Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 15:17/אבן עזרא על בראשית ט״ו:י״ז
אויהי השמש באה. בתחלה עודנה לא באה, וכן כתוב לבוא:
1AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN. Until now the sun had not yet set. It is similarly written, when the sun was about to go down (v. 12).45 (when the sun was going down). We thus see that what transpired until now took place before the sun went down.
בועלטה. חשך וריעו ביחזקאל והטעם כי הלילה מעונן או פירושו אחר בוא האור הנראה בעבים:
2THICK DARKNESS. Alatah (thick darkness) means darkness. The word alatah is also found in Ezekiel (12:6, 7, 12). It means a cloudy night. It might also refer to the darkness that sets in as soon as the last light has disappeared in the clouds.
גוהנה תנור עשן. כדמות תנור העולה עשן ממנו ובתוכו לפיד אש:
3BEHOLD A SMOKING FURNACE, AND A FLAMING TORCH. An image of a smoking furnace with a flaming torch in it.
דבין הגזרים. בין הבתרים, וזאת היא השבועה וכן "העגל אשר כרתו לשנים" (ירמי' לד יח) ע"כ כתוב אחרי זאת ביום ההוא כרת ד' את אברם ברית (בראשית טו יח:
4BETWEEN THESE PIECES. Ben ha-gezarim means between the pieces. This46 was the actual taking of the oath. The words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof (Jer. 34:18) is similar. We thus read in the next verse, In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘Unto thy seed have I given this land,’ etc.