The animals, the birds, and the fire, in early reading
Says “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon” (Gen 15:9). “The birds, however, he did not cut in half” (15:10). “the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away” (15:11), and the firepot and torch “passed between the halves of the carcasses” (15:17).
Pseudo-Jonathan has God say, “Bring Me oblations”, and reads the birds as “idolatrous peoples which are like to unclean birds”; at 15:17 “Abram saw Gehinnam ascending”. Jubilees says Abram “built there an altar, and sacrificed all these”, and that “the fire devoured them”. Josephus notes that “he divided the three former, but the birds he did not divide”. Augustine takes the birds as “the spirits of this air” and the fire as a sign “that at the end of the world the carnal shall be judged by fire”. Calvin reports that “Many suppose that a sacrifice was consumed with this fire”, but reads it “as a symbol of future deliverance”. Keil holds that the animals “were meant to typify the promised seed of Abram”. These are their readings.
Implies Abram prepares the animals at the Lord’s command (15:9–10), but only the firepot and torch pass between the pieces (15:17), so the text presents the Lord as the one who acts in the rite.
Uncertain Whether the rite is a sacrifice, and what the birds and the fire signify, are open; these readings do not fix the meaning of 15:7–17.
Claims
- SaysGen 15:9–17: the Lord told Abram to bring a three-year-old heifer, goat and ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon; Abram cut the animals but not the birds, drove away the birds of prey, and after sunset a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces.
- ImpliesBecause Abram prepares the animals at the Lord’s command (15:9–10) but only the firepot and torch pass between the pieces (15:17), the narrative presents the Lord as the one who acts in the rite.
- UncertainWhether the rite is a sacrifice, and what the birds and the fire signify, are open; the early readings do not fix the meaning.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 15:9–11, 15:17
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 15:10, 15:17
- Etheridge public domain Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Palestine (Pseudo-Jonathan) and Jerusalem Targum on Gen 15:9–17, p. 201 (leaf n213), p. 202 (leaf n214); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- APOT public domain Jubilees 14 (Charles, APOT vol. 2, 1913):11–19, p. 34 (leaf n53); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.10.3 = 1.184 (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1), p. 31 (leaf n40); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 16.24 (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2; CCEL npnf102.iv.XVI.24), p. 324 (leaf n347), p. 325 (leaf n348); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis 1 (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 15:17, p. 420 (leaf n429); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 15:9–10, p. 214 (leaf n217); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
2026-11-12
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