1. Plan/Consider (חשׁב)
Since the occurrences
of HEB do not seem to reflect the linguistic usage of certain theological groups
or social layers, but rather belong to the general colloquial speech of Old
Testament times, its meaning is best determined by means of a broad examination
of its occurrences under the criterion of both syntax and context. This will
show that principally one has to distinguish two basic categories of meaning,
the first of which denotes a future oriented “planning,” the second an “evaluative
“consideration” of given facts . . .
1. Plan
Gen 50:20 is no exact
parallel [to Gen 15:6], first because the “recipient” is missing, but more
importantly because the construction חֲשָׁבָ֣הּ לְטֹבָ֔ה is formed in intentional opposition to
the idiomatic expression חֲשַׁבְתֶּ֥ם רָעָ֑ה “to plan evil” (The
syntax of the second passage that Seebas appeals to, namely Ps 40:18, is
unique: HEB is without object, but it mentions the recipient with the
preposition le [dativus commodi]. One might translate “Yahweh
plans [good things] for me” as opposed to those who desire the psalmist’s hurt
[חשׁב] [40:15]. Thus, as
in Gen 50:20, “evil” is contrasted with “good.” In Ps 41:8, חשׁב appears with the
same preposition [dativus incommodi], though the object רָעָה, is mentioned explicitly
in this case.). This expression denotes in most cases free rational calculation
and planning, mostly with negative intention (God has negative plans [רָעָה] with humans: Mic
2:3. Humans plan evil against God: Hos 7:15 [רַע]; Nah 1:11 [רָעָה]. Against each
other, humans plan רָעָה [Gen 50:20; Ps
21:12; 35:4; 41:8; 140:3; Jer 48:2; Zech 7:10; 8:17] or אָוֶן [Ps 36:5; Ezek 11:2;
Mic 2:1]. Here, only those instances are mentioned that are syntactically
related to Gen 50:20. This means those passages [especially in Jeremiah],
employing a figura etymologica or those using an infinitive to describe
the content of the plan and left aside. Nevertheless, they align with the
pattern described and denote the making of evil plans.—A juxtaposition of “good”
and “evil” similar to Gen 50:20 appears in the momentous passage of Jer 29:11
where שָׁלוֹם and רָעָה are set side by side).
Obviously, this category of meaning of חשׁב is oriented to the future, to a future act with is
pictured and planned in the person’s mind. It is about a creative-rational
development of (predominately negative) thoughts that arise and take shape on
the basis of a particular motive or incident and are supposed to affect the
other decisively (in a primarily negative way), once put into action. Hence, in
this sense, the act of חשׁב marks the starting point of a future act, and the course of action
points ahead. This is the syntactical rule for this pattern of the verb’s
usage: The verb is accompanied by but one object, which identifies the content
of the plan (mostly רָעָה). Therefore, Gen 50:20 provides only little help in the search for the
meaning of our verb in Gen 15:6, and we have to appeal to other passages that
are closer to Gen 15:6 regarding syntax and context. (Benjamin Schliesser, Abraham’s
Faith in Romans 4: Paul’s Concept of Faith in Light of the History of Reception
of Genesis 15:6 [Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.
Reihe 224; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007], 118-20, comment in square bracket
added for clarification)