missions when he left Ur of the Chaldees — that of YHWH and that of Elohim. These two missions will also be reflected in two covenants – the Covenant of the Pieces and the Covenant of Circumcision.

 

Only when he reached “the land” (#4), were his thoughts entirely on his religious mission. This is when Abraham reached “the terebinth of Moreh” by Shechem and YHWH announced to him that he had reached the intended destination and was now in “the land.”

 

#4.  Abram passed into the land as far as the site of Shechem, until the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. YHWH appeared to Abram and said: “To your offspring I will give this land (ha’aretz hazot): And he built an altar there to YHWH who had appeared to him (Genesis 12:6-7).

 

Nachmanides suggests that Abraham wandered from place to place to find the land chosen for him.10 However, this is a difficult explanation and it seems more plausible that Abraham knew the direction in which he was going from the time he left Ur.

 

God’s first blessing to Abraham

The first communication and directive Abraham received from God will change not only the direction of civilization but also the tone of the Bible. The world “blessing” occurs in this passage five times. The word “curse” occurs five times in the previous eleven chapters of Genesis.11 From this point on, the Bible becomes more upbeat, since what was previously an aimless world will now have direction through the example of Abraham and his descendants.

 

This first blessing reads as follows:

 

YHWH said to Abram:“Go yourself from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

And continues:

#1. I will make of you a great nation,

#2. I will bless you, 

#3. I will make your name great; 

#4. and you shall be a blessing.

#5. I will bless those who bless you, 

#6. and him who curses you I will curse; 

#7. and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3).

 

Jewish commentators question the significance of the phrase “Go to you (lech lecho) (לֶךְ-לְךָ) from your land…….” in the opening of this passage (Genesis 12:1), when the Torah could equally well have said the single word “Go! (lech) ...” 

 

Rashi translates these two words as “go for yourself” and links them to the subsequent blessings. Hence, “go for your pleasure and for your benefit.”12  

 

Cassuto points out, however, that there are other instances in the Bible where this phrase cannot have this meaning and he suggests it means — go alone, or at least with those close to you, and make a clean break from your present situation.13

 

It may be no coincidence that the opening of this sentence closely resembles the opening from another episode in Abraham’s life when he demonstrates a similar trust in God and also formulates a major innovation in religious ideas. In the Binding of Isaac story, Abraham is also told: 

“Please take your son …. and go to you (velech lecho) (לְךָ-וְלֶךְ) to the land of Moriah, and bring him up there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2)  

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Within the following two sentences are contained seven promises, which I have labelled #1 to #7. Each of its two sentence contains three or four promises describing what God will do, and this is followed by the consequences of these promises. Hence, the consequence of the blessings in the first sentence is — and you shall be a blessing. In the second sentence it is — “and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you.” Which is to say that the spiritual insights discovered by Abraham will bring benefit to the entire world.14 The word “blessing” in the Torah has he meaning of material benefits. Abstinence from the benefits of this world and poverty were never part of Abraham’s mission.

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The importance of these ideas is apparent from the fact that they are repeated later to Abraham and his descendants. Six chapters later we learn: “And Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him” (Genesis 18:18). In the seventh blessing given to Abraham (ibid 22:15-18), blessing to all humanity will be forthcoming not just through Abraham but also through his descendants, namely the Jewish people. Abraham’s son Isaac is told by God that “all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your offspring” (ibid 26:4), and Isaac’s son Jacob is told that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you” (ibid 28:14).

 

How will this blessing come about? Is it similar to the touch of Midas in that no more than social contact brings it about? Possibly – but unlikely. A more rational explanation is that those who bless Abraham are the ones who support his moral values. Their actions will in turn bring them blessing.15

 

In accord with this interpretation, in items #5 and #6 in the second sentence, God promises Abraham that the success of others will depend on how they relate to him and whether they bless or curse him. Those who appreciate what he stands for and bless him will be rewarded with material success. Those who denigrate Abraham’s/God’s message will be cursed.

 

The Fourth Blessing — a prophecy about exile and oppression

The Covenant between the Pieces is one of the most consequential prophecies in the Torah, in that it summarizes almost the totality of future Jewish history. It also confirms the role of YHWH as the personal God of Abraham and God’s future role in guiding and protecting the Jewish people.

 

The Covenant between the Pieces quoted below seems to be in two parts, and there is debate among Jewish commentators and academics as to whether this is indeed the case, or whether it should be considered a single unit. A good argument can be made for the latter in that both sections are structured around the word “inherit”. Its opening section is about Abraham’s descendants and the second part discusses when and how their inheritance will be obtained:

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After these events the word of God (YHWH) came to Abram in a vision, saying: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, your reward is exceedingly great.” And Abram said: “O Lord, God (YHWH), what can You give me, seeing that I go childless, and the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?'  And Abram said: 'See, to me you have given no seed, and, see, my steward inherits me.' And, suddenly, the word of God YHWH) came to him, saying: That one will not inherit you; only one that shall come forth from within you shall inherit you.' And He took him outside, and said: 'Gaze now, towards the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them'; and He said unto him: 'So shall your offspring be!' And he trusted in God (YYWH); and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:1-6).

 

And He said to him: 'I am God (YHVH) Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said: My master God (YHVH), whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?' And He said unto him: 'Bring Me three heifers, three she-goats, and three rams, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.' And he brought all these to Him, and he cut them in the center, and placed each piece against its counterpart; but the birds he did not cut up. The bird of prey descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. And it happened, as the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, behold, a dread, a great darkness fell upon him. And He said unto Abram: 'Know with certainty that your offspring shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve them; and they will oppress them four hundred years; but also the nation that they shall serve, I shall judge; and afterwards they will leave with great possessions. But as for you, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And the fourth generation shall return here; for the iniquity of the Amorite shall not yet be full until then.' And it came to pass, the sun set, and it was very dark. Behold there was a smoky furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. On that day God (YHWH) cut a covenant with Abram, saying: To your descendants have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River; the Kennites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashite, and the Jebusites” (Genesis 15:7-21).

 

The circumstances of this covenant are that following God’s directive to Abraham to walk through the land, he moved south to Hebron to the groves of Mamre. He is now informed that Mesopotamian kings have attacked a Canaanite coalition that broke away from their sovereignty, and they have captured his nephew Lot from Sodom during this attack. Accompanied by a small war party, Abraham struck the unsuspecting kings at night while they were returning to their country, rescued Lot, took captives and booty, and pursued the fleeing Mesopotamian army as far as Syria. On his return, he returned to the king of Sodom everything that belonged to his city and provided a share of the booty to colleagues who had joined him in the attack; otherwise, he kept nothing for himself. 

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After defeating the Mesopotamian kings, Abraham could well have been fearful that the Mesopotamian kings would avenge his attack.16 Hence, the first part of this passage opens by God telling Abraham that there is nothing for him to fear and that He will be his “shield.” Another of Abram’s concerns was that his servant Eliezer “will inherit” him. Abraham and Sarah have no children. Abraham had previously assumed that his legacy would be perpetuated through Lot. However, Lot has chosen another direction in life by moving to Sodom and Abraham’s next-in-line heir is Eliezer.17 However, God interrupts Abraham and tells him that Eliezer “will not inherit” him, but only a true biological descendant. 

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The main aspect of this vision begins when Abraham asks God in the second section: “My Master. YHWH, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” This could imply that Abraham had doubts about God’s promise. Yet only two sentences previously the Torah had explained: “And he trusted in YHWH; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Abraham clearly believed God’s promise about his future progeny. Rashi suggests that Abraham was requesting a sign.18 Another possibility is that the Hebrew word “bamah” (literally: in what) should be understood as “how”, in the sense of “how will this come about that I will inherit; or alternatively, how will I know when the time has come for me to inherit?”19 Until now, Abraham had received only generalized statements from God about his inheriting the land. He now wanted the fine print. How will this happen? 

 

God’s answer to Abraham’s question is linked by the verb to “know.” After his question “whereby (bamah) shall I know (eida) that I shall inherit it?” God answers: “You shall certainly know (yodo’a teida) (literally: it will be known you will know) that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs.”

 

God’s answer was doubtless quite different from Abraham’s expectations. Until now, he may have guessed that his offspring would inherit the land within one or two generations. He is now informed that there will be a waiting period of hundreds of years before his descendents will be redeemed. In the meantime, they will suffer persecution and suffering. In effect, this vision encapsulates much of Jewish history — exile from the land, being unwelcome guests in the lands of others, hatred, and finally redemption after a never-ending period of waiting.

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This promise of suffering is now sealed in the form of a contract. This was performed in the way contracts were commonly formalized in those days. Abraham was to “cut“ up heifers, goats and rams and God “passed between these pieces.” In fact, the usual Hebrew verb for making a contract is to “cut” a contract. Other than cutting up the animals, Abraham remained completely passive in this ceremony.

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The contract is called by the Bible “a covenant.” The difference between a covenant and a promise is that a covenant (called in Hebrew a brit) is more formal and is often accompanied by a sign, or in this case a ceremony, so that it will be easily recalled.

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Its proceedings were highly symbolic, particularly in relation to the numbers three and four. The animals cut up were “meshulash.” The precise translation of this word is unclear, but it could be three animals, three-year-old animals, or a third birth. The number three likely represented the three generations that would be enslaved.  Only “the fourth generation” will return to the land after 400 years have passed.20 The intact “turtle dove” and “young pigeon” are not cut up and could represent the younger fourth generation that will leave Egypt.21

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“The bird of prey descended upon the carcasses” may represent external forces attempting to destroy the actualization of the covenant between God and the Jewish people, or even trying to destroy the Jewish people. The bird of prey is in the singular and is driven away by Abraham. It is of interest that the falcon was highly symbolic in ancient Egypt and was closely associated with several deities, particularly Horus and Ra. Pharaoh was considered the earthly embodiment of Horus, and the falcon imagery was often used in royal iconography.

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As the sun is about to set, Abraham feels viscerally the full impact of the Egyptian exile as “a dread, a great darkness fell upon him” (Genesis 15:12).

 

R’ Joseph Soloveitchik explains: 

 

The bondage of Israel in Egypt was not only predicted but also illustrated and visualized. Abram came in contact with the future sorrows and miseries of his children. He was overwhelmed by a vivid, sensuous awareness, which reached the intensity of real pain and suffering; a horror or great darkness fell upon him. The woes and agony of many years were condensed into a single moment. . . . Sympathetic coexistence with countless future generations, confederacy with the unborn and anticipation of the wholeness of historical realization are the basic traits of the charismatic historical personality.22

 

God’s commitment to this covenant is presented in two ways. First, He passes between the animal pieces as “a smoky furnace and flaming torch.” He then makes a verbal commitment -  “To your descendants have I given this land (ha’aretz hazot). . . “ (ibid 15:18). 

 

R’ Joseph Soloveitchik points out the significance of this covenant/prophecy not only with respect to the redemption from Egypt, but also for future redemptions, particularly the present one. The Jewish people have spent two thousand years in exile during which they have suffered numerous oppressions.

 

There were many, and there are still birds of prey that swoop down on us [the Jewish people]. And it is not only the concrete Abraham who lived thousands of years ago who chased them away. It is also Abraham the symbol. It is the Abraham who could wait and patiently expect a son at the age of one hundred. Here, he received a prophecy, a message of suffering, of martyrdom and frustration, and of endless waiting, four hundred years to redemption from slavery and oppression. The Covenant Between the Pieces conveys a message not so much of redemption as of spiritual survival, of being able to wait endlessly until the final day arrives.22

 

YHWH has now become not only the God of individual providence, but has entered history as the God of the Jewish people for all future generations.

 

There is a question, though, that could well be asked, Why do the Jewish people warrant such a dismal future, one of enslavement and oppression? 

 

One answer must surely be that exile is God’s immutable decree, and He decreed that it be accompanied by servitude and persecution. Abraham was not privy to the details of God’s justice, so there was nothing for him to discuss, just as there is nothing for us to discuss. God also provided no opening for Abraham to negotiate about the justice of His decree as He would later do for the city of Sodom. 

 

God controls history. History is neither a series of random events, nor the result of dialectic processes such as that proposed by Karl Marx. History is what God decrees it to be. And the progress of history determined by YHWH required a preparatory period of four hundred years before the Israelites would leave Egypt.

 

Which is not to say that the Egyptian exile is completely unfathomable. It may be that the Jewish people had to experience the emptiness of servitude to Pharaoh to be prepared to bind themselves to a new Master. They had to experience being treated harshly as strangers in a foreign land to appreciate how strangers should be treated in their own land (Exodus 22:20).21 They would likely have rapidly assimilated into Egyptian culture in the absence of discrimination and enforced servitude. The exile also had to last for hundreds of years since the morality of the Canaanites did not yet justify their expulsion - for “the iniquity of the Amorite shall not yet be full until then” (Genesis 15:16). 

 

In the final analysis, Abraham could have opted out. He felt “the dread, a great darkness” even before the covenant was sealed. He could have told God that he had had second thoughts about this entire venture. But he did not do so. Nor did the majority of Jews throughout thousands of years of exile. This was because they, like Abraham, trusted in a future redemption, even if they themselves would not witness it. They had also bound themselves to God, just as God had bound Himself to the Jewish people. How this is so is detailed in the next blessing. 

 

One might still ask about the present day? Why did the Jewish people have to endure 2,000 years of exile before being redeemed? It may be that there is something about this era that makes it most appropriate for redemption in relation to the non-Jewish world. It may be linked, for example, to developments within Islam, and in particular the gravitation of Muslims to Radical Islam and Jew-hatred. This is not only an attack against the Jewish people, but against God Himself. This will be covered in a future chapter on the topic of Amalek. This may be an era in which Israelis can make the most impact on the welfare of the world in terms of ethics, medicine, technology and social engineering. It may be a time most appropriate for witnessing the hand of God. Jewish appreciation of the Land of Israel can also be best be achieved by a prolonged period of absence.

 

Are any of these knock-out answers? Perhaps not. But together, they may have validity.

 

References:

1. The seven blessings are found in the following places in Genesis: Genesis 12:1-3, 12:7, 13:14-17, 15:1-20, 17:1-14, 17:15-22, and 22:15-18. The text from Genesis 17:1-22 does seem like one long blessing, but there is a paragraph space in the middle, effectively making it two blessings.

 

2. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idol Worship 1:3.

 

3. BT Berachos 7b.

 

4. Bereishis Rabbah 38:13. Also, Rashi to Genesis 11:28 who suggests that Ur of the Chaldeans means “fire of Chaldea.”.

 

5. Sefer Toledot, the Tower of Babel and the Purpose of the Book of Genesis by Rav Menachem Leibtag in Torah Mietzion. New Readings in Tanach, Bereishit, p69. Maggid Books, Jerusalem 2011.

 

6. The Land and the Land of Canaan by Rav Yoel Bin-Nun in Torah Mietzion. New Readings in Tanach, Bereishit, p81. Maggid Books, Jerusalem 2011.

 

7. Three possibilities have been suggested by scholars.  One is that the Bible was a redaction of the Pentateuch at a later period of history and the name “Ur of the Chaldeans” is an anachronism. If there was such a redaction, this would also date this to sometime from the 7th century BCE onwards. Against this it could be argued that these presumed redactors of the Bible would have known that the Chaldeans were in Ur for only a limited period and they were introducing a very obvious anachronism into the Biblical text with no good reason for doing so. Alternatively, the name Chaldeans could have been a later addition to the written text, although again it is unclear what this addition was adding since it is likely that Ur was sufficiently well known that it did not require this type of identification. A third possibility, and this is the suggestion favored by this author, is that the Bible was written shortly after the Exodus, just as the Bible relates, and Ur Kasdim is not the ancient southern Mesopotamian city of Ur. This is, in fact, the position of many Jewish commentators. The Talmud, Maimonides, Josephus and the Book of Jubilees, for example, all describe locations in Assyria and south-east Anatolia for Ur of the Chaldeans. The Book of Jubilees writes that: “Ur son of Keśed built the city of Ara of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father" (Jubilees 11:3). These sources are of interest not necessarily because of their accuracy, but because they all indicate that they were prepared to consider other locations for Ur besides southern Mesopotamia. On the other hand, these commentaries were all written when the Ur of southern Mesopotamia was no longer inhabited and it is possible that they were unaware of its existence. There are, however, other reasons to consider a southern Mesopotamian Ur of the Chaldees as being unlikely. Southern Mesopotamia is the habitation of the descendants of Ham, whereas the descendants of Shem lived in present-day Turkey, Iran, and Northern Iraq. According to Genesis 10:22-31, the five sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. Abraham was one of the descendants of Arphaxad (Genesis 11:12-25). Josephus suggests that these five sons gave rise to the nations of Elam, Assyria, Chaldea, Lydia and Levantine. An Ur of the Chaldeans in southern Mesopotamia also leads to a very obvious contradiction in the Biblical text. While in Haran, Abraham is told to leave “your birthplace” (moladtecho). Also, when requesting his servant Eliezer to take a wife for his son Isaac, Abraham tells him to go to Haran “to my land and my birthplace (moladeti) shall you go and take a wife for my son, for Isaac” (Genesis 24:4). Also, in the Covenant between the Pieces, God takes responsibility for taking Abraham from Ur Kasdim: “And he said: I am YHWH Who brought you out of Ur Kasdim to give you this land to inherit.” (Genesis 15:7). So where was Abraham’s birthplace — Haran or Ur of the Chaldeans? Cassuto suggests that the word “moledet” means not birthplace, as commonly translated, but kindred or family circle, and he brings other examples of its use in this way in the Bible. (Tenth paragraph, the history of Terah in a Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part Two, from Noah to Abraham, p273). Both places are the land of his kindred and the contradiction disappears. Another possibility is that there was more than one Ur, and Haran and Ur of the Chaldeans were both in the same geographical area — in Aram.

 

8. Rashi to Genesis 12:2. See also Sefer Zicharon.

 

9.  Ibn Ezra to Genesis 12:2.

 

10.  Nachmanides commentary to the Torah on Genesis 12:1. Nachmanides suggests that Abraham wandered from country to country and only when God told him that this was the land intended did he stop his journey.

 

11. The word curse, either arur or lekalel, is found in five places in the proceeding chapters of Genesis – with respect to the soil (ibid 5:24 and 8:21), the serpent (ibid 3:14 and 4:11), and the person Canaan (ibid 9:25).

 

12. Rashi to Genesis 12:1. Not everything pleasurable is beneficial and not everything beneficial is pleasurable. Your journey will be both. Comment of the Amar N’kei quoted by Artscroll Series.The Sapirstein Edition. Rashi/ Commentary on the Torah. Vol 1 – Bereishis/ Genesis. Mesorah Publications Ltd.

 

13. First Paragraph. The Lord’s Command and Promises, Chapter XII in Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part Two, from Noah to Abraham by Umberto Cassuto, p310. The Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1977. Examples given by Cassuto include: “Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way (vayelech lo) to his own country (Exodus 18:27). When Joshua instructs the tribes whose home is in Transjordan to take leave of the other tribes and return to their tribal possession he says: “and now turn and go on your way (lechu lachem) in the land where your possession lies” (Joshua 22:4). R’ Hirsch and R’ Joseph Solveitchik have similar explanations to those of Cassuto. (Chumash with commentary based on the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Sefer Bereishis, p72, OU Press). Nachmanides, on the other hand, assigns no particular significance to this form of the verb and assumes it to be common idiomatic Hebrew usage.

 

14. There are other explanations by Jewish commentators as to the meaning in this sentence of “and you shall be a blessing” besides the one I have provided. It could be a directive (Radak) or even a summary of the blessings preceding it. Nachmanides suggests that Abraham will become the standard by which blessings are bestowed upon others. People who wish to bless their son will say: “God make you like Abraham!” because of the “great” “name” he has acquired. Rashi, following a midrash, suggests that Abraham will have the power of blessing in his hands. Alternatively, blessing will come to all who come in contact with him. Midrash Raba 39:11 gives two examples. A person who wants to buy a cow from Abraham will be blessed even before the value of the cow had been assessed. Abraham would pray for a barren woman and the woman would conceive. 

 

15. This explanation for “all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” follows that of R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch who writes: ”But God asserts that finally all the peoples of the world will participate in this blessing inasmuch as they will also found their lives on the same foundation on which you are to found yours’ (Commentary to ibid 12:3).

 

16. The explanation I provide here is one of several interpretations of this phrase and is the most literal with respect to the text. Midrashic explanations, on the other hand, and this is the direction followed by Rashi, suggest that he was concerned that he might already have received all the reward due to him for his righteousness (Bereishit Rabba 44:4). He might even have anticipated punishment for the lives he had taken (Rashi). Nachmanides suggests he feared he might die without children.

 

17. The ancient Mesopotamian Nuzi tablets explain that if a man dies without offspring, his servant is considered his heir.

 

18. Rashi to Genesis 15:6.

 

19. There is a view in the Talmud (TB Nedarim 32a) that Abraham’s question was improper and it is because of this that the Egyptian servitude ensued. Others suggest that Abraham was asking “through what merit will I inherit the land?” Rashi suggests that Abraham was asking by what merit would his offspring be able to sustain themselves in the land, and he was answered through the merit of the sacrificial offerings (Rashi to Genesis 15:6). The Talmud suggests that even if the Jewish people no longer have a Temple, the act of reading the scriptural sections in the Torah about the sacrifices provides repentance (TB Megilla 31b).

 

20. A period of three generations is considerably less than 400 years. Moreover, there is no indication from the Torah that the Israelites were in slavery the entire time they were in Egypt. One way of looking at this sentence is to consider part of it as being in brackets (Nachmanides to Genesis 15:13). 'Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, (and they will serve them; and they will oppress them) four hundred years (Genesis 15:13). In other words, the Israelites will be aliens for 400 years but not in servitude all this time. Rashi to Genesis 15:13, based on the midrashic work Seder Olam, suggests that the four hundred years starts from the birth of Abraham’s biological son Isaac, and not from the time of entry of Jacob’s family to Egypt. Isaac was also an alien in a land not his. Hence, the comment “And the fourth generation shall return here” means that only three generations will actually live in Egypt. Thus, following Seder Olam, Rashi’s chronology is that Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born (Genesis 25:26), and Jacob was 130 years old when he went down to Egypt (Genesis 47:9). The Israelites were therefore in Egypt for only 210 years. Against this, the Bible itself states that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40). I am unable to explain these discrepancies. 

 

21. The Covenant between the Pieces (7-21) in Abram to Abraham. A Literary Analysis of the Abraham Narrative by Jonathan Grossman, p180, Peter Lang AG, Bern Switzerland.

 

22. Chumash with commentary based on the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Solovitchick, p184. OU Press, New York NY. First edition 2013.

 

23 “You shall not taunt or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:20). Also, Exodus 23:9.

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