»Glaube« und »Gerechtigkeit« in Gen 15,6

The Masoretic text in Gen 15:6, which is more open but older than the Septuagint, has led to various new interpretations (Oeming, Mosis, Rottzoll, Willi-Plein etc.). From a philological standpoint however these are not convincing. Thus the fact remains that YHWH credits Abraham's faith. However this sentence, which consists of two complementary parts, does not reflect the replacement of cultic achievements or »works« by faith (von Rad). In fact God recognizes Abraham's wholehearted faith in him as an appropriate and meritorious act which he rewards by pledging the land to him under oath. The unique syntactic integration of verse 6a into the narrative context marks Abraham's faith not as a result of verse 5 but rather as a concurrent process: YHWH took Abraham outside and said ... while he trusted YHWH ... (or ... In doing so, he trusted YHWH).