James Trimm’s Nazarene Commentary on Bereshit Chapter 15
15:1-6
1 After these things the Word of YHWH came unto Avram in a vision, saying: Fear not, Avram: I am your shield. Your reward shall be exceeding great.
2 And Avram said, O Adonai YHWH, what will You give me, seeing I go hence childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eli’ezer of Dammesek?
3 And Avram said, Behold, to me You have given no seed: and behold, one born in my house is to be my heir.
4 And behold, the word of YHWH came unto him, saying: This man shall not be your heir, but he that shall come forth out of your own insides shall be your heir.
5 And He brought him forth abroad, and said: Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if you be able to count them. And He said unto him: So shall your seed be.
6 And he believed in YHWH, and He counted it to him for righteousness.
(Gen. 15:1-6 HRV)
Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if you be able to count them. And He said unto him: So shall your seed be.
The pashat of this passage teaches us that Avraham’s seed will be vast in number. This is fulfilled in Deut. 1:10. The passage also lays the foundation for an allegorical relationship between Avraham’s seed and the stars. This is especially clear in Yosef’s dream in which his father and mother are represented by the sun and moon, and his brothers by 11 stars (Bereshit 37:9 see Also Rev. 12:1) and the tradition found in the Sefer Yetzirah and other sources, whereby the twelve constellations of the Zodiac represent each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
And he believed in YHWH, and He counted it to him for righteousness.
“The Word of YHWH came to Avraham in a vision” (15:1) “And behold the Word of YHWH came to him saying” (15:4). It is not surprising then that, according to the Targum Onkelos to 15:6, Avraham’s faith/belief/trust was not just in YHWH but in the Word (Memra) of YHWH:
“And he believed in the Word (Memra) of YHWH. And He counted it to him for righteousness.”
(Gen. 15:6 Targum Onkelos)
And Targum Psedo-Jonathan has:
“And he believed in YHWH, and had faith in the Word (Memra) of YHWH, and He reckoned it to him for righteousness.”
(Gen. 15:6 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan)
Philo of Alexandria understood this as well. He writes:
“It is best, therefore, to trust in God, and not in uncertain reasoning, or unsure conjectures. “Abraham trusted in the Lord, and it was counted to him for Righteousness” (Gen. 15:6) And Moses governed the people, being testified to that he was faithful with his whole house. But if we distrust our own reason (LOGOS, Word), we shall prepare and build ourselves a city of the mind which will destroy the truth.”
(Philo of Alexandria; Allegorical Interpretation, III, 228)
To Philo, Avraham’s faith in Elohim was faith in the Memra or Logos. It was faith in the divine reason that permeates the universe. It was a rational faith.
Of course the Memra is also a title for the Messiah (See comments to Yochanan 1:1-14 and comments to Isiah 42:1-4).
We read in the Zohar of a discussion of this verse between Rabbi Zeira and Rabbi Abba:
Now,’ he [R. Zeira, the son of Rab] asked, ‘it is written: “And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Does it mean that the Holy One counted it to Abraham, or that Abraham counted it to the Holy One? I myself’, he said, ‘heard that it means that the Holy One counted it to Abraham, but this does not satisfy me.’ Said R. Abba: ‘It is indeed not so. Observe that it is written, “and he counted it” (vayahsh’veha), but not “and he counted to him” (vayahshov lo). This assuredly means that Abraham counted it to the Holy One, blessed be He.
(Zohar 3:148a)
This reflects a conflict found among the Rabbinic commentators. Rashbam wrote:
That is, “he [Avraham] took it as charitable of Him [YHWH]” giving him [Avraham] something he did not deserve by his own merits.
However Rashi interprets:
The Holy One, blessed be He, accounted it to Abram as a merit and as righteousness for the faith that he believed in Him (Targum Jonathan). Another explanation for: “How will I know?” He did not ask Him for a sign, but he said before Him, “Let me know with what merit will they [my descendants] remain therein [in the Land]?” The Holy One, blessed be He, replied, “With the merit of the sacrifices.”
Nachmanides, like Ya’akov HaTzadik (Ya’akov 2:21-24), links Avraham’s faith in Gen. 15:6 to his later offering of Isaac in Genesis 22:
…someone who trusted God enough to slaughter his beloved only son, not to mention the other trials– why would he not believe a promise of reward? I think the second half of the verse means something completely different: “He”– Avram– “thought it righteousness in Him [YHWH].” That is, he thought that through the righteousness of the Holy One He would give him offspring no matter what, without regard to Abram’s own righteousness and not as a reward.
Paul agrees with Rashi’s interpretation uses Gen. 15:6 and Hab. 2:4 to build his case that a man’s salvation is based on faith alone and not works. Paul writes:
1 What then are we saying concerning Avraham the patriarch: that he obtained [righteousness] by the flesh?
2 For if Avraham by works, was justified, he had boasting, but not toward Eloah.
3 For what does the Scripture say? Avraham believed Eloah, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. (Gen, 15:6)
4 Now to him who labors, his reward is not reckoned to him as of favor, but as that which is owed to him.
5 But to him who does not labor but believes only, in Him who justifies sinners: his trust is reckoned to him for righteousness.
6 As also David said, concerning the blessing of the man to whom Eloah reckons righteousness without works saying,
7 Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose sins are covered:
8 And blessed is the man to whom Eloah will not reckon his sin. (Ps. 32:1-2)
9 Is this blessing therefore upon the Circumcision, or upon the uncircumcision? For we say that trust, was reckoned to Avraham for righteousness. (Gen. 15:6)
10 How then, was it reckoned to him, in circumcision or in uncircumcision? It was not in circumcision but in uncircumcision.
11 For he received circumcision– the sign and the seal of the righteousness of his trust–that was in uncircumcision: that he might become the father to all those who believe from the uncircumcision; that it might be reckoned also to them for righteousness.
12 And the father to the Circumcision: not to those who are from the Circumcision only, but even to those who follow in the footsteps of the trust of the uncircumcision of our father Avraham.
13 For not by the Torah was the promise [made] to Avraham and to his seed, that he would be heir forever: but by the righteousness of his trust.
14 For if those who are from the Torah [only] become heirs: trust becomes void, and the promise fails
15 For the Torah [apart from trust] is a worker of wrath: for when there was no Torah, also there was no transgression of the Torah.
16 Because of this, we will be justified by trust, which is by favor, and the promise will be sure to all his seed: not to those who are from the Torah only, but also to those who are from the trust of Avraham, who is the father of us all.
17 As it is written, I have placed you a father, to a multitude of the Goyim (Gen. 17:5) before Eloah in whom you believed: who makes alive the dead, and calls those [things] that are not, as though they are.
18 And without hope, he believed in hope: that he might be a father to a multitude of the Goyim (Gen. 17:5) as it is written that, Thus will be your seed (Gen. 15:5).
19 And he was not weak in his trust: considering his dead body that was one hundred years old, and the dead womb of Sarah.
20 And he did not doubt the promise of Eloah as [one] lacking trust: but was strong in trust, and gave praise to Eloah.
21 And he was convinced, that Eloah was able to fulfill that which He had promised to him.
22 Because of this, it was reckoned to him for righteousness. (Gen. 15:6)
(Rom. 4:16-22 HRV)
And:
23 And not for his sake only, was this written, that his trust was reckoned for righteousness, (Gen. 15:6)
24 But also for our sakes, because He is also prepared to reckon [righteousness to] those who had trust in Him, who raised our Adon Yeshua the Messiah from among the dead:
25 Who was delivered up for our sins, and rose so that He might justify us.
(Romans 4:23-24 HRV)
And in Galatians he writes:
6 Thus Avraham believed Eloah, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. (Gen. 15:6)
7 Therefore know, that those who are of trust are sons of Avraham.
8 For because Eloah knew from before, that by Trust, the Goyim would be justified, He proclaimed it before to Avraham. Like the Set-Apart Scripture says: That in you will be blessed all the Goyim.
9 Thus, believers are blessed by faithful Avraham,
(Gal. 3:6-9 HRV)
On the surface this interpretation appears to conflict with that of Ya’akov HaTzadik who writes:
21 Was not our father Avraham made righteous by works, when he offered Yitz’chak, his son, upon the altar? (Gen. 22)
22 You see that his trust, aided his works: and [that] by works, his trust was completed.
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled that said, Avraham believed in Eloah and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, (Gen. 15:6) and he was called the friend of Eloah (Is. 41:8; 2Chron. 20:7).
24 You see that by works, a son of man is made righteous, and not by Trust alone.
(Ya’akov 2:21-24 HRV)
In reality there is no conflict. The Hebrew word צדקה can mean “righteousness” but it can also mean “salvation” hence it is used in parallel with “salvation” in Psalm 71:15:
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness,
and of Your salvation all the day,
for I know not the numbers thereof.
(Psalm 71:15 HRV)
But the word צדקה can also refer to an outer display of righteousness, such as an act of charity. As Ibn Ezra writes in his commentary to Gen. 15:6 “Jewish tradition uses this word to mean ‘charity'”.
We read in Luke 7:29 that “the people… and the publicans justified Eloah. being immeresed with the immersion of Yochanan.” Certainly these people did not “save” Elohim. However they did display YHWH’s righteousness. This understanding is similar to that of Rashbam’s understanding, that Avraham’s faith demonstrated YHWH’s righteousness.
So while Paul interprets this verse correctly to speak of Avraham’s salvation, Ya’akov HaTzadik also correctly interprets it to speak of Avraham’s outer display of righteousness, saying:
17 Thus also, Trust alone, without works, is dead.
18 For a man will say to you, You have Trust and I have works: show me your Trust without works, and I will show you my Trust, by my works.
19 You believe that Eloah is one; You do well: even the shadim believe and tremble.
20 Now do you wish to know, O frail son of man, that trust without works is dead?
(Ya’akov 2:17-18)
Paul also agrees with this understanding when he writes:
8 By a work of trust, Avraham listened, when he was called to go into a land which he would have an inheritance. And he obeyed, and did not know to what place which he went.
9 By a work of trust, he was a stranger in the land of promise, like in a strange land, and dwelt in tents with Yitzchak and Ya’akov–the heirs with him, of the same promise.
10 For he was watchman for a city, which has a foundation which is built and formed by He who is Elohim.
11 By a work of trust, received also Sarah, which became pregnant, and begat in her old age, because she swore that He was faithful who promised her.
(Hebrews 11:8-11 HRV)
And each passage has seventy facets.
We find that Paul’s teaching that righteousness is derived from faith alone. from one’s heart and not merely from what one does, resonates in several passages in the Mishna:
Antigones of Soko received [Torah] from Simeon the Righteous. He used to say, “Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of wages, but be like servants who serve their master with no thought of a wage – and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.”
(m.Avot 1:3)
The House of Shammai says: In the evening one should recline in order to recite the shema, and in the morning they should stand. As it is written “when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)
But the House of Hillel says: Everyone may recite the Shema in his own way, as it is written: “And you shall go by the way” (Deuteronomy 7:7)
(m.Berachot 1:3)
“…all are the same, the one who offers much and the one who offers little, on condition that a man will direct his intention to Heaven.”
(m.Menachot 13:11)