Genesis 15:6

Summary

The verse states that the subject (Abram, understood from the preceding narrative) trusted in Yehovah (H3068G), and that this trust was reckoned to him as tzedaqah ("righteousness", H6666). The Hebrew text does not name the subject explicitly in either clause; both verbs carry only a pronominal "he."

Key words

• he'eMin ("he believed", H0539) — hiphil (causative) stem of the root meaning "to be firm/steady"; the causative form expresses "to consider firm," i.e., "to trust, believe." Sequential perfect continues the narrative chain.
• Yehovah (H3068G) — proper name, object of the preposition ba ("in"), marking the object of trust.
• yachsheVe ("he credited", H2803H) — qal (simple, non-causative) verb, narrative form ("and then he credited"); grammatically active, with an unspecified "he" as subject.
• ha — pronominal suffix ("her/it") attached to the verb, the direct object being credited.
• tzedaqah ("righteousness", H6666) — feminine singular noun, functioning as the predicate complement of what was credited.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as two coordinated clauses joined by narrative vav (H9001), the standard device for advancing storyline: "and he believed... and he credited..." Neither clause states its subject as a noun; the subject is carried only by the verbal person-marking ("he"), so the referents (who believes, who credits, to whom) depend entirely on context outside this verse's own words. The object of belief is marked by the preposition ba ("in", H9003) prefixed directly to Yehovah, giving "believed in Yehovah" rather than a bare object.

The second clause uses the qal verb yachsheve ("he credited") with two pronominal suffixes: ha ("it/her", H9034) as direct object — referring back to the act or state just described — and lo ("to him", H9033) marking the beneficiary. The predicate noun tzedaqah ("righteousness") stands without an article, functioning as the category into which the credited item is placed ("credited to him as righteousness"). The feminine suffix ha is notable because tzedaqah itself is feminine, suggesting the suffix's referent aligns grammatically with "righteousness" or the preceding act of belief.

Differences between versions

The LXX and Vulgate both supply the name "Ἀβράμ / Abram" as explicit subject, which the Hebrew word-by-word data here does not show as a lexical item — the Hebrew subject is only the verbal "he." The LXX renders the object of belief as τῷ θεῷ ("to God") and Vulgate as Deo ("to God"), where the Hebrew specifies ba-Yehovah ("in Yehovah") using the divine name rather than a generic term for God. The LXX also shifts the second clause to a passive construction, ἐλογίσθη ("it was credited"), whereas the Hebrew yachsheve is grammatically active with an unspecified "he" as subject.