Genesis (American Standard Version, 1901) · 17 of 73 · tr. American Standard Version (1901)
15:5-16:5
[15:5] And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
[15:6] And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
[15:7] And he said unto him, I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
[15:8] And he said, O Lord Jehovah, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
[15:9] And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.
[15:10] And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not.
[15:11] And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
[15:12] And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.
[15:13] And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
[15:14] and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
[15:15] But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
[15:16] And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.
[15:17] And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.
[15:18] In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
[15:19] the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
[15:20] and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
[15:21] and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.
[16:1] Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
[16:2] And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
[16:3] And Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife.
[16:4] And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
[16:5] And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: Jehovah judge between me and thee.
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
God is described as physically bringing Abram 'forth abroad' and the divine presence takes the quasi-physical form of a smoking furnace and flaming torch that moves between the pieces.
A binding agreement or relationship between the divine and a people or individual, establishing mutual obligations.
The entire passage centers on the covenant between Jehovah and Abram, including the animal-sacrifice ritual, the divine theophany of the smoking furnace and flaming torch passing between the pieces, and the explicit declaration 'In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram.'
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
God is portrayed as actively ordering Abram's life and future — bringing him from Ur, promising the land, foretelling four hundred years of affliction, promising judgment on the oppressor, and guaranteeing return with great substance.
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
Jehovah is depicted as a personal, active, responsive deity who speaks directly to Abram, answers his question, performs the covenant ritual, and makes binding promises.
The smoking furnace and flaming torch that pass between the divided pieces serve as the divine presence ratifying the covenant, making fire the medium through which the divine commits itself to the agreement.