ToC | Reading the Old Testament. . . Chapter 2. Genesis 12-50 | ToC

     2. Heir to the Promise (15-16)

Although Yahweh had promised that Abraham would become a great nation, by advanced old age he and Sarah still did not have children. In chapter 15, a highly significant passage, Yahweh approaches Abraham and confirms his promises with a covenant. A covenant is an oath-bound relationship with defined expectations and obligations. Covenants originated in politics and international law, and have conventional forms. We have many surviving examples of ancient Middle Eastern covenants (see McCarthy 1978). Treaty and charter covenants were the two main types of covenants in the ancient Middle East.
    A treaty covenant defined and regulated a relationship between nations. The parties to the covenant could be of equal power and status (a parity covenant) or of unequal status (a suzerain-vassal covenant). The covenant God made with Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai was a suzerain-vassal covenant (see Chapters 3.2 and 5). Ancient treaty covenants are analogous to the formal international alliances and trade agreements modern countries still negotiate.
    A charter covenant consisted of a grant of property (see Weinfeld 1970). The grant was usually made to reward faithfulness or loyal service. For example, kings would bestow land on loyal military officers after a campaign, hence it is sometimes called a royal grant covenant. This type of covenant is perhaps analogous to modern property titles and deeds.

Source Analysis. Chapter 15 is the Yahwist's record of God's charter covenant given to Abraham, and concerns the issue of an heir. It is assigned to the Yahwist source because of its style and theme, but we should note that it contains some inconsistencies that suggest it has elements from elsewhere, perhaps the Elohist source. Verses 3, 5, and 13-16 are usually assigned to the Elohist source because revelations in visionary form are typically an Elohist characteristic. Rendtorff (1985) argues chapter 15 is Deuteronomic. The Abraham charter covenant is similar in structure to the David charter covenant in 2 Samuel 7 (see Chapter 8.3). Clements (1967) argues that they come from the same source.

    In this passage the Yahwist uses the charter form of covenant to give shape to God's commitment to Abraham. It is a unilateral divine promise in which God binds himself by an oath to provide offspring for Abraham.

1 After these events, the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram..." (15:1a)

    God came to Abraham in a vision, indicating Abraham's special relationship with God. The phrase "The word of YHWH came" typically introduces prophetic revelation (see 1 Samuel 15:10 and Hosea 1:1). Fear is a natural reaction when someone is in the presence of God, and therefore "Do not be afraid" is a phrase that frequently introduces announcements of salvation (see 21:17; 26:24; 35:17; as well as Isaiah 10:24).

"...I am your shield. Your reward will be very great." (15:1b)

    God declared himself to be Abraham's shield, that is, his protector. The reward will not be an earned prize but a gift of special recognition for a faithful servant of the king.

2 Abram said, "My Lord YHWH, what of lasting significance can you give me since I continue to be childless, with Eliezer of Damascus, a servant, standing to inherit my estate!" 3 Abram further stated, "You have not given me offspring. One of my servants stands as my heir." 4 Then there was a word of YHWH for him, "That one shall not be your heir! One who comes from your own loins--he will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look at the heavens and count the stars if you can. So will your offspring be." 6 He placed his trust in YHWH, and he (YHWH) considered that a righteous act. (15:2-6)

    Since Abraham had no natural-born son, his inheritance was due to go to his servant, Eliezer of Damascus. This story demonstrates that concern over descendants is central to the plot line. This will be a continuing interest of the Yahwist within the Ancestral Story. Lacking a son, Abraham was not sure that God's promise would ever be realized. After God reassured him that he would have numerous offspring--even more than the stars--Abraham committed his future to God, even though he saw no evidence of impending fulfillment. God took Abraham's faith as an indication that he wanted to stand in a relationship of living trust with him.
    The word righteous is significant. Righteousness in the Torah applies to human activity. Righteous acts are God-approved ones, whereby the doer demonstrates he or she intends to stand in a relationship of dependence on God. Here Abraham's faith is reckoned as a righteous act.
    The next part of the story (verses 7-12, not given here) describes a rather strange ceremony. Abraham slaughtered a heifer, goat, ram, turtledove, and pigeon, and he placed the animal halves in two rows. Then Abraham was cast into a deep sleep, and Yahweh appeared to him and symbolically passed between the animal halves.

17 When the sun set and it was dark, a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. (15:17)

    This ceremony drew Abraham into a formal relationship with God. In the ritual God demonstrated to Abraham the depth of his commitment to him. The narrative says that God took the form of a smoking oven pot and torch for the purposes of the ceremony. According to the Hebrew Bible, God has no physical form, but when he does appear, typically he is represented by smoke and fire. Such a symbolic appearance of God is called a theophany. The most notable appearance was his descent onto Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, when he appeared to the Israelites and delivered the Ten Commandments.
    The ceremony took the form of a ritual of self-condemnation. By passing between the bisected animals, God was ritually calling down upon himself the same fate that the animals suffered, should he be unfaithful to the covenant promise. In this ceremonial way God staked his life on the promise of offspring.

18 On that day YHWH cut a covenant with Abram: "To your offspring I give this land: from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates." (15:18)

    The entire encounter between Abraham and Yahweh in this passage is summarized in the statement, "Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram." In biblical language, "to cut a covenant" refers to the animals that were ceremonially cut in half. Cutting animals in a covenant ceremony may have been a traditional practice. Cutting an ass in half was part of a ritual of covenant ratification attested in Mari. The cutting of the animals and passing between the pieces is ritualized self-condemnation, invoking mutilation and death on oneself if one is disloyal to the covenant.
    Here the cutting ritual was used to assure Yahweh's grant of offspring and land. Land boundaries were typically specified in charter covenants. Such is the case here. Yahweh gave Abraham a grant of land and finalized it with a charter covenant because Abraham had demonstrated his faith. Not accidentally, these borders correspond with the limits of the Davidic-Solomonic kingdom (see 1 Kings 4:21). The point is that Israel's claim to the land, even to the definition of the borders, was traced back to the covenant promise Yahweh made to Abraham.
    In spite of the covenant and the promises, Abraham and Sarah were unable to have children for a long time. They grew impatient and Sarah arranged for a surrogate wife for Abraham, Hagar, who bore a son, Ishmael (chapter 16). Hagar then refused to take second place behind Sarah. Sarah made life so difficult for Hagar that she fled into the wilderness, only later to return to Sarah and Abraham.
    These stories clearly reflect the concern for an heir, which was the ancestors' great hope for the future. They also reveal the uncertain nature of the inheritance, given the constant threat of infertility. Perhaps the fixation on such matters reflects the monarchic setting of the Yahwist narrative and its consuming interest in heirs and succession within the royal house of David.
ToC | Reading the Old Testament. . . Chapter 2. Genesis 12-50 | ToC