Notes · Gen 15:1–21

The Vision, the Covenant, and the Land Grant

23 approved team notes on Gen 15:1–21.

Read Gen 15:1–21

Gen 15:1

exegeticalGen 15:1–21

New Testament reading

SaysRom 4:3, Gal 3:6, and Jas 2:23 are the three New Testament passages treated as cross-references in this chapter, each from the BSB; no Greek form is claimed.
ImpliesThe later texts take 15:6 as Scripture and treat Abram’s believing as reckoned righteousness; that reading sits with the held view of this chapter and does not take up the Romans 4 notes again.
UncertainActs 7:5–7 and Heb 11:8–12 stay as lookup and are not opened here.

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exegeticalGen 15:1–21

Overview of Genesis 15

SaysGenesis 15 has three sections: 15:1–6, the vision, the promised heir, and the reckoning; 15:7–11, the land, the animals, and the halves; and 15:12–21, the sojourn, the pieces, and the land grant.
ImpliesThe persons and the event are real; God promises Abram an heir from his body and offspring like the stars; Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned that believing as righteousness; the Lord cuts a covenant with Abram and promises the land to his descendants.
UncertainThe form of the revelation, the syntax of the reward, the Eliezer phrase, the four hundred years and the fourth generation, the meaning of the rite, and the identity of the river of Egypt remain open; each is set out on its grounds, and no verdict is given here.

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exegeticalGen 15:1–6

The vision and Abram’s faith

SaysAfter the events of chapter 14 the word of the Lord comes to Abram in a vision, with the pledge of a shield and a very great reward; Abram names the heir of his house; the Lord promises a son from his own body and offspring like the stars; Abram believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness; the Hebrew of 15:6 is active, and BSB and the Greek are passive.
ImpliesThe persons are real; God promises an heir from Abram’s body and offspring like the stars; Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned that believing as righteousness.
UncertainThe open questions of 15:1–6, including the form of the revelation, the syntax of the reward, and the Eliezer phrase, are taken up in the notes that follow.

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exegeticalGen 15:1

Shield and reward

SaysThe word of the Lord comes after these events, in a vision, with the pledge “I am your shield, your very great reward”; BSB apposes the reward to “I am,” and the Hebrew may be read as two clauses or as apposition.
ImpliesThe Lord answers Abram’s fear with a pledge in his own first person.
UncertainKeil applies the vision to the whole chapter; Jubilees reads it as a dream; Driver calls the form a common prophetic intuition; the syntax of 15:1b is open and both readings are set out; the Targum and Josephus give early readings of fear and reward; no ruling is given.

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historicalGen 15:1–21

The cut-animal rite and the river of Egypt: background in Genesis 15

SaysGen 15:10, 17–18: Abram cut the animals in two and laid the halves opposite each other; a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces; that day the Lord cut a covenant with Abram, giving his offspring the land from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates.
UncertainHow far the rite of Gen 15 matches the rite of Jer 34:18 or other ancient covenant custom, and whether the river of Egypt is the Nile or a smaller stream, are open; no ancient Near Eastern text is cited and no dependence is claimed.

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historicalGen 15:1–6

The vision, the promised heir, and the reckoning, in early reading

SaysGen 15:1–6: the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, promising to be his shield and very great reward; Abram named his heir; the Lord promised an heir from his own body; Abram believed the Lord, and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.
ImpliesBecause the Lord promises an heir from Abram’s own body (15:4) and 15:6 says that Abram believed the Lord before the reckoning, the narrative presents Abram’s believing as his response to the Lord’s promise.
UncertainThe sense of the phrase about Abram’s heir in 15:2 is open; the early readings do not fix the meaning.

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languageGen 15:1–6

LXX Gen 15:1–6: “I shield you,” the son of Masek, and the passive “was reckoned”

Says15:1 has the verb ὑπερασπίζω for the noun מָגֵן and a separate clause for the reward.
Says15:2 has υἱὸς Μάσεκ, treating מֶשֶׁק as a name.
Says15:6 has the passive ἐλογίσθη where וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ is active.
SaysCodex Alexandrinus is wanting from 15:1 to 15:6.
UncertainNo lean is taken on מֶשֶׁק, the vision, or the reading of 15:6.

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languageGen 15:1

“I am a shield to you”: the vision and the reward

Saysאַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה is “after these things”; BSB has “After these events.” Then הָיָה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם, “the word of the Lord came to Abram,” and בַּמַּחֲזֶה, “in the vision.” The lexicon gives makhazeh as “n.[m.] vision”; the Greek has “ἐν ὁράματι.”
Saysאַל־תִּירָא אַבְרָם is “do not fear, Abram.” אָנֹכִי מָגֵן לָךְ is “I am a shield to you,” with the noun magen. שְׂכָרְךָ הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד is “your reward is very great”: harbeh is a Hiphil infinitive used as an adverb. BSB has “I am your shield, your very great reward,” setting the reward beside “I.” The Greek has a verb, “ἐγὼ ὑπερασπίζω σου” (“I shield you”), and a separate clause, “ὁ μισθός σου πολὺς ἔσται σφόδρα” (“your reward will be very great”).
ImpliesThe Lord answers Abram’s fear with a pledge in his own first person: “I” am the shield, so the protection rests on the speaker himself.
UncertainThe Hebrew can be read as two clauses (“I am your shield; your reward is very great”) or with the reward in apposition to “I” (“I am … your very great reward”). No lean is taken here.

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Gen 15:2

exegeticalGen 15:2–4

Eliezer and the promised heir

SaysAbram, still childless, names the heir of his house; the Hebrew has Damascus then Eliezer, and BSB has Eliezer of Damascus; verse 3 restates the complaint; the Lord promises an heir from Abram’s own body and offspring like the stars.
ImpliesThe persons are real; God promises Abram an heir from his body; verse 3 restates verse 2 in plainer words.
UncertainThe sense of the Eliezer phrase is not settled; Driver and Skinner, the Targum, and Jubilees are attributed, and no ruling is given on the crux; Driver’s parallel-narrative remark is pointed once to the two-accounts note.

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languageGen 15:2–3

Childless, and “the son of the mesheq of my house”

Saysאֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה is “Lord YHWH”: the name is pointed with the vowels of elohim, so after adonai it is read “God”; BSB has “O Lord GOD” and the Greek “Δέσποτα Κύριε.” מַה־תִּתֶּן־לִי is “what will you give me,” and וְאָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ עֲרִירִי is “while I am going childless.”
Saysוּבֶן־מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי הוּא דַּמֶּשֶׂק אֱלִיעֶזֶר reads word for word “and the son of the mesheq of my house, he is Damascus Eliezer.” The Hebrew has Damascus first and Eliezer second; BSB reverses them, “Eliezer of Damascus.” Mesheq occurs only here and sounds like dammeseq, “Damascus.” The Greek takes it as a name, “ὁ δὲ υἱὸς Μάσεκ.”
SaysIn 15:3 הֵן לִי לֹא נָתַתָּה זָרַע is “behold, to me you have given no seed,” and וְהִנֵּה בֶן־בֵּיתִי יוֹרֵשׁ אֹתִי is “and behold, a son of my house is going to inherit me,” with the participle of yarash; BSB has “a servant in my household will be my heir.”
ImpliesVerse 3 restates verse 2 in plainer words, so the hard phrase of verse 2 names the household member who would inherit if Abram died without a son.
UncertainThe exact sense of mesheq and the syntax of “Damascus Eliezer” are not settled; the phrase may mean “possession” or be shaped to echo the city’s name. No lean is taken here.

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Gen 15:4

languageGen 15:4–6

The heir, the stars and “he reckoned it”

Saysוְהִנֵּה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר is “and behold, the word of the Lord came to him.” לֹא יִירָשְׁךָ זֶה is “this one shall not inherit you,” but אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִמֵּעֶיךָ, “one who will come out from your inward parts”; BSB has “one who comes from your own body.”
SaysIn 15:5 וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה is “and he brought him outside.” הַבֶּט־נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה is “look toward the heavens,” and וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים is “and count the stars,” the lexicon’s “1. count things.” The promise is כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ, “so shall your seed be.”
SaysIn 15:6 וְהֶאֱמִן בַּיהוָה is a waw with a Hiphil perfect, not the usual narrative form, and be- marks the one trusted: the lexicon has “of person, trust in, believe in.” BSB supplies “Abram.” וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה is active, “and he reckoned it to him, righteousness,” with a feminine “it” and no preposition before tsedaqah. BSB has the passive “it was credited to him as righteousness”; so does the Greek, “καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην.”
ImpliesAbram’s believing answers the word just spoken in 15:5, and the active verb has the Lord, who has been speaking, as its nearest subject. The later use of the verse is treated in the note on Rom 4:3.

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Gen 15:6

exegeticalGen 15:6

Believed and reckoned as righteousness

SaysAbram believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness; BSB supplies Abram; the Hebrew of the reckoning is active, and BSB and the Greek are passive.
ImpliesThe Lord has been the speaker and is the nearest subject of the active verb: that is a grammatical observation, and it matches the held view that the Lord reckoned Abram’s believing as righteousness.
UncertainCalvin, the Targum, and Jubilees are attributed readings of the verse; the later use in Romans 4, Galatians 3, and James 2 is pointed to and not taken up again here.

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Gen 15:7

exegeticalGen 15:7–11

The sign and the cut animals

SaysThe Lord who brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans promises the land; Abram asks how he will know; the Lord commands a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, with a turtledove and a young pigeon; Abram splits the first three and does not cut the birds; the birds of prey descend, and Abram drives them away, with “them” before Abram in the Hebrew.
ImpliesThe question comes after Abram has believed; the Lord answers it with the rite of 15:9–21; the records that already point to 15:7 from 11:31 and 12:1 are not reversed, and the land promise of chapters 12 and 13 is pointed to, not taken up again.
UncertainMeshullash may mean three years old or threefold; the Greek “sat down with them” is a box line, and no Hebrew is reconstructed from it; the meaning of the rite is taken up at 15:17.

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historicalGen 15:7–17

The animals, the birds, and the fire, in early reading

SaysGen 15:9–17: the Lord told Abram to bring a three-year-old heifer, goat and ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon; Abram cut the animals but not the birds, drove away the birds of prey, and after sunset a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces.
ImpliesBecause Abram prepares the animals at the Lord’s command (15:9–10) but only the firepot and torch pass between the pieces (15:17), the narrative presents the Lord as the one who acts in the rite.
UncertainWhether the rite is a sacrifice, and what the birds and the fire signify, are open; the early readings do not fix the meaning.

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languageGen 15:7–11

LXX Gen 15:7–11: three-year-olds, the halves, and Abram “sat down with them”

Says15:7 has ἐκ χώρας Χαλδαίων for מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים.
Says15:9 reads מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת as “three years old.”
Says15:10 has the plural τὰ δὲ ὄρνεα for הַצִפֹּר.
Says15:11 has συνεκάθισεν αὐτοῖς, “sat down with them,” for וַיַּשֵּׁב אֹתָם.
UncertainNo lean is taken on the reason for συνεκάθισεν or on the animals.

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languageGen 15:7–8

“I am the Lord who brought you out” and “How shall I know?”

Saysאֲנִי יְהוָה is “I am the Lord,” and אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים is “who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans,” with the Hiphil of the verb used in 15:5 (“he brought him outside”). The purpose is לָתֶת לְךָ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת לְרִשְׁתָּהּ, “to give you this land to possess it.” The Greek has “ἐκ χώρας Χαλδαίων” (“from the land of the Chaldeans”), with no word for Ur.
SaysIn 15:8 Abram again says אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה, and asks בַּמָּה אֵדַע כִּי אִירָשֶׁנָּה, “by what shall I know that I will possess it?” The verb yarash links the heir and the land: it stands in 15:3, twice in 15:4, and in 15:7 and 15:8.
ImpliesThe question comes after Abram has believed (15:6). It asks how he will know, and the Lord answers with the rite of 15:9–21.

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Gen 15:9

languageGen 15:9–11

Three-year-old animals, halves and birds of prey

Saysקְחָה לִי is “take for me.” The heifer, goat and ram are each meshullash, a Pual participle from “three”: עֶגְלָה מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת. It can mean “three years old” or “threefold”; BSB has “each three years old,” and the Greek “δάμαλιν τριετίζουσαν” takes it as age. The birds are וְתֹר (“turtle-dove (onomatop.)”) and וְגוֹזָל (“young of birds”).
SaysIn 15:10 וַיְבַתֵּר אֹתָם בַּתָּוֶךְ is “and he cut them in two in the middle” (“vb. cut in two”). וַיִּתֵּן אִישׁ־בִּתְרוֹ לִקְרַאת רֵעֵהוּ is “and he set each its half to meet its fellow.” וְאֶת־הַצִפֹּר לֹא בָתָר is “but the bird he did not cut,” a collective singular (“less oft. coll.”); BSB has “The birds.”
SaysIn 15:11 וַיֵּרֶד הָעַיִט עַל־הַפְּגָרִים is “and the bird of prey came down on the carcasses” (“bird(s) of prey (from scream)”). וַיַּשֵּׁב אֹתָם אַבְרָם is “and he drove them away, Abram,” with “them” before Abram; BSB has “Abram drove them away.” The lexicon lists the verb under “vb. blow.” The Greek has “καὶ συνεκάθισεν αὐτοῖς Ἀβράμ” (“and Abram sat down with them”).

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Gen 15:12

exegeticalGen 15:12–16

The sojourn and the fourth generation

SaysAs the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep and was overwhelmed by great terror and darkness; the Lord says that his descendants will be strangers in a land not theirs, enslaved and mistreated four hundred years, and that in the fourth generation they will return; BSB supplies “your descendants” at 15:16; the verbal link with Exod 12:40 is pointed to.
ImpliesThe words are given as the Lord’s, in a deep sleep that falls on Abram; the persons are real.
UncertainCalvin and Augustine read the four hundred years as the period in the course of which the sojourn and oppression fall; Keil takes 400 as a round number for the 430 years spent in Egypt; Josephus places the affliction in Egypt for four hundred years, and Keil also refers the words to the sojourn in Egypt; on the fourth generation, Skinner names Levi, Kohath, Amram, Aaron or Moses, and Driver is quoted as printed on four generations from Joseph to Moses; those views are attributed, and no ruling is given; a long span for dor is pointed to the language note.

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historicalGen 15:12–21

The sojourn, the fourth generation, and the land grant, in early reading

SaysGen 15:12–21: Abram fell into a deep sleep; the Lord foretold that his offspring would be sojourners in a land not theirs, enslaved and afflicted four hundred years, and would return in the fourth generation; he gave the land to the Euphrates, naming its peoples.
UncertainHow the four hundred years and the fourth generation are to be reckoned is open; the early readings do not fix the meaning.

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languageGen 15:12–16

Deep sleep, four hundred years and the fourth generation

Saysוַיְהִי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לָבוֹא is “and the sun was about to set.” וְתַרְדֵּמָה נָפְלָה עַל־אַבְרָם is “and a deep sleep fell on Abram,” the tardemah of 2:21; the Greek has “ἔκστασις.” וְהִנֵּה אֵימָה חֲשֵׁכָה גְדֹלָה נֹפֶלֶת עָלָיו is “and behold, terror, a great darkness, falling on him.”
SaysIn 15:13 יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע (“knowing you shall know”) uses the infinitive for emphasis. כִּי־גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם is “that a sojourner your seed will be in a land not theirs”; then וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם, “and they will serve them, and they will afflict them,” and last אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה, “four hundred years.” BSB has the passive “they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.” In 15:15 תִּקָּבֵר בְּשֵׂיבָה טוֹבָה is “you will be buried in a good old age.”
SaysIn 15:16 וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה is “and a fourth generation will return here”; BSB supplies “your descendants,” and the Greek has “τετάρτῃ δὲ γενεᾷ.” The Samaritan text in von Gall’s edition has ודור הרביעי ישוב הנה, with the article and a singular verb. כִּי לֹא־שָׁלֵם עֲוֺן הָאֱמֹרִי is “for the iniquity of the Amorite is not complete.”
UncertainKeil writes that “The calculations are made here on the basis of a hundred years to a generation,” and Driver, if 15:13 and 15:16 have one writer, takes a generation “at 100 years.” Charles, as editor, notes: “A generation was one hundred years.” No lean is taken here.

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languageGen 15:12–21

LXX Gen 15:12–21: “nourished” in old age, a flame, and eleven peoples

Says15:13 has three verbs of oppression for two in וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם.
Says15:15 has τραφεὶς, “nourished,” where the MT has תִּקָּבֵר, “you will be buried.”
Says15:17 has φλὸξ ἐγένετο where the MT has darkness.
Says15:21 adds τοὺς Εὐαίους: eleven peoples for ten.
SaysCodex Alexandrinus is wanting from 15:16 to 15:20.
UncertainNo lean is taken on the signs, the years, or the borders.

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Gen 15:17

exegeticalGen 15:17–21

The covenant and the land

SaysA smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves; on that day the Lord cuts a covenant with Abram, giving the land from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates, with the peoples of 15:19–21.
ImpliesThe Lord cuts the covenant, and the land is promised to Abram’s descendants; the grant continues the land promise of 13:14–17, which is pointed to and not taken up again.
UncertainSkinner and Driver read the rite as self-maledictory, with the Lord alone passing; Keil holds that there is no sure ground in Jeremiah 34 for that reading of the custom, though God alone goes through the pieces; those views are attributed, and no ruling is given; the custom in general and the identity of the river are summarized in the commentary; no ancient Near Eastern text is cited, and no dependence is claimed.

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languageGen 15:17–21

The firepot and torch, the cut covenant and the borders

Saysוַיְהִי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בָּאָה וַעֲלָטָה הָיָה is “and the sun had gone, and thick darkness came” (“n.f. thick darkness”); the Greek has “φλὸξ ἐγένετο” (“a flame came”). וְהִנֵּה תַנּוּר עָשָׁן וְלַפִּיד אֵשׁ is “and behold, an oven of smoke and a torch of fire” (BSB “a smoking firepot and a flaming torch”), אֲשֶׁר עָבַר בֵּין הַגְּזָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, “which passed between these pieces,” with a singular verb.
SaysIn 15:18 בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כָּרַת יְהוָה אֶת־אַבְרָם בְּרִית is “on that day the Lord cut with Abram a covenant”; the Greek has “ἐκεῖ” (“there”) for “on that day.” לְזַרְעֲךָ נָתַתִּי is “to your seed I have given,” a perfect. The land runs מִנְּהַר מִצְרַיִם עַד־הַנָּהָר הַגָּדֹל נְהַר־פְּרָת, “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.” The lexicon takes the first river as “i.e., si vera l., the Nile” and proposes reading “brook” (nakhal) of Egypt.
Says15:19–21 lists ten peoples, each with the article, from הַקֵּינִי to הַיְבוּסִי, including הַקַּדְמֹנִי (“(Easterners)”) and הָרְפָאִים (“n.pr.gent. old race of giants”). The Greek adds “καὶ τοὺς Εὐαίους” (“and the Hivites”), and the Samaritan text in von Gall’s edition has ואת החוי.
ImpliesThe Lord cuts the covenant, and the grant is stated in the perfect, as already given to Abram’s seed.
UncertainWhich stream “the river of Egypt” names is not settled by the verse. No lean is taken here.

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