Difference between revisions of "Bereshit 15 – One Prophecy or Two/2"
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<point><b>400 or 430 years ?</b> The motivation for this approach is the discrepancy in the account of the length of the Egyptian exile in <a href="Bereshit15" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a> (400 years) and <a href="Shemot12-40-41" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a> (430 years). This position maintains that the 400 years started from the birth of Yitzchak while the 430 count began thirty years earlier, at the Covenant of the Pieces.  Since Avraham was 100 when Yitzchak was born, the covenant must have occurred when he was  70.</point> | <point><b>400 or 430 years ?</b> The motivation for this approach is the discrepancy in the account of the length of the Egyptian exile in <a href="Bereshit15" data-aht="source">Bereshit 15:13</a> (400 years) and <a href="Shemot12-40-41" data-aht="source">Shemot 12:40-41</a> (430 years). This position maintains that the 400 years started from the birth of Yitzchak while the 430 count began thirty years earlier, at the Covenant of the Pieces.  Since Avraham was 100 when Yitzchak was born, the covenant must have occurred when he was  70.</point> | ||
<point><b>Achronology</b> – As Bereshit 12 is explicitly dated to the 75th year of Avraham's life, this approach suggests that the covenant of the pieces must be written out of order.</point> | <point><b>Achronology</b> – As Bereshit 12 is explicitly dated to the 75th year of Avraham's life, this approach suggests that the covenant of the pieces must be written out of order.</point> | ||
| − | <point><b>"וְאַבְרָם בֶּן חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה בְּצֵאתוֹ מֵחָרָן"</b> – As Bereshit 12 narrates that Avraham left Charan to go to Canaan at 75, this position must assume that the covenant either took place out of Israel, or, as Seder Olam Rabbah asserts, that Avraham went to Israel | + | <point><b>"וְאַבְרָם בֶּן חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה בְּצֵאתוֹ מֵחָרָן"</b> – As Bereshit 12 narrates that Avraham left Charan to go to Canaan at 75, this position must assume that the covenant either took place out of Israel, or, as Seder Olam Rabbah asserts, that Avraham went to Israel at 70 but then returned to live in Charan for five years.  Neither assumption is an easy one to make.</point> |
<point><b>Why write the story achronologically?</b></point> | <point><b>Why write the story achronologically?</b></point> | ||
<point><b>Night or day?</b></point> | <point><b>Night or day?</b></point> | ||
Version as of 12:56, 8 June 2015
Chronology of the Covenant Between the Pieces
Exegetical Approaches
Two Events
Chapter 15 comprises two distinct prophecies. The vision described in the first six verses of the chapter is in chronological order and took place after the battle of the five kings while the rest of the chapter recounts a separate prophecy which happened earlier when Avraham was 70.
400 or 430 years ? The motivation for this approach is the discrepancy in the account of the length of the Egyptian exile in Bereshit 15:13 (400 years) and Shemot 12:40-41 (430 years). This position maintains that the 400 years started from the birth of Yitzchak while the 430 count began thirty years earlier, at the Covenant of the Pieces. Since Avraham was 100 when Yitzchak was born, the covenant must have occurred when he was 70.
Achronology – As Bereshit 12 is explicitly dated to the 75th year of Avraham's life, this approach suggests that the covenant of the pieces must be written out of order.
"וְאַבְרָם בֶּן חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה בְּצֵאתוֹ מֵחָרָן" – As Bereshit 12 narrates that Avraham left Charan to go to Canaan at 75, this position must assume that the covenant either took place out of Israel, or, as Seder Olam Rabbah asserts, that Avraham went to Israel at 70 but then returned to live in Charan for five years. Neither assumption is an easy one to make.
Why write the story achronologically?
Night or day?
Introductory formula – "אֲנִי ה'"
"וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו"
Avraham's doubts – "הֵן לִי לֹא נָתַתָּה זָרַע"
Avraham's doubts – "בַּמָּה אֵדַע כִּי אִירָשֶׁנָּה"
Belief versus doubt
Vision vs. sleep
One Event
The events of the entire chapter are connected and took place at one time. This position subdivides regarding when these occurred:
Chronological
The whole chapter is found in its chronological place, after the war of the 5 kings.
Achronological
The entire chapter is written out of order and occurred when Avraham was 70.
