Genesis 15:11-21

11 Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off.

12 As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.

13 God said to Abram, "Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they'll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years.

14 Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder.

15 But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death.

16 Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."

17 When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses.

18 That's when God made a covenant with Abram: "I'm giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria -

19 the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim,

21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

Genesis 15:11-21 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.