Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 17
Overview
This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.The Covenants Between Hashem and Avraham
Hashem establishes two covenants with Avraham: the Covenant Between the Pieces and the covenant of circumcision, both of which formalize the promise of land and descendants to Avraham.
Tools
- Using the Tanakh Lab, one can compare the texts of the Covenant Between the Pieces (Bereshit 15) and the covenant of circumcision (Bereshit 17). Interestingly, there are relatively few linguistic parallels between the two. Even a word that is shared, ברית, is found only once in the story of the Covenant Between the Pieces, while it appears 13 times in the context of circumcision. Also, while the word “זרע” (offspring) appears in both covenants, the other central promise of the covenant -- land -- is described in such different terms in the two covenant that there is no shared word for it in the two chapters. These differences indicate the different emphases and natures of the two covenants, notwithstanding that their content is ostensibly similar in that they both represent God’s promise of offspring and land.
Articles
- See Va’era: Brit Bein Habetarim or Brit Milah by R. Menachem Leibtag for analysis of the differences between the two covenants and how they both come into play later in the story of the Exodus. by R. Menachem Leibtag for analysis of the differences between the two covenants and how they both come into play later in the story of the Exodus. R. Leibtag suggests that the different language and images of the two covenants indicate that the Covenant Between the Pieces focuses on the miraculous, national-historical relationship of Hashem to Am Yisrael, while circumcision highlights Hashem’s relationship to the nation of Israel on an individual and family level.
- See Parshat Lecha Lecha: Two Covenants by R. Alex Israel for exploration of the parallels and contrasts between the two covenants, what each represents, and why both (or indeed any covenant at all) were necessary. Building upon R. Leibtag’s explanation of the different natures of the two, R. Israel suggests that an additional purpose of the covenant of circumcision was to solidify Sarah’s role in the covenant after Avraham married Hagar in Chapter 16.