Genesis 15:17

Summary

The verse describes the moment after sunset, when darkness had fallen, and a smoking fire pot together with a torch of fire passed between the pieces of the divided animals. This marks the culmination of the covenant scene begun earlier in the chapter.

Key words

• ha.Yah ("it was", H1961) — qal perfect, third person masculine, marking the completed state "darkness had come to be"; paired with y.Hi at the start of the verse, both forms of the same root anchor the temporal frame of the scene.
• 'a.la.Tah ("darkness", H5939) — feminine singular noun, the subject of ha.Yah, describing the condition that had set in after sunset.
• hi.Neh ("there!", H2009) — interjection introducing a sudden visual scene, shifting the narrative into a vivid present-like presentation of what appears.
• ta.Nur ("a fire pot of", H8574H) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be joined to the following word 'a.Shan ("smoke", H6227) to form "a fire pot of smoke," i.e., a smoking fire pot.
• la.Pid ("a torch of", H3940) — masculine singular noun in construct state, joined to 'Esh ("fire", H784) to form "a torch of fire."
• 'a.Var ("it passed", H5674A) — qal perfect, third person masculine, describing the completed action of passing between the pieces, introduced by the relative particle 'a.Sher ("which", H834A).

What the text says

The verse opens with two parallel clauses built on the same verb root ha.Yah ("to be", H1961): first y.Hi... ba.'ah ("it was... the sun had gone", combining H1961 and H935G) and then 'a.la.Tah ha.Yah ("darkness was", H5939 + H1961). This repetition creates a two-step temporal statement: the sun's setting is described with a perfect participial construction (ba.'ah, "it had gone"), while darkness's arrival is marked with a straightforward perfect verb (ha.Yah). The grammar thus distinguishes a completed process (sun going down) from a resulting state (darkness being present).

The scene then shifts with hi.Neh ("there!", H2009), a marker that draws attention to what follows as if presented suddenly to view. The two objects introduced, ta.Nur 'a.Shan ("fire pot of smoke") and la.Pid 'Esh ("torch of fire"), both use construct chains: the first noun (ta.Nur, la.Pid) depends grammatically on the second ('a.Shan, 'Esh), so neither noun stands alone — the construction binds "fire pot" tightly to "smoke" and "torch" tightly to "fire." The verb 'a.Var ("it passed", H5674A) is singular, though it follows two coordinated nouns, agreeing with the nearer or collective sense of the subject.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the two Hebrew images somewhat differently: it uses κλίβανος καπνιζόμενος ("smoking oven") corresponding to ta.Nur 'a.Shan, but for la.Pid 'Esh it has λαμπάδες πυρός ("torches of fire," plural), where the Hebrew la.Pid is singular. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew more closely with singular lampas ignis ("torch of fire"). Additionally, the LXX's αἳ διῆλθον ("which passed," plural relative and verb) matches its plural "torches," while the Hebrew 'a.Sher 'a.Var uses a singular verb, reflecting the difference in number already introduced by the LXX's rendering.