Parashat Lech Lecha - Genesis 12 - 17

Parashat* Lech Lecha - B'resheet (Genesis) 12 -1 7

Avram, whom we met at the end of last week's Parasha, is now singled out from the rest of his kin and community. He is commanded to go forth and leave behind him his native country, heritage and culture (12:1). The expression "lech lecha" (literally, "go for yourself") can best be rendered in English as the emphatic: "go forth" or "get yourself going". The alliteration makes it especially forceful and commanding.

Avram is promised a large progeny and a great blessing that will also be extended to those who bless this progeny. In fact, this seed is destined to be a blessing to "all the families of the earth" (12:3). “Family” is “mishpacha”, of the root sh.f.ch (shin, pey/fey, chet), which is also the root for a word found in 16:1 of our Parasha, “shifcha” – “handmaiden” (in reference to Hagar). It is thought that the root sh.f.ch means to "pour water”, perhaps on the hands of one’s master (in 2 Kings 3:11 Elisha is said to have poured water on the hands of his master, Elijah), and hence “handmaiden”. But even though the etymological connection between “handmaiden” and “family” does not appear to be sufficiently clear, their spiritual and/or social connection is. The family affords opportunities for its members to learn to serve, a factor which maintains its strength and unity, while at the same time causing it to become a source of blessing to society as a whole. In 12:2 and 3 “blessing”, which is "bracha", appears five times in several forms. B.r.ch. (bet, resh, kaf) also makes up the root for “knee” ("berech"). Bowing the knee is always associated with humility ("to Me every knee shall bow…" Is. 45:23). Thus, experiencing a blessing humbles its recipient, stirring him to bend or bow the knee in gracious thankfulness.

This first promise to Avram involves a land. The next promise has to do with a nation (ref. 12:1,2). Immediately upon entering the Land, Avram is seen building an altar and moving on. In the next two verses (8,9) mention is made of three of the four directions of the wind: “east, west and south”. In Biblical Hebrew there are several words for each of those, the ones used here being "kedem", "yam", and "negev". In YHVH's promises to Avram, in 13:14, mention is made of all of those, with the addition of “north”, which is "tzafon".

The root of “east” - “kedem” - is k.d.m (kof, dalet, mem), with its primal meaning being "before" or "in front of". Thus, its derivatives are to “greet” or “meet" (Deut. 23:4; Mic. 6:6), "early” and "first". Words such as "old" and "ancient" also stem from "kedem" (as are the “everlasting hills” promised to Yoseph – Joseph – in Deut. 33:15, and the term "kadmoni" – “ancient” in 1st Sam. 24:13). The root k.d.m, therefore, reveals an interesting approach to the dimensions of time and space. That which is "in front", is also that which is "early", from “antiquity” and of the “past”. Thus, “kedem, the “east”, denotes what is “ahead”, and at the same time that which was. In Kohelet (Ecclesiastics) 1:9 it says: “That which has been is that which shall be,” a fact that is certainly true of our Elohim, “who is, and who was, and who is coming” (Rev. 11:17). "Kadim" is the east wind which many times spells blight and dryness (e.g. Job 27:21; Ps. 48:7), while the prophet Y’chezkel (Ezekiel) saw the glory of the Elohim of Israel coming from the same direction ("kadim", i.e. the “east”, in 43:1,2). One of the best known usages of "kedem" is found in B'resheet (Genesis) 3:24, referring to the place where Elohim expelled our renegade ancestors: "east of Eden".“

West” here is "yam". Yam means “sea”, and since the "Great Sea" (the Mediterranean) shore runs the entire length of Israel's west, it has become synonymous with that direction. “

Negev”, is the word here for “south”, and is used to denote wilderness and dryness, but a reference to the "forest land of the negev" is made in Y’chezkel 20:47. It is in the same prophecy where the fires that would consume every tree there (as indeed they have) are mentioned.

The last direction is "north" - “tzafon”, the root of which is tz.f.n (tzadi, pe/fe, noon), and means to “conceal or hide". That same word is used when Moshe (Moses) was hidden for the first three months after his birth (Ex. 2:2). In T’hilim/Psalms 27:5 we read about being hidden by YHVH in His succah (booth), and in 83:3 about YHVH’s “hidden ones”. The north also conceals evil, and it is from there that "evil will break forth", according to Y’rmiyahu’s (Jeremiah) prophecy (1: 14). The proud king of Babylon declares his position to be "on the mount of the assembly in the far north" (Is. 14:13), words that are countered by the Elohim of Israel in T’hilim 48:1,2, proclaiming that His holy mountain, Mount Tziyon (Zion), is in the far north.

After receiving the promise of a land extending in every direction, and a seed so numerous (rendering it) too great to count (13:14-16), Avram builds another altar, this time in Alonei Mamreh, which is Chevron (Hebron). It is from that location that he sets forth to rescue his nephew Lot, who was taken captive in the war between the kings (four against five in chapter 14). It is here (14:13) that we first encounter the term "Hebrew", "ivri", attached to Avram's name, after his ancestor Ever, whom we mentioned last week. Indeed, Avram is now entitled to this ‘label’ as he ‘crossed over’, both physically and spiritually! When he returns, after having accomplished his mission successfully, he is greeted by the king of S’dom (Sodom) in the Valley of Shaveh. “Shaveh” is “equality, agreement, or resemblance”, and in this case probably an “even plain”. “I have set YHVH always before me” (Ps. 16:8), reads in Hebrew: “I have envisioned [or imagined] YHVH before me… "which is "shiviti" indicating that one sees Him at one’s eye level (as He is near to those who call upon Him). The valley of “shaveh” is also called here the “Kings' Valley”, and is (apparently) the place where Avram meets another king. His encounter with the king of S’dom, in this 'valley or plain of evenness', is being interrupted by the appearance (at ‘eye level’) of another monarch, Malchitzedek king of Shalem (Salem).

The root of “shalem”, sh.l.m - shin, lamed, mem, is “perfection, wholeness, completeness and requital”. This king, whose name means "king of righteousness", is also a priest of the Most High God (“El Elyon”). Thus, in his ‘persona’ are met the two offices of king and priest (ref. Zec. 6:13). In his blessing to Avram, whom he serves with bread and wine, Malchitzedek invokes “El Elyon” (“Most High God”), calling Him "possessor of heaven and earth". "Possessor" here is "koneh", and simply means "buyer", thus connoting “redeemer (of heaven and earth)”. When Chava (Eve) gave birth to Kayin (Cain), she exclaimed: "I have purchased (‘kaniti’) a man from YHVH" (Gen. 4:1, deeming that the pain and “sorrow” of giving birth was the price she paid Adonai for her firstborn). Malchitzedek gives thanks once again to "El Elyon", who has "delivered Avram's enemies into his hand" (ref. 14: 20), using “migen” for "delivered", which stems from the root meaning "shield or protection".

Avram gives his newly-met acquaintance "a tenth (‘ma'aser’) of all", an act which concludes this encounter. At this point the text recaptures Avram's tryst with the king of S’dom, but the language of the next few verses seems to be colored by what had just taken place during the encounter with the king of Shalem. Upon being offered the spoils of the war, Avram answers the king of S’dom by mentioning the name of YHVH, repeating the expression "El Elyon - Most High God - the purchaser of heaven and earth" (ve. 22). He then refuses the king’s offer, on the grounds that it should not be said that he had been made rich by the latter. The word for "rich" is "ashir", of the same root as "eser"- "ten" (the consonant for "sh" and "s" being one and the same; "shin" when denoting “sh” and "sin" when denoting “s”), from which we get the “tenth part”, or the “tithe” – “ma’aser” - that Avram had just paid Malchitzedek. As this scene with the king of S’dom fades, another one comes into view – the description of a vision in which YHVH speaks to Avram: "Fear not Avram, I am your shield…" (15:1). The word used for "shield" here is "mah’gen", a different form of which we saw in Malchizedek's blessing of Avram a few verses above. Thus, the echo of that dramatic meeting continues to accompany the events that follow it.

When Avram wonders what it is that Adonai (the Lord), who promises him a great reward, will give him "seeing that [he is] childless…" (ve.2), he is granted a promise of a son. Once again he is told that his progeny will be numerous. Avram "believed God". The root for "believe" is "a.m.n", from which we get the term "amen". It is also the root word for “trust, steady, faithful”, for “nurse” (Num. 11:12), “guardian” (2 Kings 10:1), and for “bringing up and training” (Est. 2:7). Proverbs/Mishley 8 cites the call of Wisdom-personified. In verses 29-30 Wisdom says, "when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was the craftsman at His side…". The word here for "craftsman" is "amon", once again, from the root a.m.n. Faith, therefore, is the act of believing which involves 1) training, and 2) action - in other words, practice. Putting convictions into practice is guaranteed many a time by a covenant. Thus, in N’chem’ya (Nehemiah) 9:38 we see the people making “a sure covenant”, which in that particular text depicts the root a.m.n, again and is therefore termed “amana.” Based on this understanding, the Apostle Ya'acov (James) writes: "Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (1:22); "… Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (2:17).

Avram experiences an awe-inspiring vision, in which the Covenant is confirmed. In Hebrew the experience and the Covenant are called “habrit ben habtarim” - "the covenant between the cut up pieces". The infinitive of “cut up”, "ba'ter", also means to “dissect or dismember” (15:10). In verse 17 those pieces are called "gzarim", from the verb “gazor", meaning, once again, "cut up". Verse 18 says, "on that day YHVH cut [literally] a Covenant with Avram…". This time the word for "cut" is "ka’rot" (which is also used frequently for cutting down trees). These powerful verbs point to the irrevocability and depth of this Covenant. It is no wonder then, that the very sign of the Covenant itself involves a cutting - a removal of the foreskin - which is recorded in 17:10-14, after Yishamel's birth and Avram's name change, augmented by the words: “The uncircumcised male whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off [stemming from “ka’rot”] from his people…” (17:14 italics added).

Yishmael’s birth came as a result of Sarah resorting to a common custom of surrogate parenthood (such as Rachel and Leah did when giving their maids to their husband, and Joseph, who had his grandson’s wife give birth “on his knees”, as it were, for the purpose of making the great grand children his own). This is how Sarah approached her husband: “’See now, YHVH has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.’ And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai” (Genesis 16:2). The literal rendition of “obtain children by her” is “I will be built – e’ba’ne’ - by/through her.” Above we examined the word “mishpacha” – family. Aside from the particular functions and characteristics of the “family,” such as the ones that we looked at, “family” is also likened to a building which grows tier by tier, floor by floor. No wonder the apostles referred to the body of believers as to a building, and used the imagery of stones (see 1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor. 5:1; Eph. 2:21; 1 Pet. 2:5). Sarah too had the same idea in mind when she said, “I will be built by her [Hagar the maid].” In the root word b.n.a (bet, noon, hey), build, is hidden, not surprisingly, the word “ben” – son. Thus, when Sarah was expecting the maid to help her out, she was thinking of “being built by having a son.” However, the matriarch soon discovered that Hagar was not about to merely “lend” her womb. She had other notions. Hence, when Sarah discerned Hagar’s ambitions, she was forced to send her away.

In 17:4,5 Elohim declares that He was changing Av’ram’s name from “exalted father,” to Avra'ham, because he is to become “a father to multitudes” of nations. . Technically, this name change involves adding only the letter "hey" (comparable to "h"), which stands for the word "hamon", meaning a multitude or multitudes. Hamon is of the root verb "hama", which is “boisterous, noisy, roaring”; thus the promised multitude was to become a teeming one, and rather loud at that! This "hamon" is to be made up of nations or peoples (“goyim”). Interestingly, all these lofty promises, along with the institution of circumcision, are couched in very brief but concise terms. Thus, our text provides a good example of the compactness and conciseness so characteristic of Biblical Hebrew.

Sarai's destiny also changes with a single letter (v. 15). The last letter of her name, being "yod" (comparable to “y”), is exchanged for a "hey", thus making her Sarah, "a princess", who will not only mother a son, but “nations and kings of nations” are also to come from her (17:16).

In the course of dealing with these forefathers' names, YHVH does not forget the offspring. Since Avraham laughs at the prospect of having a child, seeing that he and is wife are so old, he is told to name this future son Yitzchak, meaning, "he will laugh". No doubt, in the end, the One who will have the last laugh in this story is the One responsible for giving this name, the One who “sits in the heavens and laughs” (Ps. 2:4). And as we shall see next week, there is more laughing to come…

*“Parashat” is “Parasha of…”, thus the Parasha of B’resheet is Parashat B’resheet, and this week’s Parasha of Lech Lecha, is Parashat Lech Lecha.