A primitive root meaning to cut apart, divide, cleave. Used specifically in Genesis 15:10 to describe the act of cutting animals in two as part of a covenant-cutting ceremony. The cognate noun beter (H1335) means 'piece' or 'half.' This technical term belongs to the vocabulary of ancient covenant ratification.
The covenant-cutting ritual described in Genesis 15 is one of the most theologically profound events in all of Scripture. God commands Abraham to take animals and bātar — cut them in two — and lay the pieces opposite each other. This was the ancient Near Eastern practice of berît (covenant), where parties would walk between the pieces, essentially swearing: 'May I be cut in two like these animals if I break this covenant.' What is stunning is that in Genesis 15:17, only God (represented by the smoking firepot and blazing torch) passes between the pieces. Abraham falls into a deep sleep. God alone takes the oath. This is a unilateral, unconditional covenant — God binds Himself, not Abraham. This anticipates the New Covenant sealed in Christ's own body, broken and given for us. The cutting of covenant in Genesis 15 echoes in the breaking of bread at the Last Supper and the tearing of the temple veil at Calvary.