הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה (haš·šā·may·māh) in Genesis 15:5: Article | Noun - masculine plural | third person feminine singular
הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה (haš·šā·may·māh) in Genesis 15:5
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:5 links the English rendering "to the heavens" with הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה, Strong's H8064, and the parsing label Art | N-mp | 3fs.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form helps locate Abram's gaze in the scene, preparing the comparison between the visible stars and the promised offspring.
How To Communicate It
Use this form to connect the grammar to the enacted sign: Abram is directed toward the heavens before hearing the promise comparison.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Let the promise scene determine the meaning.
- Do not draw theology from grammatical gender, number, or article use apart from the verse.
- Do not treat the directional phrase as a full study of H8064.
- Do not make the heavens the subject of the promise; they provide the visual field for the sign.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-nominal
Noun
Article | Noun - masculine plural | third person feminine singular
Article
Third person feminine singular
Masculine
Plural
Not marked
This form carries the BSB rendering "to the heavens" within Genesis 15:5. Genesis 15 anchors God's covenant promise to Abram, moving from promise and faith to assurance and covenant sign.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The directional phrase rendered to the heavens
God's command for Abram to look and count in Genesis 15:5.
The noun phrase names the skyward direction Abram is told to look as God gives the star-count sign for the promise.
It does not make grammatical number or gender carry a doctrine of heaven, and it does not identify the stars as the subject of the command.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The noun phrase sets the visual field for the star-count sign attached to God's promise.
Article with masculine plural noun form. marks the direction or setting toward which Abram is told to look. Attached to God's command to look. Governed by the imperative sequence in Genesis 15:5. The form serves the enacted promise illustration rather than functioning as the main theological assertion.
Where is Abram directed to look? He is directed toward the heavens, where the stars become the visible sign for the promise.
Direct: The form directly supports the directional phrase to the heavens.
Grammatical plural should not be turned into a separate doctrine of heavenly realms. The phrase's importance comes from the promise scene, not from article or gender alone. The form points to the setting for the sign; it is not the subject of the command.
Plural heavens proves a layered cosmology here: The plural form should be handled within the scene's directional phrase and promise illustration. grammatical gender creates theology: Gender belongs to the noun's grammar and should not be made into a theological claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Genesis 15:5 links the English rendering "to the heavens" with הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה, Strong's H8064, and the parsing label Art | N-mp | 3fs.
H8064 is represented here by the lemma שָׁמַיִם. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "to the heavens" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The noun phrase belongs to God's command for Abram to look upward before counting the stars, so its force is directional and scene-setting.
Genesis 15 anchors God's covenant promise to Abram, moving from promise and faith to assurance and covenant sign.
The form fits Scripture's covenant pattern in which God speaks, promises, judges, gives, and keeps his word.
When teaching Genesis 15:5, use the form to show how the visible sky becomes the setting for God's promise illustration.
Do not derive a doctrine of heaven from the article, number, or directional form alone. The promise scene supplies the interpretive weight.