Genesis 15:8

8 And he said, "O Yahweh God, how shall I know [that] I will possess it?"

Genesis 15:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 15:8

And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall
inherit it?
] Not as questioning or doubting whether he should or not; but this he asked for the further confirmation of his faith in the promise, and for the sake of his posterity, that they might more easily and strongly believe that they should inherit the land given and promised to them; nor is it culpable to ask a sign of God with such a view; good men have done it, as Gideon, ( Judges 6:36-40 ) , and Hezekiah, ( 2 Kings 20:8-11 ) , without being blamed for it; yea, Ahaz is blamed for not asking one, ( Isaiah 7:10-13 ) .

Genesis 15:8 In-Context

6 And he believed in Yahweh, and he reckoned it to him [as] righteousness.
7 And he said to him, "I [am] Yahweh, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give this land to you, to possess it."
8 And he said, "O Yahweh God, how shall I know [that] I will possess it?"
9 And he said to him, "Take for me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove and a young pigeon."
10 And he took for him all these and cut them in pieces down the middle. And he put each piece opposite {the other}, but the birds he did not cut.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.