The heir, the stars and “he reckoned it”
Says וְהִנֵּה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר is “and behold, the word of the Lord came to him.” לֹא יִירָשְׁךָ זֶה is “this one shall not inherit you,” but אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִמֵּעֶיךָ, “one who will come out from your inward parts”; BSB has “one who comes from your own body.”
Says In 15:5 וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה is “and he brought him outside.” הַבֶּט־נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה is “look toward the heavens,” and וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים is “and count the stars,” the lexicon’s “1. count things.” The promise is כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ, “so shall your seed be.”
Says In 15:6 וְהֶאֱמִן בַּיהוָה is a waw with a Hiphil perfect, not the usual narrative form, and be- marks the one trusted: the lexicon has “of person, trust in, believe in.” BSB supplies “Abram.” וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה is active, “and he reckoned it to him, righteousness,” with a feminine “it” and no preposition before tsedaqah. BSB has the passive “it was credited to him as righteousness”; so does the Greek, “καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην.”
Implies Abram’s believing answers the word just spoken in 15:5, and the active verb has the Lord, who has been speaking, as its nearest subject. The later use of the verse is treated in the note on Rom 4:3.
Claims
- Saysוְהִנֵּה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר is “and behold, the word of the Lord came to him.” לֹא יִירָשְׁךָ זֶה is “this one shall not inherit you,” but אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִמֵּעֶיךָ, “one who will come out from your inward parts”; BSB has “one who comes from your own body.”
- SaysIn 15:5 וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה is “and he brought him outside.” הַבֶּט־נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה is “look toward the heavens,” and וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים is “and count the stars,” the lexicon’s “1. count things.” The promise is כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ, “so shall your seed be.”
- SaysIn 15:6 וְהֶאֱמִן בַּיהוָה is a waw with a Hiphil perfect, not the usual narrative form, and be- marks the one trusted: the lexicon has “of person, trust in, believe in.” BSB supplies “Abram.” וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה is active, “and he reckoned it to him, righteousness,” with a feminine “it” and no preposition before tsedaqah. BSB has the passive “it was credited to him as righteousness”; so does the Greek, “καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην.”
- ImpliesAbram’s believing answers the word just spoken in 15:5, and the active verb has the Lord, who has been speaking, as its nearest subject. The later use of the verse is treated in the note on Rom 4:3.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 15:4–6 (WLC/OSHB; morph HR/Ncmpc/Sp2ms HC/Vqv2ms HC/Vhp3ms HC/Vqw3ms/Sp3fs)
- BSB public domain Gen 15:4–6 (BSB)
- BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 707 (leaf n730), archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, s.v. H5608 “1. count things”; checked against the printed page (scan)
- BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 53 (leaf n76), archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, s.v. H539 “of person, trust in, believe in”; checked against the printed page (scan)
- BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 362, s.v. H2803 (chashav)
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 15:6, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 23 (leaf n54). Checked against the printed page (scan).
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-12
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