Genesis 15:4-8

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^[a] 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?”

Genesis 15:4-8 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.

Cross References

• 1. Galatians 4:28
• 2. Job 11:8; Job 35:5; Psalms 8:3; Psalms 147:4; Jeremiah 33:22
• 3. S Genesis 12:2; Genesis 22:17; Exodus 32:13; S Jeremiah 30:19; Romans 4:18*; Hebrews 11:12
• 4. Psalms 106:31; Ro 4:3*,20-24*; Galatians 3:6*; James 2:23*
• 5. Genesis 12:1; Exodus 20:2; Acts 7:3; Hebrews 11:8
• 6. S Genesis 11:28; Acts 7:4
• 7. S Genesis 13:17; Genesis 17:8; Genesis 28:4; Genesis 35:12; Genesis 48:4; Exodus 6:8; Deuteronomy 9:5
• 8. S ver 2
• 9. Luke 1:18
• 10. Deuteronomy 12:20; Deuteronomy 19:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "seed"