- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Dec 17, 2021 19:58:32 GMT -8
This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 15:1-21
Haftara- Zephaniah 3:8-20
D’rash:
Genesis 15:1-3 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
Acts 7:2-3,5 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ … Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.
Avram’s initial response was a question. This could be read as he is doubting God (and is read thus by many commentators), however I don’t see it that way. I think this was a serious question about how this was to be accomplished. He was, after all to be the instrument of God’s plan.
Genesis 15:4-5 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son [what will come out of your own loins] shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
Boreh Ketzot HaAretz, [the] Creator of the Ends of the Earth (Is 40:28) determines the destiny of those who are His own.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
The term rendered “believe” here is אָמַן ‘âman, and carries more the connotation of “trusting” than believing. Avram did believe his God, and he trusted God as well. The full potency of this term is lost in translation.
Genesis 15:7-8 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
Psalm 105:42,44 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant. … And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,
Again, some see this as a lack of faith. However were I in Avram’s place I might ask this as well. I don’t think he doubted God’s promise, more like he needed some reassurance. The Almighty was apparently not offended by the request, because he prepared to make a very serious covenant with Avram:
Genesis 15:9-10 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
This particular type of covenant was found in Mesopotamian writings as well, so possibly a near-eastern tradition. It was only made if one really meant to make good on the terms.
Genesis 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
תַּרְדֵּמָה tardêmâh- a lethargy, trance: deep sleep.
This תַּרְדֵּמָה tardêmâh is the same term used when God put Adam into a deep sleep to split him in half and make Chavah. It was a deep trance-like sleep.
Genesis 15:13-16 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Notice there is not the usual reciprocal terms for Avram to keep, nor the warning to Avram if he failed to keep the covenant. This is known as a “covenant of grant,” where only one person is bound to act.
Genesis 15: When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I [have given] this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
The consequences for failing to keep the terms of this covenant were implied when God walked between the carcase halves. The understood meaning was “If I do not do all I have said, may I become as these carcasses” (Jer 34:17-22). God was showing Avram just how serious He was in this promise.
Jeremiah 34:18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its part
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK; Dr Schasser of the Israel Bible Center; column notes in Bibles;
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 16:1-16
Haftara- Isaiah 63:19-64:11(12)
Apostolic references will be given in the darash.
Parashah- Genesis 15:1-21
Haftara- Zephaniah 3:8-20
D’rash:
Genesis 15:1-3 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
Acts 7:2-3,5 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ … Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.
Avram’s initial response was a question. This could be read as he is doubting God (and is read thus by many commentators), however I don’t see it that way. I think this was a serious question about how this was to be accomplished. He was, after all to be the instrument of God’s plan.
Genesis 15:4-5 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son [what will come out of your own loins] shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
Boreh Ketzot HaAretz, [the] Creator of the Ends of the Earth (Is 40:28) determines the destiny of those who are His own.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
The term rendered “believe” here is אָמַן ‘âman, and carries more the connotation of “trusting” than believing. Avram did believe his God, and he trusted God as well. The full potency of this term is lost in translation.
Genesis 15:7-8 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
Psalm 105:42,44 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant. … And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,
Again, some see this as a lack of faith. However were I in Avram’s place I might ask this as well. I don’t think he doubted God’s promise, more like he needed some reassurance. The Almighty was apparently not offended by the request, because he prepared to make a very serious covenant with Avram:
Genesis 15:9-10 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
This particular type of covenant was found in Mesopotamian writings as well, so possibly a near-eastern tradition. It was only made if one really meant to make good on the terms.
Genesis 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
תַּרְדֵּמָה tardêmâh- a lethargy, trance: deep sleep.
This תַּרְדֵּמָה tardêmâh is the same term used when God put Adam into a deep sleep to split him in half and make Chavah. It was a deep trance-like sleep.
Genesis 15:13-16 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Notice there is not the usual reciprocal terms for Avram to keep, nor the warning to Avram if he failed to keep the covenant. This is known as a “covenant of grant,” where only one person is bound to act.
Genesis 15: When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I [have given] this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
The consequences for failing to keep the terms of this covenant were implied when God walked between the carcase halves. The understood meaning was “If I do not do all I have said, may I become as these carcasses” (Jer 34:17-22). God was showing Avram just how serious He was in this promise.
Jeremiah 34:18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its part
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK; Dr Schasser of the Israel Bible Center; column notes in Bibles;
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 16:1-16
Haftara- Isaiah 63:19-64:11(12)
Apostolic references will be given in the darash.
