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Genesis 15

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God's Covenant with Abram 1–6

1
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. ​
2
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? ​
3
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. ​
4
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. ​
5
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. ​
6
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. ​

The Covenant Ritual is Prepared 7–11

7
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. ​
8
And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? ​
9
And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10
And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. ​
11
And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

Prophecy of Affliction and Deliverance 12–21

12
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. ​
13
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; ​
14
And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. ​
17
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. ​
18
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: ​
19
The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21
And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 15

Verse 1

I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward — The first 'Fear not', the first 'vision' and the first 'shield' (magen) in the Bible, and the first 'the word of the LORD came'. It follows Abram's refusal of Sodom's goods (Gen 14:23). 'Reward' is sakar, wages; here the reward is the LORD himself. Ps 84:11: 'the LORD God is a sun and shield'.

Verse 2

Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me — The first 'Lord GOD' in the Bible, repeated in v.8. 'Childless' (ariri) is also used in Lev 20:20 and Jer 22:30. 'Steward of my house' is literally the son of possession (ben-meshek): the man who would hold the estate, Eliezer of Damascus.

Verse 3

one born in my house is mine heir — Abram names the household servant as the one who would inherit. The root yarash, to possess, runs through vv.3–8: 'heir' in vv.3–4, 'inherit' in vv.7–8. The complaint about the seed (v.3) and the question about the land (v.8) turn on the same word.

Verse 4

he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels — The word of the LORD comes a second time and names the heir as a son of Abram's own body. 'Bowels' (me'im) is the inward parts, the same phrase used of Solomon in 2 Sam 7:12, 'which shall proceed out of thy bowels'. Isaac is promised by name in Gen 17:19.

Verse 5

tell the stars — 'Tell' and 'number' are one Hebrew verb, saphar, to count. Ps 147:4 says of the LORD, 'He telleth the number of the stars'. The promise of Gen 13:16 was dust; here it is stars, and Paul quotes 'So shall thy seed be' in Rom 4:18, and Heb 11:12 describes the multitude 'as the stars of the sky'.

Verse 6

he counted it to him for righteousness — The first 'believed' (aman, to trust, to be firm) and the first 'righteousness' (tsedaqah) in the Bible. Chashab, 'counted', is to reckon to an account. Paul builds on the verse in Rom 4:3 and Gal 3:6, and James quotes it in Jas 2:23.

Verse 7

I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees — The LORD speaks of what he has already done, as he does at Sinai: 'I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt' (Ex 20:2). Neh 9:7 repeats it: 'broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees'. The land is 'to inherit it' (yarash).

Verse 8

whereby shall I know — The question follows the word of v.6 and the promise of v.7. The LORD answers it with a covenant (vv.9–18), not a rebuke. 'Inherit it' is the root yarash of 'heir' in vv.3–4, so the land is asked for in the word that had named the son.

Verse 10

divided them in the midst — Bathar, to cut in pieces, is used of the heifer, goat and ram (v.9) but 'the birds divided he not'. In v.18 'made a covenant' is literally 'cut' (karath). Jer 34:18 shows the practice: those who 'cut the calf in twain' and 'passed between the parts thereof'.

Verse 12

a deep sleep fell upon Abram — Tardemah, deep sleep, occurs first at Gen 2:21, when the LORD God 'caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam', and next here. 'Fell' (naphal) is used twice, of the sleep and of 'an horror of great darkness'. The LORD's word about the descendants (vv.13–16) comes to him in this state.

Verse 13

a stranger in a land that is not theirs — Ger is a sojourner without land of his own. Stephen quotes the 'four hundred years' (Acts 7:6), and Ex 12:40–41 gives 'four hundred and thirty years' for the sojourning. 'Afflict' (anah) is the verb of Ex 1:11, where Egypt set taskmasters 'to afflict them with their burdens'.

Verse 16

the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full — The return waits until the 'fourth generation', and the delay is tied to the Amorites, whose iniquity is not yet shalem, complete. The same reason is given later: 'for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee' (Deut 9:5), and Lev 18:25, 'the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants'.

Verse 17

a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces — The deep sleep of v.12 fell as the sun went down; the text names only the furnace and the lamp (lappid, a torch of fire) as passing between the pieces. In Jer 34:18–19 those who 'passed between the parts of the calf' are the parties bound by the covenant.

Verse 18

the LORD made a covenant with Abram — Literally he 'cut' one (karath), as in v.10. The grant is stated as done: 'have I given' is in the perfect form. The bounds run 'from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates'; ten peoples are named in vv.19–21. Josh 1:4 and 1 Kgs 4:21 describe the same reach.