Texts in Conversation
Genesis 15 says God counted Abram’s trust as righteousness. The Samaritan Pentateuch reverses this and has Abram view God’s promise as righteous, creating a different picture of how trust and righteousness are connected.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 15:6
Hebrew Bible
4 But look, the Lord’s message came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 The Lord took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars—if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord credited it as righteousness to him. 7 The Lord said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, by what can I know that I am to possess it?”
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Samaritan Genesis 15:6
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
4 And, look, Shema spoke to him, saying: “This one shall not be your heir, but the one who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him out, and said: “Look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And he said to him: “Your offspring shall be like that.” 6 And he believed in Shema, and he counted it as righteousness for him. 7 And he said to him: “I am Shema that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8 And he said: “My Lord Shema, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?”
Date: 130–120 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Genesis 15:6 “To Him” — It is Abram who took it as righteousness from Him to him. Later Abram learned from Him and he did the same with others. (Genesis 18:19 — Abram was righteous and would raise his children to be righteous) ..."
Benyamim Tsedaka and Sharon Sullivan, eds., The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version, trans. Benyamim Tsedaka (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 27.
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The Samaritan version is consistent with the dialogue in Genesis 18:23-25, where we see Abraham interviewing (a potential candidate for the position of) God, speaking to him not as an equal, but as a "greater than", with language like "Far be it from you!".
The Samaritan version is consistent with the dialogue in Genesis 18:23-25, where we see Abraham interviewing (a potential candidate for the position of) God, speaking to him not as an equal, but as a "greater than", with language like "Far be it from you!".