“Credited to him as righteousness”
Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A pious note that Abram trusted God and was a good man.
The cultural key
The key word is a bookkeeping term: chashab, to 'reckon' or 'credit' to an account. Righteousness is not earned by Abram's record but entered onto his account in response to trust. Crucially, this is said before Abram is circumcised (chapter 17) and centuries before the Law at Sinai, which is exactly the point Paul presses: the verdict of 'righteous' came by faith alone, apart from law and ritual. James cites the same verse to insist that such faith proves itself in action.
Recovered meaning
The founding statement of faith in the Bible is framed as an accounting entry: trust, and righteousness is credited to your account. It grounds the New Testament's claim that a person is set right with God by faith, not by pedigree or performance.