Commentaire sur La Genèse 15:17

ויהי השמש באה AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN —Similar syntactical constructions are (42:35) ויהי הם מריקים שקיהם “And it came to pass when they were emptying their sacks”, and (2 Kings 13:21) ויהי הם קוברים איש “and it came to pass when they were burying a man” — as much as to say, and this thing happened (i. e. after ויהי supply the words דבר זה: “And this thing happened: the sun set etc.”)

AND BEHOLD, A SMOKING FURNACE, AND A FLAMING TORCH. It appeared to Abraham as if the furnace was all smoke and in its midst a flaming torch was burning, similar to a great smoke, with a fire flashing up.³³²Seen by the prophet Ezekiel (1:4). In the actual verse the word “cloud” appears instead of the word “smoke.” The “smoke” mentioned here is the cloud, and thick darkness mentioned at the giving of the Torah,³³³Deuteronomy 4:11. and “the flaming torch” in its midst is “the fire” mentioned there: And thou didst hear His words out of the midst of the fire;³³⁴Ibid., Verse 36. and it is further written: And the appearance of the glory of the Eternal was like devouring fire, etc.³³⁵Exodus 24:17. Thus the Divine Glory passed between the parts of the sacrifices, and this is the covenant which He made with Abraham forever. This is the meaning of the verse, the Eternal made a covenant with Abraham,³³⁶Verse 18. as the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself carried through “the covenant of between the parts.” The student versed in the mysteries of the Torah will understand.

ויהי השמש באה, the word באה is accented on the first syllable, seeing that here it is a verb in the past tense.