← PREV ↑ Master Index NEXT (main ring) →

EXTRA on Lech Lecha 15:17

EXTRA · Rashi on Genesis 15:17 / Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 28 · Parashas Lech Lecha · Passuk 15:17

Complete Passuk

וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בָּ֔אָה וַעֲלָטָ֖ה הָיָ֑ה וְהִנֵּ֨ה תַנּ֤וּר עָשָׁן֙ וְלַפִּ֣יד אֵ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָבַ֔ר בֵּ֖ין הַגְּזָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

When the sun set and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven, and a flaming torch that passed between those pieces.

Source

Rashi on Genesis 15:17 — Rashi explains the smoking furnace as foreshadowing the monarchies’ descent into Gehinnom and cites Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 28.

Core Text

Core Text
וְהִנֵּה תַנּוּר עָשָׁן וְלַפִּיד אֵשׁ — רָמַז לוֹ שֶׁיֵּרְדוּ הַמַּלְכֻיּוֹת לְגֵיהִנֹּם.

English: “Behold a smoking furnace and a flaming torch” — He foreshadowed to him that the monarchies would descend into Gehinnom.

On the daf / in context: Rashi, citing Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 28, reads the smoking furnace as a vision of the fate of the oppressive empires, while the torch represents the Divine Presence sealing the unilateral covenant (God alone passes between the parts).
Type of Learning: Custom (symbolic reading of the theophany)
What Is Learned: The brit is sealed by God alone; the dark theophany already contains both the suffering of exile under the empires and their ultimate judgment.

Supplementary classical material not listed by Torah Temimah under this exact passuk.

← PREV ↑ Master Index NEXT (main ring) →