Passage

Genesis 15.6

Book: Genesis · NASB95

"Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6, NASB95)

Genesis 15:6 is the load-bearing single-verse Old Testament foundation for the doctrine of justification by faith. The verse names three structural features that Paul activates in Romans 4.3 and Galatians 3.6 and James develops differently in James 2.23: (1) the ground of God's reckoning is Abraham's belief (aman, H539; LXX pisteuo), not works; (2) the means of the reckoning is divine imputation (chashab, H2803; LXX logizomai), a forensic-accounting verb, not a transformative-moral one; (3) the content reckoned is [[H6666 - tzedakah|tzedaqah]] (righteousness), the same word Isaiah later uses for God's saving-vindicating righteousness.

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"4. And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be."

"6. And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness."

"7. And he said unto him, I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8. And he said, O Lord Jehovah, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" (Genesis 15:4-8, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"4. Behold, Yahweh's word came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir." 5. Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So will your offspring be.""

"6. He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness."

"7. He said to Abram, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it." 8. He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?"" (Genesis 15:4-8, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"4. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be."

"6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

"7. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" (Genesis 15:4-8, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"4. And lo, the word of Jehovah [is] unto him, saying, 'This [one] doth not heir thee; but he who cometh out from thy bowels, he doth heir thee;' 5. and He bringeth him out without, and saith, 'Look attentively, I pray thee, towards the heavens, and count the stars, if thou art able to count them;' and He saith to him, 'Thus is thy seed.'"

"6. And he hath believed in Jehovah, and He reckoneth it to him, righteousness."

"7. And He saith unto him, 'I [am] Jehovah who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give to thee this land to possess it;' 8. and he saith, 'Lord Jehovah, whereby do I know that I possess it?'" (Genesis 15:4-8, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: the narrator (Moses, traditionally) reporting Abraham's response to YHWH's promise; YHWH speaks in surrounding verses
Audience: Israel under the Sinai covenant, and (via Paul) the church of every age
Location: outside the tent, under the night sky (between Hebron-Mamre and the southern Negev)
Time period: c. 2000-1900 BC; 430 years before the Sinai covenant and 13+ years before Abraham's circumcision (Genesis 17)

Theological reading

The chronology is the verse's apologetic anchor. Abraham's faith-righteousness precedes both the Sinai law (430 years later, Galatians 3:17) and his own circumcision (Genesis 17, at least 13 years later). Neither law-keeping nor circumcision can therefore be the ground of his right standing with God. Paul builds the whole argument of Romans 4 on this sequence: Was this reckoning made while he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but uncircumcised (Rom 4:10). The result is a foundation broad enough to include the nations: that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them (Rom 4:11).

The vocabulary is decisive. Believed translates he'emin (hiphil of aman, "to be firm, trust"), the same root behind "amen" and behind the noun emunah (faithfulness). Abraham's belief is not a one-time mental affirmation but the trusting-firm reliance that produces a settled posture toward the speaker. Reckoned translates chashab, a verb used in commercial and judicial contexts for crediting an account or weighing testimony. The LXX renders it elogisthe (from logizomai), the exact verb Paul uses eleven times in Romans 4. The grammar is passive-divine: He reckoned it to him. The reckoning is God's act, not Abraham's achievement. The content reckoned, tzedaqah, is forensic standing before God, the same word the prophets use for God's own righteousness and for the vindicating righteousness He gives to His people.

The chapter context is the cutting-of-the-covenant scene (Genesis 15:7-21). Abraham's faith in God's promise of innumerable offspring (15:5) is immediately followed by God's unilateral covenant-ratification: God alone passes between the divided animals while Abraham sleeps, taking the self-curse of the covenant entirely upon Himself. The narrative shape mirrors the doctrine: God promises, Abraham believes, God ratifies. The reckoning of righteousness in verse 6 is grounded in a covenant where God bears the entire conditional weight.

The James 2:23 use ("Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God") does not contradict Paul. James cites the same verse to argue that Abraham's faith was vindicated by works (the offering of Isaac in Genesis 22), not that works were the ground of the reckoning. Genesis 15:6 names what is credited; Genesis 22 demonstrates that what was credited was genuine. The two appeals are sequential, not competing. See Justification by Faith and Imputation Doctrine for the structured doctrine.

Key words

H0539 - aman, aman, "to believe / trust / be firm"; the verb Abraham performs.
H6666 - tzedakah, tzedaqah, "righteousness"; the content reckoned.
H6664 - tzedeq, tzedeq, the masculine cognate of tzedaqah.
G1343 - dikaiosyne, dikaiosyne, the Greek LXX and Pauline rendering.
G3049 - logizomai, logizomai, the LXX-Pauline verb for "reckon / credit / impute."

Theological themes

Justification by faith. The single Old Testament verse Paul most uses to ground sola fide.
Pre-Mosaic righteousness. Abraham is reckoned righteous 430 years before Sinai; the Mosaic law cannot be the ground of right standing.
Pre-circumcision righteousness. Abraham is reckoned righteous before his circumcision (Genesis 17); ethnic-covenant marking cannot be the ground either.
Imputation, not infusion. Chashab / logizomai is the forensic-accounting verb; the Reformation reading that righteousness is credited (not infused) is grammatically rooted here.
Promise-response covenant. God promises, Abraham believes, God ratifies; the covenant structure mirrors the justification doctrine.

Cross-references

Romans 4.3 - "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness"; Paul's primary citation.
Romans 4.22-24 - the citation extended to "us also, to whom it will be credited."
Galatians 3.6 - second Pauline citation, anchoring the no-law gospel.
James 2.23 - third New Testament citation, integrating faith and works.
Genesis 17.9-14 - Abraham's later circumcision; the chronology that makes Paul's argument work.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.