IN A VISION. A prophetic vision.

[I AM THY SHIELD.] I was your shield and saved you from the kings. I will also reward you because, of your own free will, leading a small force and relying on Me, you saved your nephew.

[CHILDLESS.] The yod of ariri (childless) is like the yod of achzari (cruel).¹ The yod is dropped in the plural. Compare, they shall be childless (aririm)², not aririyyim (Weiser). The point is, even though childless is always written ariri and never arir, the second yod never appears in the plural (Krinsky). (Lev. 20:21). Its meaning is as Onkelos explains it.³ as childless.

footnotes: ¹ It indicates a state (Weiser). It is not a root letter (Krinsky). ² The plural is aririm ³ Onkelos translates ariri

HE THAT SHALL BE POSSESSOR OF MY HOUSE. Meshek (possessor of) follows the paradigm of meches (levy) (Num. 31:28). It has a root whose second and third letters are identical. It comes from the same root as shokek⁴. (leap) in leap upon it (Is. 33:4). It means the same as the word devek (glue)⁵ is like devek; both indicate attachment and both are vocalized segol, segol. According to Cherez, I.E. similarly understands shokek in Is. 33:4. In Zephaniah 2:9, I.E. explains ben meshek as one who never leaves the house. and is also vocalized with a segol.⁶. 38 omits “with a segol.” It reads: it means the same as glue. The word ben is to be read as if written twice. The verse is to read as follows: and he that shall be possessor of my house (ben meshek beti) is Eliezer, a native of Damascus (ben damesek Eliezer).⁷. I.E. suggests that the word ben be placed before Damascus.

footnotes: ⁴ Its root is shin, kof, kof ⁵ Meshek ⁶ It should be noted that Vat. Ebr ⁷ The verse literally reads: he Damascus Eliezer

OF THY OWN BOWELS. A euphemism for the sexual organ. Bowels is used as a euphemism because the male member is close to them.

RIGHTEOUSNESS. Compare, And it shall be righteousness unto us (Deut. 6:25). Tzedakah (righteousness) is a synonym for justice.⁸ However, in Rabbinic literature tzedakah has a different meaning.⁹

footnotes: ⁸ God considered Abraham’s action as just and right. ⁹ There it has the meaning of charity.

THAT BROUGHT THEE OUT OF UR OF THE CHALDEES. This verse proves what I have earlier noted, that God’s command to Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, etc., was given in Ur of the Chaldees, not in Haran.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ Cf. I.E.’s comment on Gen. 12:1.

Abraham had complete faith in God’s word that he would beget a son who would be his heir. It was only with regard to the possession of the land that he asked for a sign. He acted like Gideon.¹¹ Furthermore, all prophecies are conditional. God’s oaths, on the other hand, are unconditional.¹² Hence Abraham did not sin in requesting that a covenant be made between God and himself.¹³ 32a.

footnotes: ¹¹ Cf. Jud. 6:37. Gideon, also, although he had faith in God, asked Him for a sign (Krinsky). Cherez explains that inheriting the land entailed expelling the Canaanites. The latter were expelled because of their sinfulness (v. 16). As there was a possibility that the Canaanites might repent, Abraham asked for a sign that regardless of what the Canaanites might do, his children would inherit the land. Similarly Gideon asked for a sign that he would be victorious even if the Midianites repented. ¹² God’s initial word to Abraham was prophetic. Hence it was conditional. Had God sworn an oath, Abraham would not have asked for a sign (Krinsky). ¹³ That the land of Canaan be unconditionally given to his descendants. I.E.’s view is in contradistinction to a Midrashic view which held that Abraham sinned in asking for a sign. Cf. Nedarim

A SHE-GOAT OF THREE YEARS OLD. Some render ez meshuleshet as three she-goats.¹⁴ However, it appears to me that the correct translation of the phrase is: a she-goat three years old.

footnotes: ¹⁴ Onkelos, Rashi.

AND A RAM. A full grown male sheep.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁵ A ram is a male sheep older than a year (Krinsky).

AND A YOUNG PIGEON. Gozal is a young dove.¹⁶ can also be translated as a fledgling. It can thus refer to any bird. Cf. Deut. 32:11. It is to be rendered this way because burnt offerings and other sacrifices were brought only from among the animals and birds mentioned here.

footnotes: ¹⁶ The word gozal

AND DIVIDED THEM IN THE MIDST. He cut them up and separated the pieces. Bater (split) in Upon the split mountains (hare bater)¹⁷ (Cant. 2:17) and betarav (parts of) in between the parts thereof (betarav) (Jer. 34:18) are analogous to va-yevater (and divided them).

footnotes: ¹⁷ I.E.’s rendering, i.e., mountains that are split or divided by valleys. Cf. Segel’s commentary on Canticles.

AND LAID EACH HALF OVER AGAINST THE OTHER. Note that the word ish (each)¹⁸ usually means a man. However, our verse reads, ish bitro (each half) and deals with animals. Hence I.E. explains that ish does not necessarily mean man. Here it refers to animals. Its meaning is, the half of each animal. means the same as ba’al, which means the thing itself. Similarly, ish (man) in The Lord is a man (ish) of war;¹⁹ as a man of war, as God is not a man. It must mean: the Lord is a being who wages war (Cherez). (Ex. 15:3); and ish (man) in the man (ve-ha-ish) Gabriel²⁰ (Dan. 9:21); and ish (fellow) in a base fellow (ish beliyya’al) (II Sam. 20:1). In the latter verse it is in the construct.²¹ is in the construct with beliyya’al. Cherez writes that he does not understand this comment at all. Filwarg emends ish beliyya’al to ish-ba’al (II Kings 1:8), the point being that we find ish and ba’al in apposition; i.e., ish and ba’al mean the same. Thus ish-ba’al is similar to admat-afar in Dan. 12:2, where admat means the same as afar. Ish is also used in reference to the living creatures seen by Ezekiel,²² (ishah) to another (Ezek. 1:9). and to the curtains of the Tabernacle, viz., Five curtains shall be coupled together one (ishah) to another (Ex. 26:3). The meaning of our clause is that he placed the piece of each one (ish) over against its counterpart. The term ish is to be so interpreted because man and beast are two different beings.²³ must be interpreted as meaning a thing, the very thing. Otherwise it could not refer both to man and beast since they are totally different beings.

footnotes: ¹⁸ Ish ¹⁹ We cannot translate ish milchamah ²⁰ Gabriel is an angel. Therefore the phrase cannot mean the man Gabriel, but rather Gabriel himself. ²¹ According to Weiser. This is a most difficult comment. It is hard to understand what I.E. is trying to say. Obviously ish ²² Their wings were joined one ²³ Ish

BUT THE BIRDS DIVIDED HE NOT. The turtle dove and the young dove. Tzippor (birds) is a general term.²⁴ refers both to the turtle dove and to the young dove.

footnotes: ²⁴ Thus tzippor

THE BIRDS OF PREY. Ayit (birds of prey) is a type of bird. Ayit (bird of prey) in Is my heritage unto Me as a speckled bird of prey (ha-ayit) (Jer. 12:9) is similar.

UPON THE CARCASSES. On the lifeless bodies.²⁵ (carcasses) and not betarim (pieces). The reference is to the carcasses of the turtle dove and the young dove (Krinsky).

footnotes: ²⁵ Scripture uses the term pegarim

AND ABRAM DROVE THEM AWAY. Va-yashev (drove away) has a dagesh in the shin to make up for a missing nun.²⁶. He drove them and sent them off the carcasses.²⁷ (otom) refers to the birds of prey. It should be noted that ayit (birds of prey) is in the singular. I.E. takes it as a collective noun. Yashev (he caused to blow) in He causeth His wind to blow (yashev rucho) (Ps. 147:18) is similar.²⁸ means to blow. Similarly in our verse Abraham drove the birds off by causing a wind to blow over them, i.e., by flapping at them. On the other hand, he may have flapped at the carcasses to drive the bird of prey off them.²⁹ refers to the carcasses and ayit refers to one bird. The verse is to be interpreted as follows: the bird of prey came down…and Abraham flapped at the carcasses and drove “it” off.

footnotes: ²⁶ Its root being nun, shin, bet ²⁷ Them ²⁸ The root nun, shin, bet ²⁹ According to this interpretation the them

AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT, WHEN THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN. This clause indicates that Abraham took him all these (v. 10) during the day after he awoke from his prophetic vision.³⁰

footnotes: ³⁰ The vision in which Abraham was told to set aside the animals occurred at night (v. 5). He took the animals on the next day, after awakening from his vision. When the sun came down there transpired what our verse describes (Cherez, Krinsky).

THAT THY SEED SHALL BE A STRANGER IN A LAND THAT IS NOT THEIRS. In Hebrew a person who has a family is likened to a branch attached to its source. Therefore such an individual is called an ezrach,³¹ means native-born. According to I.E. one born in the land is called an ezrach because he is like a branch attached to its tree. It should be added that I.E. points out in his comments on Gen. 2:25 that the Bible compares man to a tree. for the meaning of ezrach is a branch, as in a sprouting tree with many branches (ke-ezrach ra’anan) (Ps. 37:35). On the other hand, a stranger is termed ger in Hebrew from the word gargir (berry), for he is like a berry plucked from a branch. There are some unintelligent people who find this explanation farfetched. However, if they knew the meaning of each letter and its form then they would recognize the truth.³². He explains that gimel means finished, or weaned (gamal), and resh cut. A poor person is called a rash because he is cut off from his sources. Ger is spelled gimel, resh; it thus means a person weaned and cut off from his family (Cherez, Netter).

footnotes: ³¹ Ex. 12:49. Cf. Lev. 16:29, 18:26, 19:34, 24:16; Num. 9:14. Ps. 37:35 has been rendered in accordance with I.E.’s interpretation in Psalms. Ezrach ³² Ibn Ezra discusses the meaning and form of letters in his Sefer Ha-Tzachot

FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. Until the end of this period (four hundred years) starting from this very day.³³

footnotes: ³³ In Ex. 12:40, I.E. writes that the 400 years started with the birth of Isaac. Some versions have “from Isaac’s birth” in our text.

WHOM THEY SHALL SERVE. Whose slaves they shall be.

BUT THOU SHALT GO TO THY FATHERS. A euphemism for a natural death.

[IN PEACE.] Unlike your enslaved descendants, you will die in dignity.

AND IN THE FOURTH GENERATION THEY SHALL COME BACK HITHER. Many of the commentaries misunderstood the meaning of the word dor (generation).³⁴. In Deut. 7:9 he quotes an opinion that a generation is 36 years. The sages of the Talmud said there were ten generations from Adam to Noah.³⁵ 5:2. The sages speak of generations in terms of people, not years. Each one of those mentioned had a life span that differed from the other. Hence dor cannot refer to a fixed number of years. We also find, to a thousand generations³⁶ (Deut. 7:9) and Job speaks of four generations (Job 42:16).³⁷ In my opinion the meaning of dor (generation) is dwells. Compare dur (dwell) in Than to dwell (mi-dur) in the tents of wickedness (Ps. 84:11). A generation is measured by a person’s life span. Some are long and some are short. Our verse refers to the fourth generation starting from the first that lived as strangers in Egypt. Thus it is written, thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land (Deut. 23:8).³⁸ And so it was: Kohath, Amram, Moses and Aaron were strangers in Egypt. Their children, who were the fourth generation, returned to the land of Canaan.

footnotes: ³⁴ They explain generations as a specific number of years. Cf. I.E.’s commentary on Job 42:16 in which he notes, Isaac the windbag erred in saying that a generation spans 35 years ³⁵ Avot ³⁶ If a generation is a fixed number of years then a thousand generations is a thousand times that number. In Deut. 7:9, I.E. argues that it cannot be so. Cf. I.E.’s comments on Deut. 7:9. ³⁷ In Job the four generations come to 140 years. We thus see that a generation is not a fixed number of years, for each time it is encountered it does not refer to the same number of years. ³⁸ This verse spells out that the Hebrews were strangers in Egypt.

FOR THE INIQUITY OF THE AMORITE IS NOT YET FULL. I have explained the meaning of iniquity in my comments on My punishment is greater than I can bear (Gen. 4:13).³⁹ The Amorites are singled out because they were the most powerful of the Canaanite peoples.⁴⁰ Behold, the great kings whom Moses slew were Amorites.⁴¹ Furthermore, it was five Amorite kings who united to fight Joshua.⁴² There are other proofs.⁴³ Similarly the prophet says concerning the Amorites, Whose height was like the height of the cedars, And he was strong as the oaks (Am. 2:9). Whoever says that Emori (Amorite) comes from the same root as amar (saying) does not contribute anything.⁴⁴ (avon ha’emori) to mean the sin for saying (avon ha-amirah): O Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it. Pesikta Zutarta, Gen. 15:16.

footnotes: ³⁹ Iniquity at times means punishment. That is its meaning in this verse; i.e., I have not yet finished punishing them (Cherez). ⁴⁰ Actually this verse refers to all the inhabitants of Canaan. ⁴¹ Deut. 2:24-36; 4:47. The Bible singles out these kings as being mighty (Weiser). ⁴² Josh. 10:5. ⁴³ In Scripture that the Amorites were the most powerful inhabitants of Canaan. ⁴⁴ The Midrash interprets the iniquity of the Amorite

AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN. Until now the sun had not yet set. It is similarly written, when the sun was about to go down (v. 12).⁴⁵ (when the sun was going down). We thus see that what transpired until now took place before the sun went down.

footnotes: ⁴⁵ This is the literal meaning of va-yehi ha-shemesh la-vo

THICK DARKNESS. Alatah (thick darkness) means darkness. The word alatah is also found in Ezekiel (12:6, 7, 12). It means a cloudy night. It might also refer to the darkness that sets in as soon as the last light has disappeared in the clouds.

BEHOLD A SMOKING FURNACE, AND A FLAMING TORCH. An image of a smoking furnace with a flaming torch in it.

BETWEEN THESE PIECES. Ben ha-gezarim means between the pieces. This⁴⁶ was the actual taking of the oath. The words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof (Jer. 34:18) is similar. We thus read in the next verse, In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘Unto thy seed have I given this land,’ etc.

footnotes: ⁴⁶ The passing of the smoking furnace with the flaming torch inside it between the pieces.

FROM THE RIVER OF EGYPT. This refers to the Shihor, and not the Nile.⁴⁷

footnotes: ⁴⁷ Cf. Josh. 13:3; Jer. 2:18. Josh. 13:3 says that the Shihor lies before Egypt The Nile is in Egypt.

THE KENITE, AND THE KENIZZITE AND THE KADMONITE. These are children of Canaan. Each one had two names.⁴⁸

footnotes: ⁴⁸ Each one had another name and was listed under the other name in Gen. 10:15-18, in which the children of Canaan are enumerated. See I.E.’s comment on Gen. 13:7.

AND THE REPHAIM. This is what That also is accounted a land of Rephaim (Deut. 2:20) refers to.⁴⁹ in our verse refers to the land of Rephaim and not to the Rephaim per se, since the latter were not Canaanites (Weiser). However, Krinsky explains that the Rephaim were a branch of the Canaanites. Do not be surprised that Scripture lists the Canaanite and after him the Jebusite.⁵⁰ Note: Each one of the seven nations that dwelled in Canaan were Canaanites. They descended from Canaan, who fathered eleven sons. Elsewhere Scripture lists six Canaanite nations by their specific names and includes the remainder under the term Canaanite.⁵¹ In our chapter Scripture lists ten of them.⁵² At other times Scripture includes them all in the term Canaanite without enumerating them. Scripture similarly states, Judah and Israel were many (I Kings 4:20) even though the term Israel includes Judah.⁵³

footnotes: ⁴⁹ The point of I.E.’s comment is that Rephaim ⁵⁰ Canaan was the father of these nations. Why, then, list him between the Kenites and Jebusites (Meijler)? ⁵¹ Thus Canaan refers to the Canaanite people (Weiser). ⁵² Two are included in the name Canaan. ⁵³ We thus see that the Bible at times is especially explicit. Similarly, although Canaanite can refer to all seven nations, the Bible mentions Canaanite and then notes a number of them.