Genesis 15:8-18

8 But he said, “O Lord God, ¹how am I to know that I shall possess it? ”

9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. ”

10 And he brought him all these, ²cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But ³he did not cut the birds in half.

11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a ⁴deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ⁵that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and ⁶they will be afflicted for ⁷four hundred years.

14 But ⁸I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward ⁹they shall come out with great possessions.

15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; ¹⁰you shall be buried in a good old age.

16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for ¹¹the iniquity of the Amorites ¹²is 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, ¹³“To your offspring I give^[a] this land, from ¹⁴the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

Genesis 15:8-18 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. 15:8 [Judg. 6:17; 2 Kgs. 20:8; Ps. 86:17; Isa. 7:11-13; Luke 1:18]
• 2. 15:10 Jer. 34:18, 19
• 3. 15:10 Lev. 1:17
• 4. 15:12 ch. 2:21
• 5. 15:13 Acts 7:6, 7
• 6. 15:13 Ex. 1:11, 12; 3:7
• 7. 15:13 Acts 7:6; [Ex. 12:40, 41; Gal. 3:17]
• 8. 15:14 Ex. 6:6
• 9. 15:14 Ex. 12:36; Ps. 105:37
• 10. 15:15 ch. 25:8
• 11. 15:16 1 Kgs. 21:26; Amos 2:9
• 12. 15:16 [Dan. 8:23; Matt. 23:32; 1 Thess. 2:16]
• 13. 15:18 ch. 12:7; 13:15; 24:7; 26:4; Num. 34:2; Deut. 34:4; Neh. 9:8
• 14. 15:18 Ex. 23:31; Deut. 1:7; Josh. 1:4

Footnotes

• [a] 15:18 Or 'have given'