Adam and Eve:

Abraham and his seeds

by David Epstein

February 5, 2001

Starting in Genesis, Chapter 13, there are some interesting references to Abraham and his offspring. Particularly noteworthy are the different passages relating where he dwells, or what he is viewing, to the counting of the ‘seeds’ of his offspring.

In Chapter 13, verses 14-16, God speaks to Abraham (at this point called Abram): “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Now, man (Adam) was created from the dust of the earth. While man is no longer created from that dust, the impetus of that idea thrusts forward. In one respect, counting the dust of the earth is a ritualistic commemoration of the primordial birth of man. It’s also a fertility rite. The number of Abraham’s offspring throughout the generations will equal the performances of this ritual practice. Count the dust and he shall be rewarded accordingly. On a deeper level, however, it’s really a connection between tending to the land (particularly in agriculture) to the fertile reproduction of the founding father of Judaism. The numbering schema is a mathematical application to these activities, annointing them with an emulsifying ‘law of nature’.

In Chapter 15, Abraham is concerned that he doesn’t have any offspring. I guess he didn’t count the dust of the earth. Here’s Abram talking in verse 3 after God has appeared to him in a vision: “Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is to be mine heir.” Could it be that he’s worried he’s impotent? Read what God says in turn, verses 4-5: “This man shall not be thine heir ... Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them. So shall thy seed be.” There’s that counting again, but this time, rather than be a soil sampler, Abraham needs to do some star gazing. Abram the astronomer, Abraham the romantic poet, whatever need be, he is looking upward. And his reward shall be an heir.

Astronomy and astrology were commonly practiced in the Middle East. The ancient Egyptians were master astronomers who built the pyramids upon the movements of the constellations. The Great Pyramid at Giza can be used to track the procession of the equinox. The Akkadians were also great astronomers who knew about the five primary planets. So the references to the stars can be seen in its Middle East context. Abraham’s fortune lies in the celestial spheres, though this Biblical passage is not merely referring to the stars, for it places great emphasis upon fertility and future offspring.

Parenthetically, Hagar, Abram’s mistress, conceived Ishmael. In Chapter 16, verse 10, the angel of the Lord said to her: “I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude”. Here we see another variant of the connections of fertility, “counting the seeds” and numbering them. Fertility is once again increased, but this time, the offspring won’t be numbered. Is this some way of saying that Hagar’s offspring are not as blessed as the others, not worthy of being counted, or perhaps just not as numerous?

Let’s jump to Chapter 17. Here, God makes the explicit connections between covenant, offspring, and the rule of nations. Verse 2: “And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly”. In other words, uphold the covenant and the ancient Jewish people will reproduce just fine. Verse 4: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations.” Here, keep this covenant, and you will be the leader of nations. Taking these 2 verses together, the inferred connection is between fertility and leadership. The use of the word “father” is actually more potent than “leader” because it more directly points to the concept of fertility. The father of nations is actually quite a potent being, filled with his seeds of reproduction for perpetuation of his people, physically, culturally, and through the power of its civilizations.

At this point, God tells Abram to change his name to Abraham. There are additional references to fertility and the covenant. Verses 6-7: “And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.” There’s no counting of the seeds going on here, yet there is plenty of fertility. Perhaps the inference is that the counting and numbering are only needed when there is *infertility*. Just like counting the sheep will help an insomniac get to sleep, so will counting the fertility units (OK, sperm for you literalists!) help the sterile one reproduce. Is this another way of saying that he should count his blessings?!

Verse 8 extends the bond between fertility rite and covenant to the realm of geopolitical reality: “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God”. Perpetuate the covenant and the lineage, and he’ll be rewarded with the kingdom of Israel (Canaan). But it is Verse 10 which brings the trilateral linkage full circle: “This is My covenant ... every male among you shall be circumcised.” Wow, the progenitor of one’s fertility becomes the primary object of realizing the covenant. Furthermore, it’s the phallic symbol of the offspring, the future tool for procreation, which is the core symbol of the covenant. As with the burnt offerings by Noah, here we have another form of sacrifice. Shedding the foreskin, the ritual of circumcision, is a type of sacrifice necessary to secure the covenant between God and the Jewish people. While the foreskin offers a type of protection for the male organ, God orders all males to forego this in exchange for His greater protection. In another vein, the circumcision represents a type of modesty before God, demonstrating that man is imperfect and incomplete.

And what happens after this? In Chapter 17, God tells Abraham that Sarah will be blessed with a son. Verse 16: God blesses Sarah, she has a son, and she “shall be a mother of nations”. Once again, infertility is surmounted, and we witness the birth of nations. This leads into the birth of Isaac.