Genesis 15
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.
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.
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.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Genesis 15.
What does it mean to “cut” a covenant?
Biblical Hebrew can describe covenant-making with the idiom “cut a covenant.” Genesis 15 makes that language unusually concrete through divided animals and a passage between the pieces; ancient Near Eastern oath rituals provide useful comparative context without making the scenes identical.
What does “counted it to him for righteousness” mean in this chapter?
Genesis 15:6 has had an enormous later interpretive history. A disciplined starting point is the Hebrew grammar, the immediate promise of descendants, and how the terms “believe/trust” and “righteousness” function elsewhere before moving to later theological uses.
How do the 400 years and “fourth generation” relate?
The chapter uses both a span of four hundred years and a return in the fourth generation. Scholars discuss how these forms of time-reckoning relate, and later biblical chronologies add additional numbers, so the figures should not be harmonized silently.
Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
- Covenant in the Hebrew BibleBible Odyssey
Directly relevant to Genesis 15; explains covenant as a major Hebrew Bible concept, including Abraham, land, descendants, and divine promise.
Maps & Timeline1
- Map of CanaanWorld History Encyclopedia
Actual map resource for the land promise in Genesis 15, helping readers visualize Canaan as the promised land setting.
Language & Literature1
- Strong's Hebrew: 1285. Berith — CovenantBible Hub
Focused word study on berith, the Hebrew word for covenant; useful for Genesis 15 because the chapter includes the covenant-making ceremony and the idiom often described as “cutting” a covenant.
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