גֶּ֫זֶר

From the study of Genesis 15:17

Range of meaning

A piece cut off, a part or portion, from the verb gazar, 'to cut, divide, sever'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/NASB 'pieces' is accurate. BSB/NLT 'halves of the carcasses' clarifies the picture from verse 10, but adds words not in the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Elsewhere only Ps 136:13: God 'divided the Reed Sea into parts (ligzarim)'. The verb is used in 1 Kgs 3:25 ('cut the living child in two'). Verse 10 uses a different word for the halves (betarim, from batar, 'to cut in two'). Jer 34:18–19 also uses that word.

From the study of Jubilees 14:17

Range of meaning

'Cut pieces' or 'halves', from gazar, 'to cut, divide'. In Genesis 15:17 it means the split carcasses. The related idiom is 'to cut a covenant' (karat berit).

Against the English

'Pieces' is accurate. What it can hide is that these are halves deliberately laid out as a path, which is a known legal ritual and not a pile of leftovers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 34:18–20 describes Judah's leaders who 'cut the calf in two and passed between its parts' to swear an oath, and threatens them with the calf's fate if they break it. An Aramaic treaty from Sefire (8th century BC) and texts from Mari (18th century BC), where a donkey was killed to seal an agreement, show similar animal rites. In them the slaughtered animal stands for what will happen to anyone who breaks the oath.