Lech Lecha (parsha)

Lech Lecha (Hebrew: לֶךְ־לְךָ, "Go forth" / "Go for yourself") is the third weekly Torah portion. It covers Genesis 12:1 through 17:27 and tells the story of God's call to Abram, his journey to Canaan, the covenant, the birth of Ishmael, and the covenant of circumcision.

Summary

God calls Abram to leave his land, his birthplace, and his father's house, and go to a land God will show him, promising to make him a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and bless all families of the earth through him. Abram obeys with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. In Canaan, God promises the land to Abram's descendants. A famine forces Abram to descend to Egypt, where Sarai is taken into Pharaoh's house; God afflicts Pharaoh, and Abram leaves with great wealth. Abram and Lot separate; Lot chooses the fertile plain of the Jordan and settles near Sodom. Abram rescues Lot from the four kings in the War of the Kings, and is blessed by Melchizedek, king of Salem. God makes a covenant with Abram (Brit Bein Ha-Betarim), promising descendants and land. Sarai, being barren, gives her maidservant Hagar to Abram; Hagar conceives and is mistreated; she flees and encounters an angel who tells her to return and names her son Ishmael. God changes Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's to Sarah, promising Isaac. God commands circumcision as the sign of the covenant.

The Call of Abram

לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ

"Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you." (Genesis 12:1)

The phrase "Lech Lecha" (לֶךְ־לְךָ) can be read as "Go for yourself" — go for your own benefit, for your ultimate good. God promises Abram seven blessings: "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you; I will make your name great; you shall be a blessing; I will bless those who bless you; I will curse those who curse you; and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:2–3). Abram is 75 years old when he leaves Haran. He takes Sarai, Lot, and all their possessions and servants, and travels to Canaan, reaching Shechem. God appears to Abram and promises the land to his descendants. Abram builds an altar to God. He then moves to the mountain between Bethel and Ai and builds another altar, calling on the name of the Lord.

Descent to Egypt

A famine strikes Canaan, and Abram descends to Egypt to sojourn there. Fearing that the Egyptians will kill him to take Sarai (who was very beautiful), Abram asks her to say she is his sister. Indeed, Pharaoh's officials praise Sarai to Pharaoh, and she is taken into Pharaoh's house. God afflicts Pharaoh and his household with great plagues. Pharaoh summons Abram and says: "What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go" (Genesis 12:18–19). Pharaoh commands his men to send Abram away with his wife and all his possessions. Abram leaves Egypt very wealthy in cattle, silver, and gold.

Separation from Lot

Abram and Lot return to the Negev. Their herdsmen quarrel because the land cannot support both their flocks. Abram says: "Let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers" (Genesis 13:8). He offers Lot the choice of land. Lot sees that the plain of the Jordan is well-watered (like the garden of the Lord, like Egypt) and chooses it, settling near Sodom, whose inhabitants "were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly" (Genesis 13:13). God tells Abram to look north, south, east, and west: "All the land that you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever" (Genesis 13:15). Abram moves to Hebron and builds an altar.

War of the Kings

Four kings from the east (Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, Tidal of Goiim) make war against five kings of the Jordan plain (including the king of Sodom). The four kings defeat the five and take Lot captive along with all his possessions. A fugitive brings the news to Abram, who arms 318 of his trained servants and pursues the kings to Dan. He divides his forces by night, defeats them, and pursues them to Hobah, north of Damascus. He brings back all the goods and his nephew Lot.

On Abram's return, the king of Sodom meets him. Melchizedek, king of Salem (Shalem/Jerusalem) and priest of God Most High (El Elyon), brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand" (Genesis 14:19–20). Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of everything (ma'aser). Abram refuses the king of Sodom's offer of the goods, saying he will take nothing, "lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich'" (Genesis 14:23).

The Covenant (Brit Bein Ha-Betarim)

God appears to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram; I am your shield; your reward shall be exceedingly great" (Genesis 15:1). Abram asks how he can have an heir since he is childless and his servant Eliezer of Damascus will inherit. God promises that Abram's own son will be his heir and that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars of heaven. Abram believes God, "and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6) — a foundational verse for faith and justification.

God then makes a covenant (בְּרִית בֵּין הַבְּתָרִים, "Covenant Between the Pieces"): Abram is told to take a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, cut them in half (except the birds), and lay the pieces opposite each other. As the sun sets, a deep sleep falls on Abram, and God tells him that his descendants will be strangers in a land not theirs, enslaved and afflicted for 400 years, but that God will judge that nation and they will leave with great wealth. "In the fourth generation they shall return here" (Genesis 15:16). Then "a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces" (Genesis 15:17) — God Himself passing through the covenant. God promises the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, listing ten nations: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.

Hagar and Ishmael

Sarai, being barren, gives her Egyptian maidservant Hagar to Abram as a wife. Hagar conceives, and "her mistress was despised in her eyes" (Genesis 16:4). Sarai deals harshly with Hagar, who flees into the wilderness. An angel of the Lord finds her by a spring on the way to Shur and asks: "Hagar, Sarai's maidservant, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She replies, "I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai." The angel tells her to return and submit, and promises: "I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude" (Genesis 16:10). She is told to name her son Ishmael (יִשְׁמָעֵאל, "God hears"), "because the Lord has heard your affliction" (Genesis 16:11). Ishmael will be "a wild ass of a man: his hand against every man, and every man's hand against him" (Genesis 16:12). Hagar names God "El Roi" (אֵל רֳאִי, "God who sees me") — the only person in the Torah to name God. She returns and bears Ishmael when Abram is 86.

Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram is 99, God appears and says: "I am God Almighty (El Shaddai); walk before Me and be perfect" (Genesis 17:1). God changes Abram's name to Abraham (אַבְרָהָם, "father of a multitude of nations"): "for a father of a multitude of nations have I made you" (Genesis 17:5). God promises to make Abraham exceedingly fruitful, to make nations and kings come from him, and to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. God changes Sarai's name to Sarah (שָׂרָה, "princess"): "she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her" (Genesis 17:16).

God commands circumcision (בְּרִית מִילָה) as the sign of the covenant: "Every male among you shall be circumcised... and it shall be a token of the covenant between Me and you" (Genesis 17:10–11). Every male eight days old shall be circumcised, including servants and foreigners. Abraham circumcises himself, Ishmael (age 13), and all the males of his household that very day. God promises that Sarah will bear a son, Isaac (יִצְחָק, "he will laugh"), and the covenant will be established with him. Abraham laughs (Genesis 17:17) — hence Isaac's name. God also promises to bless Ishmael and make him a great nation, but the covenant will be with Isaac. The parasha ends with the circumcision of Abraham's household.

Major themes

• Faith and righteousness: "He believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6) — the paradigm of faith.
• Covenant: Two covenants: Brit Bein Ha-Betarim (land and descendants) and Brit Milah (circumcision as sign).
• Promise and waiting: Abraham and Sarah wait decades for the promised son; the tension between promise and reality.
• Land: The promise of Canaan as an everlasting inheritance.
• Names and identity: God changes Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah, signaling transformation.
• Hospitality and generosity: Abraham's rescue of Lot and his refusal of Sodom's wealth.
• Prayer and intercession: Abraham's willingness to negotiate with God (later fully in Vayera).
• Justice: Abraham's concern for the righteous in Sodom (preview of next parasha).

Classical commentaries

Rashi

Rashi explains "Lech Lecha" as "Go for your own benefit" — for your good and for your pleasure. On "I will make you a great nation," Rashi says this refers to the merit of the Land of Israel. On the covenant, Rashi explains that God passed between the pieces as a torch (not Abraham), showing that God bound Himself. On circumcision, Rashi notes that the commandment is given to Abraham as a test of faith.

Ramban

Ramban explains that Abram's descent to Egypt was not a sin but a test of faith. On Hagar, Ramban emphasizes that Sarai's harshness was a mistake. On the name change, Ramban explains that "Abraham" contains the letter Heh (ה), representing the Shekhinah (divine presence), added to his name.

Ibn Ezra

Ibn Ezra focuses on the geography of Abram's journeys and the identification of the ten nations. He explains "El Shaddai" as "God who is sufficient" (שַׁדַּי = שֶׁ + דַּי, "that which is enough").

Sforno

Sforno explains that the command "walk before Me and be perfect" means to strive for moral perfection in all aspects of life. The covenant of circumcision is the external sign of an internal commitment to serve God.

Midrashic interpretations

• Bereshit Rabbah 39:1: Abram recognized God at age 3 and smashed his father Terah's idols, leading to his persecution.
• Bereshit Rabbah 40:1: Abram's journey to Canaan is compared to a person leaving a dark room for a bright one.
• Bereshit Rabbah 43:3: Melchizedek is identified as Shem, son of Noah, who blessed Abram.
• Bereshit Rabbah 45:1: The covenant between the pieces is connected to the future exile and redemption of Israel.
• Bereshit Rabbah 45:9: Hagar is the daughter of Pharaoh, given to Sarai as a maidservant.
• Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 29: Abraham was the first to call God "Adon" (Lord/Master).
• Tanhuma, Lech Lecha 1: Abraham's journey is the prototype of all spiritual journeys — leaving the familiar for the divine.

Haftarah

The haftarah is Isaiah 40:27 – 41:16. God says to Israel: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God" (Isaiah 41:10). God calls Abraham "My friend" (אַבְרָהָם אֹהֲבִי, Isaiah 41:8) and promises that Israel, Abraham's seed, will be strengthened and not ashamed. The haftarah connects Abraham's journey of faith to Israel's future redemption.

References

1. Genesis 12:1 – 17:27 (Masoretic Text)
2. Rashi, Commentary on the Torah
3. Ramban, Commentary on the Torah
4. Ibn Ezra, Commentary on the Torah
5. Sforno, Commentary on the Torah
6. Bereshit Rabbah (Midrash)
7. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer
8. Tanhuma, Lech Lecha
9. The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (Nahum M. Sarna, 1989)
10. Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (JPS, 2001)
11. Sefaria.org, "Lech Lecha" (parasha)