Genesis 15:2-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 15:2 tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (ʾadonay yehvih, “Lord Yahweh”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay, “Lord”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Lord God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Lord” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Lord Lord,” which is rendered here “Sovereign Lord.”
2. Genesis 15:2 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.
3. Genesis 15:2 tn Heb “I am going.”
4. Genesis 15:2 tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”sn For the custom of designating a member of the household as heir, see C. H. Gordon, “Biblical Customs and the Nuzu Tablets,” Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 2:21-33.
5. Genesis 15:2 tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).
6. Genesis 15:2 sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׂק, dammeseq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3, ” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.
7. Genesis 15:3 tn Heb “And Abram said.”
8. Genesis 15:3 tn The construction uses הֵן (hen) to introduce the foundational clause (“since…”), and וְהִנֵּה (v^ehinneh) to introduce the main clause (“then look…”).
9. Genesis 15:3 tn Heb “is inheriting me.”
10. Genesis 15:4 tn The disjunctive draws attention to God’s response and the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, translated “look”) mirrors Abram’s statement in v. 3 and highlights the fact that God responded to Abram.
11. Genesis 15:4 tn The subject of the verb is the demonstrative pronoun, which can be translated “this one” or “this man.” That the Lord does not mention him by name is significant; often in ancient times the use of the name would bring legitimacy to inheritance and adoption cases.
12. Genesis 15:4 tn The Hebrew כִּי־אִם (ki ʾim) forms a very strong adversative.
13. Genesis 15:4 tn Heb “he who.”
14. Genesis 15:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.