Commentaire sur La Genèse 15:7

I AM THE ETERNAL WHO BROUGHT THEE OUT OF UR OF THE CHALDEES, TO GIVE THEE THIS LAND TO INHERIT IT. I have already explained this verse²⁵³Above, 11:28. as stating: “From the time I brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees and performed a miracle for you [which saved your life], it was the Will before Me to give you this land.” But at this present moment He did not decree giving it to Abraham, rather he said that He had brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees with the intention of giving it to him. It was for this reason that Abraham feared lest a condition of good deeds be attached to the inheritance of the land even though He already had told him twice, Unto thy seed will I give this land,²⁵⁴Ibid., 12:7; 13:15. since He did not decree the gift of the land now as He did decree to give him a child. Therefore, Abraham said, Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?²⁵⁵Verse 8. Meaning: “How shall I know that this gift of the land will be an enduring one, unaffected by my sins?” This interpretation is clearly stated by Ramban further on in the text. This is not similar to the question of Hezekiah, What shall be the sign that the Eternal will heal me?²⁵⁶II Kings 20:8. The Holy One, blessed be He, also did not act with Abraham as He did with the other signs by showing him a sign or wonder in some miraculous matter.²⁵⁷Instead, He made a covenant with him to inherit the land by all means. (Tur.) But Abraham desired to have definite knowledge that he would inherit the land and that neither his sin nor that of his seed would withhold it from them. Or perhaps the Canaanites might repent, in which case the following verse might apply to them: At one instant I may speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and destroy it; but if that nation turn from their evil… I repent of the evil that I thought to do unto it.²⁵⁸Jeremiah 18:7-8. And then the Holy One, blessed be He, made a covenant with him that he will inherit the land under all circumstances.

אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים לתת לך את הארץ הזאת, for you, personally, will acquire this land by an act of taking symbolic possession of it.

ויאמר אליו, G’d continued speaking to him, in order to reinforce his faith that the promises would be fulfilled.