INTRODUCTION OF ABRAHAM - PART 2

The video of this class can be found here:

(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה' אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃

Genesis 12:1

(1) The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

בראשית י״ב:ב׳

(ב) וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃

Genesis 12:2

(2) I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
And you shall be a blessing.

בראשית י״ב:ג׳

(ג) וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר וְנִבְרְכ֣וּ בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָֽה׃

Genesis 12:3

(3) I will bless those who bless you
And curse him that curses you;
And all the families of the earth
Shall bless themselves by you.”

בראשית י״ב:ד׳

(ד) וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ אַבְרָ֗ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ ה' וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִתּ֖וֹ ל֑וֹט וְאַבְרָ֗ם בֶּן־חָמֵ֤שׁ שָׁנִים֙ וְשִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה בְּצֵאת֖וֹ מֵחָרָֽן׃

Genesis 12:4

(4) Abram went forth as the LORD had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

בראשית י״ב:ה׳

(ה) וַיִּקַּ֣ח אַבְרָם֩ אֶת־שָׂרַ֨י אִשְׁתּ֜וֹ וְאֶת־ל֣וֹט בֶּן־אָחִ֗יו וְאֶת־כׇּל־רְכוּשָׁם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָכָ֔שׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ בְחָרָ֑ן וַיֵּצְא֗וּ לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַ֥רְצָה כְּנָֽעַן׃

Genesis 12:5

(5) Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,

בראשית י״ב:ז׳

(ז) וַיֵּרָ֤א ה' אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לְזַ֨רְעֲךָ֔ אֶתֵּ֖ן אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את וַיִּ֤בֶן שָׁם֙ מִזְבֵּ֔חַ לַה' הַנִּרְאֶ֥ה אֵלָֽיו׃

Genesis 12:7

(7) The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

COMMENTARY BY R. ELIOT MALOMET Genesis 12:1 (1) The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. God addresses Abraham in the singular. No different from Noah. To Noah: ASEH LEKHA. To Abraham: LEKH LEKHA. But notice: from your land; your birthplace, your father’s household. Geographical, cultural and familial dislocation. What does it mean to leave your father’s household? Detach from Sarai (his father’s daughter)? Detach from Lot (his father’s grandson)? Proposition: Abram is to go alone.
Genesis 12:2 (2) I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. Ie. I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. All of these statements are directed to Abram alone. Not his wife. And of course he has no children. Abram has Sarai, but she is not included. Noah had a whole family: a wife, three sons, three daughters-in-law. Noah was to re-create humanity. Abram, unlike Noah, is to start a new nation by himself. Perhaps not even with his existing wife.
Genesis 12:3 (3) I will bless those who bless you And curse him that curses you; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.” The Torah gives no reason for why God has chosen Abram. Unlike Noah, God doesn’t disclose any of His thinking to Abram, just the consequence of following Him. All these statements are directed to Abram alone.
Genesis 12:4 (4) Abram went forth as the LORD had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. So he goes. As God commanded him. What is the significance of “Lot going with him”? Abram intended to go by himself! No Sarai! No Lot! But Lot followed him. Why? Why not stay with Nachor? Because Nachor married Lot’s sister Milkah! Lot has no future with Nachor. Nachor and Milkah are going to establish their own family and Lot knows that he is going to be outside of that family. He considers: If Nachor and Milkah have a daughter, I might marry her, because she would be a cousin. But I would have my sister as my mother-in-law! Forget it! I’d rather cast my lot with my uncle Abram. He may still yet produce a daughter whom I could marry. Or if not, I would find a wife in the area that he goes to and establish my father’s territory adjacent to his, as Terah intended. By going with him, I could elevate myself to his status in lieu of my dead father, and be his equal. With Nachor, I’ll never be an equal. (If Abram could marry a half-sister, I should at least be able to marry a cousin from he and Sarai or he and someone else.)
But the text now tells us that he took Sarai his wife and Lot… In other words, this is not exactly the plan that God had in mind. God instructed him to go alone, without any family; here Abraham makes the fateful decision to take his wife and his nephew and his whole life to Canaan. This is not a “clean” break from his past. This is only a “geographical” “cultural” and “partial” break from his past. But he asks himself: how will I function in this new land? Can I uproot myself at 75 and start out again with nothing? God told Noah to go with his family, why cannot I go with my family? Or – I have responsibility. I cannot leave my wife, that would be wrong; I cannot leave my orphaned nephew, that would be wrong. God has told me to go alone, but my family responsibility outweighs God’s command; or I can combine God’s command with my own responsibility.
Genesis 12:5 (5) Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,
12:6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the terebinth of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land. It must have occurred to Abram at this point that God’s project is problematic. How can God give me the land if the Canaanites, descendants of Ham, are already in the land? We assume that Abraham knows that they are cursed. God has said that “I will bless you.” God’s blessing of Abram vs. Noah’s curse of Canaan. But still, theologically, this means that the nations of the earth (descendants of Noah) do not get to claim territory just by the process of nature. God is determining who lives where. Up until now, the nations settle where they live. In Terah’s case they migrate. God now is determining the allotment of the earth. The nation that will ensue from Abram will be located in its own land.
Genesis 12:7 *(7) The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.* Why does God appear to Abram here? As a reassurance perhaps? Though the Canaanites are here, this land will be yours. The building of an altar at Shechem– Elonei Moreh is in response to that. But it Schehem is right next to the Canaanites.
Genesis 12:8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name. Why does he go there? He doesn’t want to be close to the Canaanites? He is in between Beit El and Ai – two place names from later traditions, it seems that there are no inhabitants there. He calls to God, but does God answer?
Then Abram journeyed by stages toward the Negeb. Why does Abram go to the Negev? No Canaanites there either? Or is it because he can claim the land on his own? Conclusions: God calls Noah with his family. God calls Abram individually. Abram brings whatever he has. Lot goes on his own volition. Sarai is passive. God assigns the land. But Abram takes initiatives to determine where he dwells. That is until the famine in the next story.
Conclusions: God calls Noah with his family. Whereas, God calls Abram individually. Abram brings whatever he has. Lot goes on his own volition. Sarai is passive. God assigns the land. But Abram takes initiatives to determine where he dwells. That is until the famine in the next story.