Comentário sobre Gênesis 15:8

How shall I know: Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Nedarim 32a), "Because Avram said, 'How shall I know,' he was punished with, 'You shall surely know [that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years]' (Genesis 15:13)." But the intellect demurs from accepting this drash (homiletical understanding): That his children should suffer such a great punishment because of the sign that Avram requested; and Avram himself did not receive any punishment, whereas his children's teeth were set on edge. Therefore my heart tells me and has concluded that the exile in Egypt had other causes. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, disagree about [the causes] – and you can find all of the opinions in [the commentary on the Torah] of our teacher, Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel, as he gathered them together. But (the reason for not quoting them here is that) the length of a page is too short to put all of those opinions upon it. Rather the writer of this drash was bothered by [the following question]: Whatever the reason for the exile may have been – why is it that the Holy One, blessed be He, should tell Avram this bad news, to distress him for nothing? It is about this that he said that [it was] for the sin of "How shall I know' – that he wanted to know something that was unnecessary to know, as why did he need to ask for a sign about the word of God? [Hence] he was punished with, 'You shall surely know,' such that the Holy One, blessed be He, informed him about something to distress him. And this is also poetic justice (middah keneged middah).

במה אדע, for possibly my descendants will sin and forfeit their claim to this land.

?ויאמר.. במה אדע כי אירשנה, he meant: “how do I know that my son will inherit it?” We have a similar construction in Genesis 48,22 אשר לקחתי מיד האמורי, where Yaakov also does not mean that he, personally, had battled the Emorite, but that his sons had done so successfully. The meaning of the words במה אדע cannot be that the same man who had just been given credit for his utter faith in G’d now has developed doubts, nothing having occurred to cause such doubts. He wanted to know how he could be certain that when his sons, i.e. offspring, would inherit the land that it would remain theirs forever. Perhaps, due to some sin, future generations might forfeit their claim to the land of Canaan, just as the present occupants had forfeited their claim through their sins. Unless they had, why would G’d want to dispossess them? He hoped that just as G’d had shown him the stars as an illustration that his offspring would be people of great substance, so G’d would show him a further illustration of a means by which his offspring would reinforce their title to that land once they had settled in it.

במה אדע כי אירשנה, “how will I know that I will inherit it?” Avram meant: “by means of which merit will I inherit it?” G’d answered: “by means of the merit of the sacrifices you are about to offer.” This is the meaning of the verse קחה לי “take for Me” (verse 9). When G’d said this He again appeared to Avram as the attribute of א-דני, but in this instance it was followed by the letter ה [the name “Hashem” with the vowels of the name “elohim.”] to show that the attribute of Mercy was also involved to some extent.
This amounts to the name שדי. You know that we must not pronounce the Ineffable Name as it is spelled. Hence the sages in charge of vocalisation adjusted the vowels in a manner that make them suitable for reading. We must use either the form “elohim,” or the form “adonai,” when pronouncing G’d’s name. A scriptural reminder that this is so is found in Chabakuk 2,2 וה' בהיכל קדשו הס מפניו כל הארץ, “and the Lord is in the Sanctuary of His Holiness; silence in His presence everyone on earth!” This verse is a reminder that only inside the Holy of Holies may the Ineffable Name be pronounced as we would read it had we not been cautioned not to read it as it is spelled.

במה אדע כי אירשנה, kann unmöglich heißen: "wodurch soll ich wissen, dass ich es in Besitz nehmen werde?" Der Mann, von dem eben als seines Lebens höchster Inhalt ׳אמונה בד, die rückhaltloseste Hingebung an Gottes Führung gerühmt worden, kann unmöglich nach einer Versicherung, die ihm dazu bereits wiederholt von Gott geworden, noch erst ein Zeichen verlangt haben, um dieser Versicherung vertrauensvoll Glauben zu schenken. Die Worte vertragen auch nicht die Erklärung: באיזה זכות אירשנה, es hätte dann heißen müssen: אדע במה אירשנה. Vielmehr: Es hatte Gott dieser Verheißung ein Wort beigefügt, das in dem früheren Ausspruche nicht erschienen. לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת hatte sie zuerst Kapitel 12,7 gelautet. Ebenso 13, 15: לך אתננה ולזרעך עד עולם. ,Dir und deinen Nachkommen werde ich dieses Land" geben", eine Fassung dieser Verheißung, die auf keine dabei mitwirkende Tätigkeit Abrahams oder seiner Nachkommen hinweist. Hier aber hieß es: לתת לך את הארץ הזאת לרשתה ,"Dir das Land zu geben, um es in Besitz zu nehmen" לרשתה ein Wort, das so sehr den Begriff der Selbsttätigkeit in sich fasst, dass es ja auch geradezu auch: erobern heißt, und ja auch in diesem Sinne von der wirklichen Besitznahme des Landes gebraucht wird: ׳ראה נתן ר׳א׳ לפניך את הארץ עלה רש וגו (5. B. M. 1, 21). Ebenso daselbst 1, 8. 9, 23. 2, 24. 2, 31. Es war hier also Abraham gesagt, Gott habe ihn aus Ur-Kasdim geführt, ihm dieses Land zu geben, damit er es erobernd in Besitz nehme. Soeben hatte auch Abraham einen glorreichen Sieg über vier länderbezwingende Könige erfochten. Er hatte diesen Kampf auch nicht in Folge eines besonderen, ausdrücklichen Geheißes, sondern in Folge seines allgemeinen Pflichtbewusstseins unternommen. Er konnte sehr wohl hieraus schließen, dass er (oder wenn man will, seine Nachkommen) von Gottes Beistand getragen, in ähnlicher Weise das von Gott verheißene Land erobern sollte, und er fragt daher: woran werde ich erkennen, dass der rechte Zeitpunkt gekommen sei, dass ich das Land erobern soll? Weit entfernt, einen Mangel an Gottvertrauen zu entfalten, spricht vielmehr diese Frage das höchste Gottvertrauen aus. Wie er über die vier Könige gesiegt, so ist er auch bereit, den Kampf für die Eroberung des Landes zu bestehen. Es genügt, dass Gott den Besitz ihm zugesagt, um ihn des Sieges gewiß zu machen. Gott ist אדניו, ist sein Herr, in dessen Dienst er lebt und strebt, er ist יְֶדוִד, der auch "versagend gewährt", dem er sich daher für alle Gefahren und Kämpfe, für alle Angst und Arbeit bereit stellt.

And concerning the matter of what Avram asked, many have wondered why he asked for a sign about the inheritance of the land, but he didn’t ask for a sign about the promise of offspring. And I would also ask another question: Why did he not ask about the land immediately the first time, when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "I will give the land to your progeny" (Genesis 12:7)? And there are many opinions about these questions as well. But I say that the sign that Avram requested was not from being in doubt about God's promise, may He be blessed. Rather he wanted that the Holy One, blessed be He, make a covenant with him, so as to repulse any claimant or challenger against him. As above – when He said, "I will give the land to your progeny" – it was implied that this is just a gift. And about this Avram did not request the making of a covenant; as who would challenge a gift that God gave him? For the earth and its fullness are His; so it is His right to give it to whomever He wants. But once the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "to give you this land to inherit" – it was implied that this gift that He mentioned was in the category of inheritance. So Avram responded lest the other descendants of Shem challenge [him] about [what they believed to be] their portion. For the sons of Shem were Elam, Arpachshad, Ashur, Lud, and Aram (Genesis 10:2), and Avram was descended from Arpachshad. And lest the other children of Shem would challenge the inheritance, he therefore said, "How shall I know that I will inherit it" - what is the sign that that I am the only inheritor, without challenge? And the answer came to him, "Take a three year old calf, etc." (Genesis 15:9): In the same way that God made an eternal covenant of salt with Aharon to repulse the challenge of Korach against him, so too did God make a covenant with Avram to repulse any claimant or challenger against him. As this was the rule in ancient times – that all who made covenants would pass between cut pieces, as is well-known.