Abraham’s Vision, with smoke and flames passing between animal pieces (Genesis 15:17), John Linnell 1853. artuk.org
The Covenant of the Pieces: A Promise for All Generations?
After Abram expresses doubt that Sarai will have children and questions how he can be sure his descendants will inherit the land, YHWH establishes the Covenant of the Pieces, lasting 400 years, extending through Israel’s time in Egypt up to their entry into the land. Does this covenant hold lasting significance for later generations, or is it replaced by God’s “everlasting” Covenant of Circumcision?
Published: November 7, 2024
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Last Updated: September 7, 2026
In the next covenant story, Abraham is 99 years old and Ishmael is 13 when God establishes the Covenant of Circumcision. If we put aside source critical approaches, and look at the Torah’s presentation as a unit, Ishmael’s birth is at least 9 months after the Covenant of the Pieces, which means that Abraham cannot be older than 85 when that covenant is established. For a different reckoning of time here, based on other rabbinic calculations, see David Blumenthal, “The Rabbinic Chronology of Lech Lecha,” TheTorah (2014).
R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik first articulated this language in an address he delivered in 1956 and was later published as an essay titled “Kol Dodi Dofek,” in Besod HaYahid VeHayahad, ed. Pinhas Peli (Orot, 1976).
For a more complete explication of this analysis see Zvi Grumet, Genesis: From Creation to Covenant (New Milford, CT: Maggid, 2017), 157–174.
בראשׁית יג:יד וַי־הוָה אָמַר אֶל אַבְרָם אַחֲרֵי הִפָּרֶד לוֹט מֵעִמּוֹ שָׂא נָא עֵינֶיךָ וּרְאֵה מִן הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה שָׁם צָפֹנָה וָנֶגְבָּה וָקֵדְמָה וָיָמָּה. יג:טו כִּי אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה רֹאֶה לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה וּלְזַרְעֲךָ עַד עוֹלָם. יג:טז וְשַׂמְתִּי אֶת זַרְעֲךָ כַּעֲפַר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אִם יוּכַל אִישׁ לִמְנוֹת אֶת עֲפַר הָאָרֶץ גַּם זַרְעֲךָ יִמָּנֶה.
Gen 13:14 And YHWH said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west, 13:15 for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever. 13:16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring too can be counted.
See also Genesis 12:1–2, 6. Biblical translations follow NJPS, with modifications.
בראשׁית טו:יט אֶת הַקֵּינִי וְאֶת הַקְּנִזִּי וְאֵת הַקַּדְמֹנִי. טו:כ וְאֶת הַחִתִּי וְאֶת הַפְּרִזִּי וְאֶת הָרְפָאִים. טו:כא וְאֶת הָאֱמֹרִי וְאֶת הַכְּנַעֲנִי וְאֶת הַגִּרְגָּשִׁי וְאֶת הַיְבוּסִי.
Gen 15:19 The Kenites, the Kennizites, the Kadmonites, 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
YHWH concludes the covenant by appearing to Abram:
בראשׁית טו:יז וַיְהִי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בָּאָה וַעֲלָטָה הָיָה וְהִנֵּה תַנּוּר עָשָׁן וְלַפִּיד אֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָבַר בֵּין הַגְּזָרִים הָאֵלֶּה. טו:יח בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כָּרַת יְ־הוָה אֶת אַבְרָם בְּרִית לֵאמֹר לְזַרְעֲךָ נָתַתִּי אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת מִנְּהַר מִצְרַיִם עַד הַנָּהָר הַגָּדֹל נְהַר פְּרָת.
Gen 15:17 When the sun set and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven, and a flaming torch which passed between those pieces. 15:18 On that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”
Accessed via Sefaria; William Davidson translation.
Hebrew and English (Lockshin trans.) from AlHaTorah.com.
בראשׁית טו:ט וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו קְחָה לִי עֶגְלָה מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת וְעֵז מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת וְאַיִל מְשֻׁלָּשׁ וְתֹר וְגוֹזָל. טו:י וַיִּקַּח לוֹ אֶת כָּל אֵלֶּה וַיְבַתֵּר אֹתָם בַּתָּוֶךְ וַיִּתֵּן אִישׁ בִּתְרוֹ לִקְרַאת רֵעֵהוּ וְאֶת הַצִפֹּר לֹא בָתָר.
Gen 15:9 He answered, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young bird.” 15:10 He brought Him all these and cut them in two, placing each half opposite the other; but he did not cut up the bird.
There is no consensus on what this means. Some say it refers to three calves, others argue a calf which is born third to its mother, while others understand it to mean a three-year old calf.
The midrash explains why it was Greece:
בראשית רבה (תיאודור-אלבק) מד ר' לעזר א[מר]: "כל הרוחות כיבשה ורוח מזרחית לא כיבשה."...
Gen Rab 44 R. Eliezer explained, as it conquered in all directions except for the east [i.e., three directions]….
Editor’s note: The text here is assuming that Persia only had three kings. For why the rabbis assumed such a short period for Persian rule, see Zev Farber, “Persia’s Achaemenid Dynasty—If You Read the Bible Without History,” TheTorah (2024).
Accessed via AlHaTorah.
See Avraham Grossman, Emunot ve-De’ot be’Olamo Shel Rashi (Alon Shevut: Tevunot, 2008), 61–72. Rashi omits the Yishmaelites, aligning with Genesis Rabbah, either because there is no biblical source for including them or because he did not experience them as a force to be reckoned with. Editor’s note: See Mordechai Z. Cohen, “Psalms for Our Times: Rashi Counters Christological Readings,” TheTorah (2024).
Accessed via Sefaria; Koren Publishers translation (2013). See also Menachem Kasher, Hagadah Shelemah (Jerusalem: Makhon Torah Shelemah, 1967), 43–44. See also Jacob Freedman, Polychrome Historical Haggadah for Passover (Springfield, MA: Jacob Freedman Liturgy Research Foundation, 1974), 30.; Lawrence Hoffman and David Arnow, My People’s Haggadah (Jewish Lights, 2008), 1.222–223.
Hebrew text from AlHaTorah.com.
Hebrew text from AlHaTorah.com. The English here is a translation from the Hebrew, but the Hebrew itself is a translation from the original German.
