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Genesis 15 says Abram’s faith was counted as righteousness, which is quoted in Jubilees and Romans. The quote in Jubilees uses different language that matches other ancient versions, hinting at an older form of the story than the Masoretic tradition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 15:6
Hebrew Bible
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.”
LXX Genesis 15:6
Septuagint
5 And he brought him out and said to him, Look up now to heaven, and count the stars, if you shall be able to number them fully, and he said, Thus shall your seed be. 6 And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. 7 And he said to him, I am God that brought you out of the land of the Chaldeans, so as to give you this land to inherit.
Jubilees 14:6
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
4 And He brought him outside, and said to him: 'Look toward heaven and number the stars if you are able to number them.' 5 And he looked toward heaven, and saw the stars. And He said to him: 'So your seed shall be.' 6 And he believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for righteousness. 7 And He said to him: 'I am the Lord that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you the land of the Canaanites to possess it for ever; and I will be God to you and to your seed after you.'
Romans 4:3
New Testament
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? 2 For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.
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Notes and References
"... Compared to the Masoretic text of Genesis 15:1–6, Jubilees 14:1–6 has the addition of the dating (Jubilees 14:1), some other small additions (elements in Jubilees 14:2-5), some small omissions (Genesis 15:3, and elements in Genesis 15:3-4), and some variations (elements in Jubilees 14:1-6). Some of the differences are possibly due to the fact that the text of Genesis the author of Jubilees uses is a text different from the Masoretic one. The suffix (“to him”) to the verb in Jubilees 14:4 occurs also in the Peshitta, Septuagint, old Latin, and Ethiopic text of Gen 15:5. (See also Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23; 1 Maccabees 2:52) The passive form in Jubilees 14:6 (“it was counted”) occurs also in the Peshitta, Septuagint, old Latin, and Ethiopic text of Genesis 15:6. Therefore, we cannot consider these deviations as variations of the scriptural text ..."
van Ruiten, J.
Abraham in the Book of Jubilees: The Rewriting of Genesis 11:26-25:10 in the Book of Jubilees 11:14-23:8
(p. 123) Brill, 2012
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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