Genesis 15:12-21

12 As the sun was going down, a ¹deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

13 Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know for certain ²that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and ³they will be afflicted for ⁴four hundred years.

14 But ⁵I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward ⁶they shall come out with great possessions.

15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; ⁷you shall be buried in a good old age.

16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for ⁸the iniquity of the Amorites ⁹is not yet complete."

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ¹⁰"To your offspring I give^[a] this land, from ¹¹the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."

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Genesis 15:12-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 15

This chapter informs us of a gracious appearance of God to Abram, and of a kind promise made unto him, Ge 15:1; of Abram's request for an heir, Ge 15:2,3; of an answer to it, that he should have one, and even a numberless seed, Ge 15:4,5; which he gave credit to, Ge 15:6; upon which he has a fresh promise of the land of Canaan, Ge 15:7; of his inheriting of which he desires a sign, and this was given him, Ge 15:8-12; and at the same time it was predicted to him how long his posterity should be afflicted in a land not theirs, and afterwards come out with great substance, Ge 15:13-16; and the grant of the land of Canaan to his seed is renewed, Ge 15:17-21.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 11

1. Genesis 2:21
2. Acts 7:6, 7
3. Exodus 1:11, 12; Exodus 3:7
4. Acts 7:6; [Exodus 12:40, 41; Galatians 3:17]
5. Exodus 6:6
6. Exodus 12:36; Psalms 105:37
7. Genesis 25:8
8. 1 Kings 21:26; Amos 2:9
9. [Daniel 8:23; Matthew 23:32; 1 Thessalonians 2:16]
10. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 24:7; Genesis 26:4; Numbers 34:2; Deuteronomy 34:4; Nehemiah 9:8
11. Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 1:7; Joshua 1:4

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or have given

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.