Genesis 15:1

Summary

Genesis 15:1 opens a divine speech to Abram introduced as "the word of Yehovah" occurring in a vision. The message contains a command not to fear and two declarations describing Yehovah's relationship to Abram: that he is a shield to him and that his reward will be very great.

Key words

• 'a.Char ("after", H0310A) — construct form opening the verse, linking this episode temporally to "these things" (ha-devarim ha-'elleh) mentioned earlier in the narrative.
• de.var ("word of", H1697G) — construct noun forming the fixed phrase "the word of Yehovah," here the grammatical subject of the verb ha.Yah ("it came/was", H1961), a common formula introducing prophetic speech.
• ti.Ra' ("you fear", H3372G) — qal jussive with the negation 'al (H0408), giving a direct prohibition "do not fear," addressed to Abram in the second person masculine singular.
• ma.Gen ("shield", H4043) — a bare noun functioning as predicate without a copula; the pronoun 'a.no.Khi ("I", H0595) stands as subject, so the clause reads literally "I, a shield, to you."
• har.Beh ("great", H7235A) — a hiphil infinitive absolute used adverbially to intensify, reinforced by me.'Od ("very", H3966); together they modify the noun se.kha.re.Kha ("your reward", H7939) in a verbless clause.

What the text says

The verse divides into a narrative frame and a direct speech. The frame uses the construct chain 'a.Char ha-devarim ha-'elleh ("after these things") to place the episode in sequence, followed by the formulaic clause ha.Yah de.var-Yehovah 'el-'Avram ("the word of Yehovah came to Abram"), with ba.ma.cha.Zeh ("in the vision") specifying the mode of reception and le.Mor ("saying") introducing the quoted speech via infinitive construct, a standard Biblical Hebrew device for opening direct discourse.

Within the speech, two clauses lack an explicit verb "to be," a normal feature of Hebrew nominal sentences: 'a.no.Khi ma.Gen la.Kh ("I [am] a shield to you") and se.kha.re.Kha har.Beh me.'Od ("your reward [is] great, very"). The second clause is notable because har.Beh is grammatically an infinitive absolute, not an adjective; its use here functions adverbially to intensify the idea of "reward," a construction that differs from a simple adjectival "great reward" and cannot be fully reproduced by a single equivalent word in translation.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the introductory formula as ἐγενήθη ῥῆμα ὁράματι λέγων ("a word came to a vision, saying"), using a dative for ὁράματι where the Hebrew ba.ma.cha.Zeh has a locative preposition "in the vision," and it omits explicit repetition of "of the Lord to Abram" in the same syntactic position as the Hebrew. The Vulgate supplies an explicit verb "sum" ("I am") for the first clause, matching the Hebrew's implied copula, but like the Hebrew and LXX leaves the second clause ("merces tua magna nimis") without a stated verb, preserving the same verbless structure found in the Hebrew for se.kha.re.Kha har.Beh me.'Od.