The Fifth Blessing:  

The issue of descendants continues to prey on the couple’s minds.  Abraham listens to Sarah’s advice and has a child with her servant Hagar.  When this son, Ishmael, is 13 years old, God again appears to Abraham, but now reveals Himself under two new names encompassing two different aspects of His being - El Shaddai and Elohim, although with the majority of the blessing being revealed through the name Elokim.  The themes of this blessing are therefore very different from the previous blessings bestowed under the name YKVK.  Elokim’s concern is the general providence of mankind, while that of YKVK is the individual providence of Abraham and his descendants: 

 

“And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, YKVK appeared to Abram, and said unto him: 'I am El Shaddai; walk before Me, and be wholehearted.  I will set My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.'  Abram fell upon his face; and Elokim spoke with him, saying:  As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, you shall be the father of a multitude of nations; your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall descend from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you; and I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land of your sojourns, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be a God to them.' [verse 9]  And God said unto Abraham: 'As for you, you shalt keep My covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.  This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.  You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and you.  At the age of eight days every male among you shall be circumcised throughout your generations, he that is born in the household, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring.  He that is born in your household, and he that is bought with your money, must surely be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.  An uncircumcised one, a male the flesh of whose foreskin shall not be circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from its people; he has broken My covenant.' (Genesis 17:1-14)

 

The word “covenant” (bris) (בְּרִית)is a keyword in this passage, being repeated ten times.  Accordingly, it defines the theme of this paragraph which is about a covenant between Elokim and Abraham.  The number 10 may signify the ten generations between Noah and Abraham, since Noah also participated in a covenant with Elokim.36 

 

In His covenant with Noah, Elokim promises that He will never again destroy the earth by a flood.  The sign of that covenant was a rainbow that appropriately links heaven and earth.  Nevertheless, there is a loose end to this.  Following the flood, God admits that “the design of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21).  What then has changed and what guarantee is there that another flood will never again be necessary?  

 

God’s solution is to repopulate the world with the offspring of Noah, and His hopes are focused in particular on the descendants of Noah’s son Shem.  Now, after ten generations, there is a descendent of Shem, Abraham, with whom He can partner to bring the ideas of ethical monotheism to the world. 

 

A thematic linkage between this passage and the covenant with Noah is established in a number of ways, in addition to both being established by Elokim.  Similar to the covenant with Abraham, the word “covenant”(brit) is a key word in the covenant with Noah and appears there seven times. The two covenants are “established” (vehakimoti) (וַהֲקִמֹתִי) rather than “cut” as in the previous covenant with YHVH.  Nevertheless, in both passages the word to “cut” is still used with reference to humanity – in the Noah passage that “all flesh” will never again be “cut off by the flood” (Genesis 9:11) and in this passage that an uncircumcised person will “be cut off from its people” (Genesis 12:1).  A “sign” also accompanies both covenants - in the covenant with Noah a rainbow and in this covenant circumcision.

 

However, in contrast to the covenant with Noah, this particular covenant is not a unilateral one, in that Abraham is expected to be a direct participant by fulfilling the directive of circumcision.  

 

This 5th blessing introduces a new name for God, encompassing a new aspect of His being – El Shadai.

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, YKVK appeared to Abram, and said to him: ‘I am El Shedai, walk before me and be perfect. (Genesis 17:1)

 

The name “El Shedai” is explained by many Jewish interpreters as being derived from the two Hebrew words “She” and “dai, which mean “that” and “sufficient”.   Accordingly its meaning is - there is sufficiency within Me for every creature and I have the wherewithal to care for you.37  

 

A different explanation is provided by Cassuto who proposes that this name is used in the Bible within the context of fertility.38  It would seem to have this meaning, for example, in the following passage from the book of Ruth:

 

“Do not call me Naomi (pleasant one), call me Mara (embittered one), for Shakai has dealt very bitterly with me.  I was full when I went away, but YKVK has brought me back empty.  Why should you call me Naomi; YKVK has testified against me, and Shakai has brought misfortune upon me. (Ruth 1:20-21)

 

In this passage, Naomi recognizes that God dispenses the ability to have children but can also take it away.

 

The name El Shadai appears again in the Torah in the Jacob story when his father, Isaac, blesses Jacob before he leaves for Padam Aram.  Foremost in Isaac’s mind is that Jacob be fruitful for God’s covenant to be fulfilled:

​

“May Kel Shakai bless you and multiply you and make you numerous, and may you be a congregation of peoples.”(Genesis 28:3)

 

Here also, in this 5th blessing, the emphasis is on fertility: 

 

“I am El Shaddai; walk before Me, and be wholehearted.  I will set My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” (Genesis 17:1).

 

The concept that God has a different name for His aspect of fertility may sound strange to us moderns.  Nevertheless, within the pagan world it was common that there be a chief male god of might in partnership with a female god of fertility.   The equivalent name for a God of might in the Bible is El and for the God of fertility Shaddai.  The Bible is not separating these two aspects of God but bringing them together as a single Divinity in a way that would be recognizable to people at that time.

 

Abraham’s role in this covenant is revealed at the very beginning of this passage:

“……… walk before Me and be wholehearted” (Genesis 17:1)

 

God is saying - you, Abraham, are to walk in front of me and be my representative to the world.  This should be contrasted with Noah, who walked “with” God.39  What Abraham represents is not delineated in this passage, but is mentioned in the very next section.  In brief, Abraham will teach notions of “justice and righteousness” (Genesis 13:19) to his children and they by their example will instruct the rest of the world.  God is the epitome of justice and righteousness and He needs a representative on earth who will embody His attributes and by example bring these ideas to the rest of humanity. 

 

A number of interpretations of the phrase “wholehearted”(tamim) have been proposed.  Nachmanides relates it to a similar use of this word in Deuteronomy when the Bible discusses forbidden magical practices and which concludes there with the phrase “you shall be wholehearted with YKVK your God” (Deuteronomy 18:13).  Just as you are to avoid magical practices and retain your trust in Me, so also are you to walk before Me and maintain your belief in Me.40  Interestingly, this passage is introduced by YKVK.  

 What is the purpose of this covenant?  Or to put the question another way - circumcision is to be a “sign of the covenant” (Genesis 17:11), but what is it a sign of?   

 

The following is a list of the seven promises made by Elokim in the order in which they appear in the text:

#1 - you shall be the father of a multitude of nations 

#2 - your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations 

#3 - I will make you exceeding fruitful,

#4 - and I will make nations of you, 

#5 - and kings shall descend from you

#6 - I will uphold My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant – to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.

#7 -  and I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land of your sojourns, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; - and I will be a God to them.”

 

These seven promises are written in a crescendo form, building up to the last two promises which form the apex of the crescendo.  The basis of this covenant is for Elokim “throughout their generations …..  to be a God to you and to your offspring after you,” (Genesis 17:7) and that in “all the land of Canaan……….. I will be a God to them” (Genesis 17:8).

 

Elokim is forging a special relationship with Abraham and his descendants by promising to be a God to them.41  At first glance these two sentences seem similar to each other, but they do in fact express very different ideas.  In the last but one sentence, Elokim promises to be a God to Abraham and his seed forever and this would include periods of exile.  In the last sentence, He also promises to be their eternal God – but in the land of Canaan.42   In essence, He asserts that He will be their God throughout the entirety of Jewish history.

 

Elohim also promises Abraham that this covenant also will bring beneficence in its wake.  First, and God has pointed this out previously within His aspect of YKVK, Abraham’s seed will become extremely numerous.  However, the reason for this is different than when promised under the aspect of YKVK.  For YKVK, Abraham’s descendants are to become a large nation so that they can populate the land of Canaan.  In this covenant given by Elokim, they are to be fruitful in order to fulfill their universal mission.  

 Another promise of God is that “you [Abraham] shall be the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:4)    

 

Who are these nations?  The answer is by no means clear from the text.  Many commentators assume they are to be the descendants of Isaac and that the Bible is talking exclusively about the Jewish people.43   However,these “nations” could also be the nations that Abraham will father.  He has already fathered Ishmael.  The reader will learn shortly that he is to father Isaac.  When Sarah dies, Abraham will father children from a second wife Katurah.  These and the offspring of Ishmael will leave Canaan to go southwards into the Arabian Peninsula.  The offspring of Isaac will remain in Canaan, but a branch of this family will go eastwards to form the nation of Edom.  

 

Abraham’s siring in his old age is fully elaborated in the Torah and there must be messages here.  One is that these tribes have a place in the Near East just as do the offspring of Isaac.  Another may be that these nations were once raised in the household of Abraham and would have picked up religious sparks from their upbringing.  Some time in the future, they will seek their true roots and by embracing his ideas will once again become part of the extended Abrahamic family.  The commonalty of nations rather than their differences also flows from the story of Noah and his forming the common ancestry of man. 

 

Abraham’s extended family is much larger though than its biological one, and the next verses have symbolic as well as their literal meaning:

“….. you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.  Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 17:4)

 

Previously, Abraham was called “Avram,” a father of Aram.  He is now to be called “Abraham” - a father of “a multitude of nations.”44  Not only will he be the biological father to many nations but also a spiritual father to an even greater number of people.  

 

A convert to Judaism is called “a child of Abraham.”  Islam and Christianity also consider themselves spiritual heirs to Abraham’s legacy.  The Koran establishes its Abrahamic lineage through Ishmael.  Christianity views Abraham as an important exemplar of faith and a spiritual and possibly a physical ancestor of Jesus.45  In the theology of Paul, all who believe in God are spiritual descendants of Abraham.  

 

Abraham will also become the progenitor of kings:

“and I will make nations of you, and kings shall descend from you.” (Genesis 17:6)

 

The term “kings” implies sovereignty and power.  Your offspring will not be a small and insignificant people tucked away in a remote corner of the world but a major and powerful actor on the world scene in one of the central locations on the globe, between the two great superpowers of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

 

This covenant established by Elokim is also to be an eternal one:  “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant ……..”  (Genesis 17:7)  Other aspects of eternity are also stressed throughout this passage.  The land of Canaan will belong to the Jewish people forever: “ ……  the land of your sojourns, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession ……….” (Genesis 17:8)  Circumcision is also to “be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” (Genesis 17:13)  There will always be circumcised Jews in the world because God’s covenant with Abraham is eternal and His representatives need to be eternally here on earth.

 

Israel’s contribution to this contract, circumcision, is detailed in verses 9 to 14.   Circumcision is to be not only a “sign of a covenant between Me and you,” but an aspect of the covenant itself.  A Jew who is not circumcised denies that he is part of the mission of the Jewish people - “….. that soul shall be cut off from its people; he has broken My covenant.” (Genesis 17:14) 

 

There is discussion among Jewish commentators as to the symbolic meaning of circumcision.  Most agree that it is a means of distinguishing the Jewish people from the rest of humanity.46  Clearly, it is not an overt symbol, but every Jew knows that he has the circumcision engraved in his flesh and that his connection to God has been “signed” in a blood ceremony.  He is now marked for the mission statement of the Jewish people – to stand before God as His representative to the world to promote justice and righteousness.

 

There are Jewish commentators who view circumcision in terms of self-improvement.  For example, a person will see his circumcision and remember that his sexual organ can be used for both good and evil.47  This may be true, but it is not the primary purpose of this Elokim-directed command.  Moreover, it is not coincidence that circumcision of the sex organ is commanded in a passage which gives prominence to the themes of fertility and offspring.

 

Circumcision is also performed on the 8th day after birth.48  The number 8 in the Bible has the connotation of being one level above the holy.  This is because the act of circumcision binds the Jew in the strongest way possible to a holy purpose.  

 

Circumcision was certainly known in the ancient world.  It was practiced in ancient Egypt and may have been a mark of distinction of the elite.  The Egyptian Book of the Dead describes the sun god Ra as having circumcised himself.  The priests of Egypt may also have practiced circumcision.49  If this is so, then the Jewish people are being marked for a priestly function to the nations of the world.  The Bible will be more explicit about this in the Book of Exodus by calling on the Israelites to become a nation of priests.50

 

 It is very noteworthy that there is considerable difference between the extent of God’s territorial gift in this 5th blessing and the previous one.  In this Elokim-bestowed blessing, Abraham is promised the “whole of the land of Canaan” (Genesis 17:8), whereas in the previous YKVK blessing he is promised “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River” (Genesis 15:18).  What accounts for this difference?

 

The “land of Canaan” is first defined early in Genesis:

“Canaan begot Zidon, his first born, and Heth; and the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Zemarite and the Hamatite.  Afterwards, the families of the Canaanites branched out.  And the Canaanite border extended from Zidon going towards Gerar as far as Gaza, going towards Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.” (Genesis 10:15-19)

 

The land of Canaan is the territory in which Canaan, the grandson of Noah, and his descendants lived.  Zidon was in the north and encompassed a large area in Lebanon, and Gerar was its southern border.  This city is close to Gaza, but further inland and somewhat to the south of Gaza.  

 

The Canaanites will live in the coastal plain of the land of Canaan otherwise not occupied by the Philistines, the lowlands (shfela) of Canaan and its valleys, and the Jordan valley.  The other tribes will inhabit the central mountain range.  Hence, the “land of Canaan” is the land whose perimeter is the territory of the Canaanites and whose central core is occupied by these other tribes.  This entire area is to become the territory of the Israelites and will be apportioned to the Israelite tribes.

 The borders of the “land of Canaan” are defined in more detail in Numbers chapter 34, while the 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).  

 This difference in territorial borders is a reflection of the ideas that the names for God Elokim and YKVK are promoting.  

 

This 5th blessing given by Elokim is about the eternity of the Jewish people and its role in world history.  The “land of Canaan”, what will in future be called the Land of Israel, is to be their core possession.  This is where the forefathers walked, set up religious monuments, and prayed to God.  This is the territory that defines the Jewish people among the nations of the world, just as the territory of the seventy nations of the world defines them.  As chapter 10 states on four occasions regarding the descendants of Shem, Ham and Yaphet  “ – ……. each according to its language, by their families, in their nations.”  The “land of Canaan” is where the language of the Jewish people will be heard and where their families and tribes will reside.  These are their religious/international borders, and these are the borders that like a magnet will pull the Jewish people whenever they are in exile.

 

By contrast, the borders in the previous blessing are geo-political borders.  Israel can expand beyond its core territory whenever there is national consensus, and eventually its power and influence will extend from Egypt to Mesopotamia.  This is not a directive but permission to do so, and God through His aspect of YKVK will help them achieve this.  In fact, the Israelites already began establishing these greater borders early in their history by capturing the east bank of the Jordan at the time of Moses.  Considerable expansion of territory was also achieved in the time of King David.

 

Prior to being given the fourth blessing, Abraham finds himself involved in local politics and conflict and successfully attacks invading forces from Mesopotamia to rescue his nephew Lot.  This is not an irrelevant side-story to the biblical narrative.  Without intention, Abraham suddenly finds himself a regional power with an empire extending from close to Egypt up to Mesopotamia.  At this point, he does not have the resources to keep this empire together – and almost certainly no desire either – but he is pointing out to later generations that it is part of YKVK’s design that Israel become a regional power between the empires of Mesopotamia and Egypt. 

 

Joshua was well aware of these two promises.  He entered Canaan with the explicit purpose of capturing the land of Canaan and distributing it to the twelve tribes. But this did not limit the possibilities.  As the YKVK aspect of God says to Joshua:

 

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:-6)  

 

The sixth blessing:  

 

The sixth blessing is connected to the fifth blessing by its thematic content.  Nevertheless, in the Torah scroll it is separated from the previous blessing by a paragraph gap and should therefore be considered a separate blessing. 

 

At long last, Abraham is told by Elokim that he will have a son through Sarah and she also will give rise to “nations” and “kings”.  

“And Elokim said to Abraham: 'As for Sarai thy wife, do not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name.  I will bless her, and I will also give her a son through her; I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples will be from her.'” (Genesis 17:15-16)

 

“Sarai” means my princess and may have been a form of endearment.51 Her name is now to become “Sarah”, a princess to everyone.

 

Abraham falls on his face in subjugation, and laughs to himself in wonderment (although not in disbelief).  Sarah is well passed the age of giving birth to children.  Abraham suggests that Ishmael be chosen instead - to which Elokim replies:

Indeed Sarah your wife shall bear you a son; and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.  As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him, and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him exceedingly; he will beget twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.  But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time the next year. ' And He finished speaking with Him, and Elokim ascended from upon Abraham.” (Genesis 17:19-22)

 

Bible critics have noted that the couple are told twice about Sarah’s impending pregnancy, once here and again in the very next section.  There, Abraham and Sarah are informed by one of the three angels of YKVK that in a year’s time Sarah will have a son.  Sara is listening through the tent wall and the intent is clearly that she should hear this news.  This suggests to these scholars that two different textual sources exist regarding Sarah’s pregnancy.   

 

But this so-called duplication can be readily explained.  In the first instance, the communication was to Abraham alone and was via Elokim.  This is because Isaac’s birth has universal implications.  Now husband and wife are informed as a couple by the angels of YKVK about this future pregnancy.  This communication has personal and tribal implications, but not a universal one, and is part of the two YKVK and Elokim stories winding their way through the book of Genesis.

 

This son to be named Isaac will be circumcised at eight days of age so that he is firmly grounded in the covenant and it is only appropriate that this covenant be concluded prior to this son being born. 

 

The full implications of the Abraham story are now coming together.  Why were Abraham and Sarah told to leave Haran in their old age?  Clearly, no age is too late to confront spiritual challenges.  Prior to God communicating with him at age 75, Abraham may well have concluded that he had led a meaningful life and little remained for him to accomplish.  If he had thought this – he was mistaken.  The most consequential aspects of his life were yet to come.

 

Yet there is also another far-reaching message this passage wishes to convey and which could only result from Abraham and Sarah being called on at an old age.   The birth of Isaac is unnatural.  The Bible does not call it this in plain terms, but describes it as a Abraham laughing in wonderment and his son being called Isaac from the same word to laugh.  Postmenopausal women do not have children.  

 

This very much points to the future, since the promulgation of the Jewish people is also destined to be unnatural.  Even in situations of physical and/or spiritual bondage, the Jewish people will have children.  This is not how the world naturally functions.  People who are oppressed become extinct.  And they certainly do not flourish.  Yet the exact opposite happens to the Jewish people.  Even after a catastrophic holocaust they rise again.  The world will never run out of Jews.  This is part of the Elokim-directed covenant.  

 

The Bible is also setting up here the parameters by which the relationship between God and the Jewish people will proceed in the future.  For most nations children come naturally.  This is how the world works.   Most nations are also endogenous to a land.  Their country of birth defines their nationality and that country has been linked to that nationality from time immemorial.  But this is not how it is to be for Abraham and his descendants.  Everything is to be a gift from God and has to be earned – children, land, and even agricultural sustenance on this land.  

 Unlike the pagan deities, YKVK is not satisfied with occasional homage.  He wants a nation that is God-centered and is cognizant of the fact that everything they have is not a natural right but a Divine gift.   This is part of what it means to be bound to God.

 

The seventh blessing 

 The seventh blessing takes place at the end of the Binding of Isaac story and is the crescendo to the previous six blessings.   For the sake of God, Abraham was prepared to sabotage his inheritance.  God will now bless these descendants.  They will be fruitful, successful against their enemies, and a source of admiration and emulation from the nations of the world.  This will be discussed again in more detail on the chapter about the Binding of Isaac.

 

Conclusions

 

The seven blessings bestowed upon Abraham by YKVK and Elokim are clearly prophetic in nature.  

 They have also all come true.   

 

Have there been circumcised Jews in the world for most of the almost 4,000 years since Abraham came to Canaan?  This is undoubtedly the case.    Did Abraham did become the spiritual “father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:5) – in effect of a good proportion of the world?  It is difficult to argue otherwise.  Do the former tribes of Israel currently have jurisdiction over much of the former land of Canaan?  This is also incontrovertible.

 

Yet there is an additional layer of prophecy contained within the Abraham stories.  Everything that Abraham did will have significance in terms of later Jewish history  - his travels and religious acts in the land of Canaan, and even his and his wife’s laughter on learning about Sarah’s future pregnancy.  

 

Nevertheless, the concept that ““the deeds of the forefathers are a portend to their children.” is philosophically a very difficult one.  Does this mean that the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob stories are not authentic stories, but more in the way of symbolic accounts about fictitious people?  This is difficult to fit into the Bible’s narrative, which repeatedly describes the forefathers as real historical figures.  More likely is that God’s intentions for Abraham and Abraham’s desire to fulfill God’s will were so completely, that in effect the Biblical stories became expressions of God’s will.

 

Moreover, given their prophetic nature it is not surprising that many aspects of the Abraham stories reverberate to this day.  

 

The land of Canaan was given to Abraham and yet was occupied by other people.  Today also Israel has sovereignty over much of Judea and Samaria, but another people occupy the land. 

 

The Zionist venture has always required a considerable amount of trust.  To think that a people could arise from near annihilation and establish a vibrant state was never an entirely logical proposition.  Even today more missiles are aimed at Israel from its borders than anywhere else in the world.  Its external problems seem formidable and even insoluble.  Yet the message of the Abraham stories is that God, working through history, will resolve these problems provided the Jewish people maintain their trust in Him. 

 

The seven blessings with their accompanying stories concern themselves in the main with matters of faith and history.  But what of the values that Abraham practiced?  These will be the subject matter of the next essay.

 

References

1.  Nachmanides commentary to the Torah on Genesis 12:9.  Based on Bereishis Raba 40:6, he shows that Abraham’s visit to Egypt has many similarities to the Egyptian exile.  He also mentions in his Introduction to the book of Exodus that “all the events in the lives of [the Patriachs] are illustrations to allude to and to foretell all that would come upon [their offspring] in the future.”

2.   Midrash Rabba 39:1

3.Mishnah Torah, Laws of Idol Worship 1:3

4.   There is a Rabbinic tradition that Malchizedek is to be identified with Shem, the son of Noah (TB Nedarim 32b, Midrash Tehillim 76:3, Targum Yonasan, and Rashi to 14:18).  Nevertheless, the question still stands.

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

6.Babylonian Talmud Berachos 7b.  

7.Midrash Raba 39:6 applies the following verse from Psalms 45:8 to Abraham: “You love righteousness and hate wickedness, therefore has Elokim your God appointed you with oil of joy from among your peers.”  What is meant “from among your peers”?  States the midrash: from Noah to you there were ten generations, and I never spoke with any one of them except for you.

8.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.

9.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.  Cassuto rejects the explanation of Rashi as meaning for his own benefit as other verses in the Bible do not fit this explanation.  For example: “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)  He also provides other examples.  Hirsch and Rabbi Joseph Solveitchik have similar explanations to this. (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.  

10. Genesis 15:5.

11. Nachmanide’s commentary to the Torah on Genesis 12:2.

12.Midrash Raba 39:11.  Examples given by the midrash are a person who wanted to buy a cow from Abraham would be blessed even before the value of the cow had been assessed.  Abraham would pray for a barren woman and the woman would conceive.  However, there are other suggestions from the commentators.  Rashi for example, following a midrash, suggests that Abraham will have the power of blessing in his hands. However, there is no evidence from elsewhere in the Bible that bestowing blessing on others was important to Abraham.  Radak suggests that the phrase “and you shall be a blessing” is not an imperative but a promise.   

13. The notion that all the nations of the world will be blessed through Abraham is repeated In Genesis 18:18.  In that passage, it is linked to Abraham’s practice of righteousness and justice.

14. 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. 

15.Where was Abraham born?  The Bible is very clear on the matter: “Haran died in the presence of Terah his father, in his native land, in Ur Kasdim.” (Genesis 11:28)  From archeological work carried out from the 1800’s and onwards, we know that the ancient city of Ur was located in southern Mesopotamia at the convergence of the Euphrates and Tigris.   At one time, it was the largest city in the ancient world.  It also was on the coast and therefore a port; but the coastline has since moved further into the ocean and the ruins of Ur are now inland.  The “Chaldeans” of “Ur of the Chaldeans” are a Semitic tribe who invaded Ur at the end of the 7th century BCE.   By a century later, Ur was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon and by about 500 BCE the city had become inhabited.  The Chaldean occupation of Ur was therefore of fairly limited duration.  If we take the date of the Exodus as 1406 BCE or thereabouts and the Covenant of the Pieces 430 years earlier, then Abraham lived in about the 1800’s BCE, i.e. in the Middle Bronze Age II period.  In other words, there is a discrepancy of about 1,200 years between the Biblical and historical Ur.  How then is it possible for Abraham to have left a Chaldean Ur?  Three possibilities have been suggested by scholars.   One is that the Bible was redacted during a later period of history and the name “Ur of the Chaldeans” is an anachronism.  This would also date the redaction of the Pentateuch to sometime from the 7th century BCE onwards.  Against this it could be argued that the redactors of the Bible must surely have know that the Chaldeans were in Ur for 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 edition to an earlier 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.  The third possibility, and this is the suggestion favored by this author, is that the Bible was written shortly after the Exodus as the Bible describes 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 other than southern Mesopotamia.  On the other hand, these commentaries were all written when Ur was no longer inhabited and it is possible that they were unaware of this city’s existence.  However, there are other good 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, he 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).  But earlier “his birthplace” (moladato) is referred to as Ur of the Chaldeans.43  Also, in the Covenant between the Pieces, God takes responsibility for taking Abraham from Ur Kasdim: “And he said: I am YKVK Who brought you out of Ur Kasdim to give you this land to inherit.” (Genesis 15:7).   So where is his birthplace – is it Haran or is it Ur of the Chaldeans?  Cassuto solves this problem by suggesting 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 ACommentary on the Book of Genesis , Part Two, from Noah to Abraham, p273)   Both places are the land of his kindred and the contradiction disappears.  However, the contradiction also disappears if one assumes that Haran and Ur of the Chaldeans were both in the same geographical area - in Aram.  

16.See Hosea 4:13:  “They sacrifice on the mountain tops and burn offerings on the hills under oak, poplar and terebinth where the shade is pleasant.”

17. Rashi, on the basis of Bereishis Rabba 39:1 and Sanhedrin 99b comments on the phrase “and the souls that they had made in Haran” (Genesis 12:5) that Abraham would convert the men and Sarah would convert the women and bring them under the wings of the Divine Presence.  The notion that Abraham was an outreach worker for monotheism is an attractive one, but there is nothing in the text to support it and one would have to conclude that Abraham was unsuccessful in his efforts to build up a following, since one hears nothing about one explicitly in the text.  It would, in any case, have been difficult for a nomad to develop a wandering commune. 

18. It would seem from the book of Joshua that the Israelites came to Shechem early in their military campaign soon after capturing Ai and were able to reach it with impunity (Joshua 8:30-35)  Strangely, perhaps, the book of Joshua makes no mention of Shechem being captured.  The king of Shechem did not participate in any of the alliances against the Israelites and his name is not listed among the 31 kings defeated by Joshua’s forces (Joshua:12).  Whether the city was unoccupied or whether the king cooperated with the Israelites or perhaps stayed neutral is not mentioned.  Shechem is mentioned in the Armana letters written in about 1350 BCE, and these include letters from the king of Shechem to the Pharaoh of Egypt.  Shechem was then clearly still a Canaanite city.  Interestingly, these letters from the king of Shechem mention rebelling “Habiru” in the countryside, and another letter mentions that he had recruited “Habiru” as mercenaries.  The identity of these “Habiru” is a controversial topic.  Those scholars who argue for a 12th century Exodus obviously do not accept the Habiru as having any relevance to the Israelites.  However, those who accept a much earlier Exodus do see a possible connection and it is very possible that the “Habiru” were Israelites.  The Armana letters do mention a close relationship between the king of Shechem and the “Habiru” and it is possible that rather than fight them the king of Shechem entered into some sort of alliance with the Israelites, or more likely he had a non-interference policy with respect to Israelites visiting and settling in the vicinity of his city.  In a way, the Arnana letters and the vagueness of the Book of Joshua regarding the status of Shechem complement each other and suggest that the situation vis-a-vis Shechem was not the same as for other Canaanite cities  - although this may not have been a fact that the Israelites wished to record for posterity.  On the other hand, the Book of Joshua does mention that no city made peace with Joshua except for Gibeon and this is hard to square with an alliance (Joshua 11:19). 

19. Jacob bought land from the ruler of Shechem when he returned from Paddan-Aram and also built an altar there.  Under its trees, Jacob buried the alien gods still in the possession of his family.   Shechem is nestled between the two mountains of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.  Mount Gerizim is luscious and green, while Mount Ebel is less so.  The Bible instructed that blessings and curses be pronounced on these two mountains once the Israelites arrived in Canaan and they were to erect great plastered stones with words of Torah and an altar on Mount Ebal.  The book of Joshua records that this is indeed what Joshua did  (Joshua 8:30-35)

20. Genesis 12:8.

21. Genesis 13:3-4.

22.  Exodus 34:5.

23. The Tanach Study Center. Parshat Lech L’Cha – Part Two. Shiurim in Chumash and Navi by Menachem Leibtag. www.tanach.org.

24. Babylonian Talmud, Bava Basra 100a.

25. Maimonides rules in his Mishna Torah (Mishna Torah, Hilchos Terumos chapter 1) that only land captured by the people, as in the days of Joshua, has the agricultural laws of the land of Israel incumbent upon it, such as tithing.  Land captured by an individual, even if part of the inheritance of Abraham, would not have these laws.

26.  This is one of the explanations provided by Nachmanides.  In support of this, the Talmud states (Babylonian Talmud, Avoda Zarah 53b): It is an inheritance to them (the Israelites entering the land of Canaan) from their forefathers.  Hence, the Talmud understands that the land belonged to the Jewish people even prior to the conquest of Canaan.  There is also an opinion in the Talmud (Bava Basra 100b) that just traversing the land was adequate to acquire it. 

27.  Ai was the second place attacked by the Israelites after the destruction of Jericho.  (Joshua 8:10–17; 12:7-9, 16)  The capture of Ai set the stage for the surrender of Gibeon when its inhabitants set up a subterfuge to appear as if they had come from afar and made a peace treaty with Joshua.  Gibeon was also of considerable strategic importance, being at the crossroad of the major north-south road as well as an important east-west road.  The Israelites also conquered and settled in Beth El (Joshua 12;9-16, 16:1-2).  There is still debate as to the location of Bet El, but it may well be the present Arab villages of Beitin or El Birah.  This town is also strategically located on the narrow central mountain range, with a connecting road heading eastwards to Jericho. Beth El would also continue to have considerable religious significance to Abraham’s family.  Jacob slept in Beth El on his way to Padam Aram and had a vision there of angels on a ladder ascending and descending between heaven and earth.  He also made a conditional oath to God that he would tithe his possessions and return to offer sacrifices there if God allowed him to successfully return to Canaan.  When he did return to Canaan, this was to be his second stop and he built an altar there and God appeared to him again (Genesis 35:6-15).  The Israelites sanctuary was first erected in Shiloh (Joshua 18:1-3), but shortly thereafter Beth El became one of the places in Canaan were the ark was set up and the priests offered sacrifices there (Judges 20:18, 26–28; 21:2).

28.  R’ Joseph Solveichik explains that  Abraham was continually performing acts that bound himself eternally to the land such as building sacrificial altars and digging a grave for his wife  (Chumash with commentary based on the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Bereishis, p84, OU Press).   

29. The details of the covenantal ceremony are translated here as “Bring Me three heifers, three she-goats and three rams, and a turtle-dove and a young pigeon” (Genesis 15:9) -  but this may not be the precise translation.  The Bible reads that each animal is to be brought as “a heifer meshuleshet (מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת), she-goat meshuleshet (מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת) and ram meshulash (מְשֻׁלָּשׁ).”  The word meshulash (מְשֻׁלָּשׁ) is related to the word three.  Kimchi translates it as a 3-year old animal.   Others, a 3-year old from the womb.  The translation adopted here is a three-some.  

30.This is just one of several interpretations of this phrase but it seems to be the most literal with respect to the text.  Midrashic explanations, and this is the direction followed by Rashi, suggest that he was worried that he had already received reward for his righteousness.  This means that he could expect no further Divine assistance and would be punished for the lives he had taken or would receive no further assistance from God if there were a reprisal attack.  Nachmanides suggests he might die without children.  

31.There is a view in the Talmud (Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim 32a) that Abraham’s question was improper and because of this 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 answers through the merit of the sacrificial offerings (Rashi to 15:6).  The Talmud also feels 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 (Babylonian Talmud, Megilla 31b). 

32.This approaches the interpretation of the Radak. 

33.Rashi to Genesis 15:9, based on Bereishis Rabbah 44:14.

34.Nachmanides to Genesis 15:13  

35.Rashi regards Isaac and Jacob as being offspring who will be sojourners in a land not their own.  Following Seder Olam, his chronology is 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 210 years.  On the other hand, we have argued that Canaan was already deeded to Abraham.  Plus, the Bible itself states that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40).  These remain difficulties.

36.Genesis 9:8-17.

37. Rashi to Genesis 17:1 as explained by Be’er Yitzchak.  This is also the explanation of Rav Saadia Gaon.  Rabbi Joseph Solveitchik takes a different approach and explains that God’s creation is not fully complete, but God will partner with Abraham and they will both be creators (Chumash with commentary based on the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Bereishis, OU Press).   Luzzatto suggests that the name comes from the three-letter root shin daled daled, and notes that the Arabic word shadid means strong.  Hence, its meaning would be Omnipotent God.  This is similar to the explanation of Nachmanides and Ibn Ezra of Mighty God.

38.Section Five. Prelude to Successful Action in A Commentary on the Book of Exodus by Umberto Moshe David Cassuto, p78. Varda Books, Skokie, Illinois 2005.

39.Rashi to Genesis 6:9.

40.Nachmanides commentary to the Torah on Genesis 17:1.  A midrash, on the other hand, sees circumcision as bringing a repair of a physical perfection (Bereishis Rabba 6:1).  Rashi follows up on this.  Rashi also brings another explanation that this is a command and that Abraham is to be complete or wholehearted in the trials to which he will be subjected.  This could be referring specifically to the command of circumcision (Be’er Yitzchak). 

41.Rashi to Genesis 17:7.

42.This explanation is at variance with that of Rashi (Rashi to Genesis 17:9) who suggests that Elohim is only a God to the Jewish people inside the land of Israel.  Otherwise, it is as if they had no God.  See also Babylonian Talmud, Kesubos 110b. 

43.Rashi suggests that its meaning is the Jewish people plus the tribe of Edom (Rashi to Genesis 17:6).  Nachmanides disagrees that Edom is included here and brings examples where the Jewish people are called nations and peoples (Nachmanides to Genesis 17:6).  Targum Onkelos translates nations as tribes.  Radak suggest that the reference is to the descendants of Keturah who married Abraham after Sarah died.

44.Hoffman notes that in ancient Arabic the word “raham” means a multitude and suggests that although this word is not currently used in Hebrew it may once have been part of the Jewish lexicon.

45.New Testament, Rom 4:9-12

46.Sefer Hachinuch 2.

47.Kuzari 3:7.

48.Genesis 17:12

49. The Book of Genesis.  A Commentary by Shadal (S.D. Luzzatto) translated by Daniel A. Klein, p157.  James Aranson Inc. to Genesis 17.9

50. “You will be for me a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19.6).

51. Rashi in his commentary to Genesis 17:15 quotes the Babylonian Talmud, Berochos 13a, that Sarah was a princess not only to Abraham but also to his people.