Genesis 15:9-19

9 And he said to him, Take for me an heifer in her third year, and a she-goat in her third year, and a ram in his third year, and a dove and a pigeon.

10 So he took to him all these, and divided them in the midst, and set them opposite to each other, but the birds he did not divide.

11 And birds came down upon the bodies, upon the divided parts of them, and Abram sat down by them.

12 And about sunset a trance fell upon Abram, and lo! a great gloomy terror falls upon him.

13 And it was said to Abram, Thou shalt surely know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land not their own, and they shall enslave them, and afflict them, and humble them four hundred years.

14 And the nation whomsoever they shall serve I will judge; and after this, they shall come forth hither with much property.

15 But thou shalt depart to thy fathers in peace, nourished in a good old age.

16 And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up, even until now.

17 And when the sun was about to set, there was a flame, and behold a smoking furnace and lamps of fire, which passed between these divided pieces.

18 In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates.

19 The Kenites, and the Kenezites, and the Kedmoneans,

Genesis 15:9-19 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or, drove them away. The LXX. seem to have read ??? for ???
• [b]. Lit. baggage.