Jewish idea of covenant ?

Question

Jewish idea of covenant from the passage genesis 15

Answer 1

What do you mean?

a. was this a 'jewish' idea?

b. what do the jewish people think about the covenent?

Those who don't chew well they don't digest well, and so forth...

Answer 2

Sorry - I have no idea what you want to know.  A covenant is an agreement - like a contract.  That's ALL it is.  We have one with God; it binds us to certain things, like any other contract.  No radical idea here - sorry.

Answer 3

Commentary from ArtScroll Stone edition Tanakh

Genesis 15:10.  Abraham cut the animals into two parts and walked between them.  In those days, the partners to a covenant (contract/testament) passed between the severed parts to symbolize their acceptance of the new pact.

Genesis 15:13.  There would be a total of four hundred years of alien status, in which would be included the two hundred ten years of literal exile in Egypt, and also the twenty years that Jacob spent with Laban in Haran.  The *servitude* mentioned in this prophecy took place during the last one hundred sixteen years of the Egyptian servitude, the last eighty-six years of which were a time of harsh *oppression,* when Pharaoh intensified the suffering of the Jews.  The calculation of the four hundred years would begin thirty years after this vision, with the birth of Isaac; since he never had the permanent home or the prestige and honor enjoyed by Abraham, he and his offspring were considered aliens, even during the years that they lived in Eretz Yisrael.  After those four hundred years, Abraham's offspring would be able to take possession of the land.

Note:  Prophets are not included in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) unless their prophesies had already occurred -- had been proven.  In this case, the prophecy happened with exile in Egypt.  

"A prophet never foretells 'a fixed, unchangeable future.'  Prophets do not predict what will happen tomorrow.  Instead, 'they announce a present that requires human choice and decision.'  It is a present 'in which the future is being prepared' but whose outcome depends upon the work and decisions of human beings."  Philosopher Martin Buber, quoted from "A Torah Commentary for our Times" by Harvey J. Fields

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