Genesis 15:1-17

The LORD’s Covenant With Abram

1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,^[a]your very great reward.^[b] ”

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”

5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”

6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

8 But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

9 So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half.

11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

13 Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

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Genesis 15:1-17 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 38

1. 1 Samuel 15:10; 2 Samuel 7:4; 1 Kings 6:11; 1 Kings 12:22; Jeremiah 1:13; Ezekiel 3:16; Daniel 10:1
2. Genesis 46:2; Numbers 12:6; Numbers 24:4; Ruth 1:20; Job 33:15
3. Genesis 21:17; Genesis 26:24; Genesis 46:3; Exodus 14:13; Exodus 20:20; 2 Kings 6:16; 2 Chronicles 20:15,17; Psalms 27:1; Isaiah 7:4; Isaiah 41:10,13-14; Isaiah 43:1,5; Jeremiah 1:8; Haggai 2:5
4. Deuteronomy 33:29; 2 Samuel 22:3,31; Psalms 3:3; Psalms 5:12; Psalms 18:2; Psalms 28:7; Psalms 33:20; Psalms 84:11; Psalms 119:114; Psalms 144:2; Proverbs 2:7; Proverbs 30:5
5. Psalms 18:20; Psalms 37:25; Psalms 58:11; Isaiah 3:10
6. ver 8; Isaiah 49:22; Jeremiah 44:26; Ezekiel 5:11; Ezekiel 16:48
7. Acts 7:5
8. S Genesis 14:15
9. Genesis 24:2,34
10. S Genesis 12:5
11. Galatians 4:28
12. Job 11:8; Job 35:5; Psalms 8:3; Psalms 147:4; Jeremiah 33:22
13. S Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17; Exodus 32:13; S Jeremiah 30:19; Romans 4:18*; Hebrews 11:12
14. Psalms 106:31; Ro 4:3*,20-24*; Galatians 3:6*; James 2:23*
15. Genesis 12:1; Exodus 20:2; Acts 7:3; Hebrews 11:8
16. S Genesis 11:28; Acts 7:4
17. S Genesis 13:17; Genesis 17:8; Genesis 28:4; Genesis 35:12; Genesis 48:4; Exodus 6:8; Deuteronomy 9:5
18. S ver 2
19. Luke 1:18
20. Deuteronomy 12:20; Deuteronomy 19:8
21. Numbers 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:3; Hosea 4:16; Amos 4:1
22. 1 Samuel 1:24
23. Leviticus 1:14; Leviticus 5:7,11; Leviticus 12:8
24. ver 17; Jeremiah 34:18
25. Leviticus 1:17; Leviticus 5:8
26. Deuteronomy 28:26; Jeremiah 7:33
27. S Genesis 2:21
28. Exodus 1:11; Exodus 3:7; Exodus 5:6,10-14,18; Exodus 6:5; Deuteronomy 5:15; Job 3:18
29. ver 16; Exodus 12:40; Numbers 20:15; Acts 7:6,17; Galatians 3:17
30. Genesis 50:24; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 6:6-8; Exodus 12:25; Numbers 10:29; Joshua 1:2; Acts 7:7*
31. Exodus 12:32-38
32. Genesis 47:30; Genesis 49:29; Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Psalms 49:19
33. Genesis 25:8; Genesis 35:29; Exodus 23:26; Deuteronomy 34:7; Joshua 14:11; Judges 8:32; 1 Chronicles 29:28; Job 5:26; Job 21:23; Job 42:17; Psalms 91:16; Proverbs 3:16; Proverbs 9:11; Isaiah 65:20
34. S ver 13; Exodus 12:40
35. Genesis 28:15; Genesis 46:4; Genesis 48:21; Genesis 50:24; Exodus 3:8,17
36. Leviticus 18:28; Joshua 13:4; Judges 10:11; 1 Kings 21:26; 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 21:11; Ezekiel 16:3
37. Judges 7:16,20; Judges 15:4,5
38. S ver 10

Footnotes 4

[a]. Or "sovereign"
[b]. Or "shield;" / "your reward will be very great"
[c]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
[d]. Or "seed"