The word of the LORD

Question

What is Rabbinic understanding of "the word of YHWH," a phrase first encountered in Hebrew Scripture, in Genesis 15:1 where " the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision?" Rashi does not address it in this passage where it first appears.

I would have naturally understood this to mean that God spoke, especially because through out subsequent scripture there is a strong connection between this phrase and prophecy; but, it says "the word of YHWH came to Abraham a vision," which implies sight rather than hearing.

Can you edit to clarify what is unclear about the phrase that you seek further explanation? — Double AA, Jul 28 '16 at 15:58
@kouty my Aramaic isn't good enough to know a distinction in meaning, but the choice was made to use pitgama here, not memra. Maybe, the pitgama relates to the beginning of the posuk "achar had'varim" (batar pitgamaya) after these events, so the pitgama is an idea and not words spoken (asher milel, Dev 1:1). — rosends, Jul 28 '16 at 18:20

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:42

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Seems like this has been asked before. Check out the answer given here! Seems like Rambam interprets these words as allegorical messages.

You're assuming that prophetic visions cannot have any audio component. Why should they have to be silent?

Also, the word 'devar' need not mean 'word'. For example, when it means 'event' earlier in this very verse.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:42

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answered Jul 28 '16 at 19:39

Noam

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I did not assume they could not have audio component. I assumed there must be a visual component in order to "appear." Thanks so much, both for the link and your last sentence; I was not aware that it could mean "event," which is consistent with the answer you linked to that says basically the word/message comes through a dream that is then interpreted. This has been most helpful. – Jul 28 '16 at 19:54

The word of the LORD

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