Genesis 15:5–6
God asks Abram to count the stars: so will his offspring be; and Abram believed
Study it word by word5He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And he said to him, “So will your offspring be.”
6And he believed in YHWH, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
In its context
3And Abram said, “Look, to me you have not given offspring; and look, one born in my house will be my heir.”
4And look, the word of YHWH came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; but one who will come out from your own body, he will be your heir.”
…
7And he said to him, “I am YHWH who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”
8But he said, “Adonai YHWH, how will I know that I will possess it?”
Its words in the original
- יּוֹצֵאyotse· go out, bring out
Go out, come out. In the causative form, "make go out", "bring out", "lead out", "produce".
- חוּצָchutsa· outside
Outside, outdoors; the street.
- יֹּאמֶרyomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- הַבֶּטhabet· look
Look intently, gaze; regard, pay attention to.
- שָּׁמַיְמָshamayma· heavens, sky
The heavens: what is above, where the clouds, the sun and the stars are seen; also the dwelling of God. In Hebrew it is always plural. With birds, "the sky".
- סְפֹרsefor· count, tell
Count (numbers) and also tell (relate, recount). From here comes the word for "scribe".
- כּוֹכָבִיםkochavim· star
Star.
- תּוּכַלtuchal· be able, can
Be able, can; also prevail, overcome.
- יִהְיֶהyihye· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- זַרְעֶzare· offspring, seed
Seed. From there "offspring": the children and generations that come from someone. Also sowing and semen.
- הֶאֱמִןheemin· believe, be firm
Be firm, trustworthy; in another form, "believe": lean on someone and trust what he says. It is also said of one who brings up a child. "Amen" comes from this root.
- יהוָהyhva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- יַּחְשְׁבֶyachshve· think, count, devise
Think, consider; count something as something else ("count as", "credit as"). Also devise, design, plan, often evil: "the work of a skilled craftsman" is, literally, "the work of one who designs".
- צְדָקָהtsedaka· righteousness
Righteousness: being right with God and acting rightly with others; justice.