Genesis 15:6

Context

When the childless Abram laments that his servant Eliezer will become his heir, God brings him outside, asks whether he can count the stars of heaven, and promises, "So shall thy seed be" (15:1-5). Verse 6 records Abram's response to this promise and God's assessment of that response. God then makes a covenant with Abram through a ceremony in which a passage is made between the halves of slaughtered animals (15:7-21). The event precedes both circumcision (chapter 17) and the offering of Isaac (chapter 22).

"Believed" comes from the Hebrew 'aman (to be firm, to trust), and "counted" translates ḥashav (to calculate, to reckon, to regard).

Interpretations

• As the basis for justification by faith: In Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6, Paul cites this verse to argue that Abraham was justified by faith before circumcision and before the Law (Romans 4:10). Lutheran and Reformed churches take it as a basis for the doctrine that Christ's righteousness is "imputed" (credited) to the believer. See Justification and Five Solas.
• The reading of James: James 2:21-23 points to the offering of Isaac and says that this verse was "fulfilled" at that time, adding, "by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). Protestants generally hold that James is teaching that genuine faith is shown in works, and that he does not contradict Paul.
• The Catholic reading: The Catholic Church understands justification as a process that begins with God's grace and grows through faith and works of love, and it reads this verse together with James as support for that view.
• The New Perspective on Paul: In the late twentieth century, some scholars argued that Paul's concern was less the manner of individual salvation than the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God without the marks of the Law, and they read this verse in connection with membership in the covenant community. This view has drawn vigorous criticism from traditional Reformed scholars.

Debates and Issues

A minority view in Jewish interpretation holds that, on the basis of the Hebrew sentence alone, the subject of "counted it to him for righteousness" could be Abram, so that the verse would mean Abram regarded God's promise as righteousness. Paul and most translations, however, take God as the subject. The discussion also draws on Psalm 106:31, which uses the same expression of the deed of Phinehas ("And that was counted unto him for righteousness").

Related Passages

• Romans 4:1-5
• Galatians 3:6-9
• James 2:21-24
• Hebrews 11:8-12
• Psalm 106:30-31