Genesis 15:3

3 And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir."

Genesis 15:3 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 15:3

And Abram said, behold, to me thou hast given no seed
He had bestowed many temporal blessings on him, as well as spiritual ones, having given himself in covenant, and all things in it, but he had not given him a child:

and lo, one born in my house is mine heir;
meaning either Eliezer or his son, whom he had made his heir, or intended to make him, since he had no child; or of course he would have been to, Lot his nephew having no sons; and this Eliezer descending from Aram, the youngest son of Shem, was like to be next heir, if Abram should have no child of his own, as Dr. Lightfoot observes ^F7.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Works, vol. 1. p. 695.

Genesis 15:3 In-Context

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."

2 But Abram said, "O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"

3 And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir."

4 But the word of the Lord came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir."

5 He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be."