Genesis 15:3

3 And Abram said, "Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, {a member of my household} [is] {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 Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying: "Do not be afraid, Abram; I [am] your shield, [and] your reward [shall be] very great."

2 Then Abram said, "O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? {I continue to be} childless, and {my heir} is Eliezer of Damascus."

3 And Abram said, "Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, {a member of my household} [is] {my heir}."

4 And behold, the word of Yahweh [came] to him saying, "This [person] will not {be your heir}, but {your own son will be your heir}."

5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "a son of my house"
• [b]. Literally "inheriting me"