Lekh Lekha: Abraham’s Heir

When you die, what do you leave behind in the world of the living?

Someone inherits your wealth: land, money, or—for nomads in the Ancient Near East—the  livestock and slaves you own. Someone may take your place at work or in your community. And some people will remember you and tell stories about you, for good or bad.

What do you want to leave behind, and who do you want to your heirs to be?

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The question of inheritance is a major concern in this week’s Torah portion, Lekh Lekha (Genesis 12:1-17:27), and for the next six portions. For three generations, from Abraham to his grandson Jacob, the men and women in his family tree try to manipulate events in order to control who will inherit.

Abraham appears (under his original name, Avram) at the end of a long genealogy in last week’s portion, Noach. Nine generations after Noah, Terach was living in the city-state of Ur in southern Mesopotamia when he begot three sons: Avram, Nachor, and Haran. All three sons grew up and got married in Ur. Haran died there. Terach set out for Canaan with Avram and his wife Sarai, and Haran’s son Lot. Before they reached Canaan, they stopped and settled in the Aramaean town of Charan in northern Mesopotamia.¹ Later we learn that Nachor and his wife also settled in Aram.²

Possible heir #1: Lot

When Avram is 75, God tells him:

“Get yourself going away from your land and your clan and your father’s house, to the land that I will show you! And I will make you a great people, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and it will become a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who belittle you.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

In the Torah, someone becomes “a people” by having numerous descendants who become an ongoing society or even country. A great name means fame or a great reputation. Already God has promised Avram two roles that his heirs might inherit: the leadership of a whole people, and a name that can trigger divine blessing or curse.

And Avram went, as his god, Y-H-V-H, had spoken. And Lot went with him. And Avram was 75 years old when he went out from Charan. And Avram took his wife Sarai, and his brother’s son Lot, and all their acquisitions that they had acquired, and the persons that they had made [their own] in Charan; and they left to go to the land of Canaan. (Genesis 12:4-5)

Without an explicit direction from God, Avram heads toward Canaan, his father’s intended destination. Besides his wife and his nephew, Avram takes all his possessions with him—mostly livestock and slaves. He stops at the site of Shekhem in Canaan, where God appears to him and says: “I will give this land to your offspring.” (Genesis 12:7)

This confirms that Canaan was the right place to go. Avram does not question God’s promise to give Canaan to his offspring, even though he has no children and Sarai is already 65. The household migrates south through Canaan, from Bethel to the Negev. When a famine comes, they go to Egypt, where Avram uses Sarai to pull a scam on the pharaoh. (See my posts Lekh-Lekha, Vayeira, & Toledot: The Wife-Sister Trick, Part 1 and Part 2.)

It went well on account of her, and he acquired flocks and cattle and male donkeys and male slaves and female slaves and female donkeys and camels. (Genesis 12:16)

When Avram, Sarai, and Lot return to Canaan with and all their possessions,

Avram was very heavy in livestock and in silver and in gold. (Genesis 13:2)

At this point, Avram has great wealth to pass on to his heir. The right heir might also inherit his connection with divine blessing, and his ability to hear God. Avram’s presumed heir at the beginning of Lekh Lekha is his nephew Lot. But when they return to Bethel, Avram and Lot decide to go their separate ways.

Lot, who went with Avram, also had flocks and cattle and tents. And the land could not support them [if they were] staying together … And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Avram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. (Genesis 13:5-7)

Avram gives his nephew first choice of pastureland, and Lot claims “the whole plain of the Jordan”—the river valley and the land near the Dead Sea—because it has lots of water.

And they separated, each man from his kinsman. Avram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in the cities of the plain, and he pitched his tent near Sodom. (Genesis 13:11-12)

The Torah never specifies the borders of Canaan, only the borders of the future kingdom of Israel.³ It does locate some towns as being in Canaan, but Sodom is not one of them. The passage above indicates that Lot rejects Canaan in favor of Sodom. This may be the point when Avram realizes Lot will not be his heir.⁴

As soon as Lot has left, Avram hears God repeat the promise that Avram’s offspring will someday own the land of Canaan.

And God said to Avram, after Lot had separated from him: “Raise your eyes, please, and look around from the place where you are, to the north and to the south and to the east and to the west. For all the land that you see, I give it to you and to your offspring forever. And I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, he can count your offspring.”  (Genesis 13:14-16)

Possible heir #2: Eliezer

The next time God appears to Avram in a vision, God says:

“Don’t be afraid, Avram. I am a shield to you. Your wages will be very great.” (Genesis 15:1)

Avram does not ask what God is paying him for. But he does ask who will inherit God’s reward:

“What could you give me, when I am going childless, and the one maintaining my household is Eliezer of Damascus?” (Genesis 15:2)

When God does not answer, Avram explains:

“Since you have not given me offspring, then hey! The one over my household yoreish from me.” (Genesis 15:3)

yoreish (יוֹרֵשׁ) = will inherit

Perhaps Avram nudging God to provide him with his own son, so he can have the descendants God promised. There is nothing wrong with his steward Eliezer, especially if he is the same unnamed senior servant who, years later, goes out of his way to procure the right wife for Avram’s son Yitzchak (Isaac in English).⁵ But like most men in the Hebrew Bible, Avram wants an heir who is his own flesh and blood.

Then, hey! The word of God came to him, saying: “This one lo yiyrashekha, because one who goes out from your own loins, he yiyrashekha.” (Genesis 15:3-4)

lo yiyrashekha (לֹא יִירָשְׁךָ) = will not inherit land or property from you, will not get your possessions. (Lo, לֹא = not + yiyrashekha,יִירָשְׁךָ = will inherit land or property from you, will get your possessions.)

Then God again promises Avram an uncountable number of descendants.

Possible heir #3: Yishmael (Ishmael)

When Avram is 85 and his wife Sarai is 75, long past menopause, Sarai decides to give her husband an heir without waiting for a miracle.

And Sarai, Avram’s wife, had not borne children to him. And she had an Egyptian slave-woman, and her name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Avram: “Hey, please, God has kept me from bearing children. Please come into my slave-woman. Perhaps I will have a son through her.” And Avram paid attention on Sarai’s voice. (Genesis 16:1-2)

This was not an unusual strategy in the Ancient Near East. Childless women assign surrogates to their husbands and then adopt the resulting progeny both in the Mesopotamian laws of Hammurabi and in another story in Genesis, when Rachel and Leah ask their husband Jacob to produce more children for them by using their slave-women as surrogate mothers.⁵

And Hagar bore a son to Avram, and Avram called the name of his son that Hagar had borne Yishmael. And Avram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Avram. (Genesis 16:15-16)

The arrangement does not go well for Sarai or Hagar, but Avram acknowledges and grows fond of his son Yishmael (Ishmael in English).⁶

Possible heir #4: Yitzchak (Isaac)

When Avram is 99, and Sarai is 89, and Ishmael is 13, God appears to Avram again and says:

“Walk constantly in my presence, and be blameless. Then I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will make you very, very numerous.”

At first the deal appears to be that Avram will behave perfectly, and in return God will give him those long-promised descendants. But then God continues:

“Behold my covenant with you: You will be a father for a hamon of nations. And you will no longer be called the name Avram, but your name will be Avraham; because I will give you a hamon of nations. And I will make you very, very fruitful, and give you nations, and kings will go out from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for generations as a covenant forever: to be a god for you and your descendants after you. And I give you and your descendants after you the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, as a possession forever, and I will be their god.” (Genesis 17:4-8)

hamon (הָמוֹן) = crowd, noisy procession, uproar. (From the root verb  hamah,הָמה  = roar, make an uproar. Avram’s new name, Avraham, incorporates the root hamah.)

Now God’s side of the covenant is to give Avraham crowds of descendants who will possess the land of Canaan; and to act as their god, presumably by paying special attention to their welfare.

Then God tells Avraham what he must do for his side of the covenant:

“This is my covenant that you must keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Be circumcised, every male among you. And they must be circumcised, the flesh of your foreskins, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” (Genesis 17:10-11)  

In future generations, God adds, the circumcision should happen when a male infant is eight days old; and every man should also circumcise his male slaves.

And God said to Avraham: “Sarai, your wife—her name will not be called Sarai, because Sarah will be her name. And I will bless her, and even give you a son from her. I will bless her and she will become nations; kings of nations will come from her!” And Avraham threw himself on his face and he laughed, and he thought in his heart: Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old? Or can Sarah bring forth a child at ninety? And Avraham said to God: “May Ishmael live before your presence!” (Genesis 17:15-18)

Avraham seems content with Ishmael as his son and heir. Why does he need another? God reassures him that Ishmael will have twelve children and found a nation of his own. But the heir to Abraham’s property and relationship with God will not be Hagar’s son, but Sarah’s son, whom he must name Yitzchak.

“And my covenant I will establish with Yitzchak, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” (Genesis 17:21)

So Avraham’s own wife will miraculously give birth to Yitzchak, who will inherit God’s covenant with Avraham: God’s attention, the obligation of circumcision, and the equivalent of a deed to the land of Canaan. And that is not all Yitzchak inherits. God also blesses him⁷ and makes him a blessing to others.⁸ When Avraham himself dies at age 175, in the Torah portion Chayei Sarah, he leaves his wealth and livestock business to Yitzchak.

And Avraham gave everything that was his to Yitzchak. But to the sons of Avraham’s concubines, Avraham gave gifts, and he sent them away from his son Yitzchak while he was still alive, eastward to the land of the east. (Genesis 25:6)

Thus Yitzchak, the fourth person under consideration as Avraham’s heir, inherits his father’s wealth, livestock business, position as a blessing to others, deed to the land of Canaan, covenant with God, and ability to speak with God. Avraham left a lot to inherit, and he was happy with his heir.

And Avraham died at a good ripe age, old and satisfied. (Genesis 25:8)

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When you die, what will you leave behind in the world of the living?

Someone will inherit your wealth. Someone may take your place at work or in your community. Some people will remember you and tell stories about you, for good or bad. And some may inherit your personality, or your attitude toward God.

Will you be satisfied with what you leave behind? Will you be satisfied with your heirs?

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1. Genesis 11:27-31.
2. Genesis 22:20-22 and 24:10.
3. Numbers 34:1-12.
4. In chapter 14 of Genesis, invaders from the north raid Sodom and its neighbors, capture Lot and other residents of Sodom, and carry them off along with the loot. Abraham and his 318 men rescue all the captives, either because Sodom is one of Abraham’s allies at the time, or because he feels affection and/or responsibility for his nephew. But Lot returns to his home in Sodom, not to Avram’s camp in Canaan.
5. Genesis 24.
6. See my post Lekh Lekha: Belittlement.
7. Genesis 30:1-13.
8. Genesis 25:11.
9. Genesis 26:2-4.