The big picture
After rescuing Lot, his nephew, from war, Abram is back in Canaan, the land God has promised to him and his descendants. Abram is the clan leader of a large household, but he still has no child. Sarai, his wife, has not borne a son. His estate therefore appears likely to pass to Eliezer, his household steward from Damascus, a city north of Canaan. God now speaks to Abram in a vision. Two questions remain open: who will inherit after Abram dies, and how will his descendants ever possess the promised land?
In this chapter
- God Promises Abram a Son Genesis 15:1-6
The LORD tells Abram not to fear and says he is Abram's shield and great reward.
- God Foretells a Long Delay Genesis 15:7-16
God reminds Abram that he brought him from Ur of the Chaldees, Abram's former home, to give him this land.
- The Covenant Defines the Land Genesis 15:17-21
Darkness falls.
Central truth
God answers Abram's fear about an heir and the land by giving promises and binding them in a covenant.
Scripture beside the summary
Genesis · King James Version · 21Genesis 15:1-6
God Promises Abram a Son
The LORD tells Abram not to fear and says he is Abram's shield and great reward. Abram answers with the problem that troubles him. He is still childless. Eliezer of Damascus, a man in his household, seems likely to inherit everything. God says Eliezer will not be the heir. Abram will have a son from his own body. God then takes Abram outside and tells him to count the stars if he can. His future descendants will be like that great number. Abram believes the LORD. God counts that belief to him as righteousness, even though the promised son has not yet been born.
In everyday life
A landowner reviews his will with an attorney because he has no child. A trusted manager is set to inherit the estate. Then he receives firm news that a direct heir will come, so the expected future changes before the child is born. Human wills depend on law and events. Abram receives a promise from God about a son not yet conceived.
Notice
Genesis 15:6 Abram believes before a son is born or the land is his. God counts that trust as righteousness while the visible facts have not changed.
Genesis 15:1-6
King James Version1After 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.
2And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4And, 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.
5And 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.
6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:7-16
God Foretells a Long Delay
God reminds Abram that he brought him from Ur of the Chaldees, Abram's former home, to give him this land. Abram asks how he can know he will possess it. God tells him to bring several animals. Abram cuts the larger animals in half and places the pieces opposite each other. Birds of prey come down, and he drives them away. As the sun sets, Abram falls into a deep sleep and feels great fear. God says Abram's descendants will live in another land, suffer there for four hundred years, and later leave with wealth. Abram will die in peace. His descendants will return in the fourth generation, when the wrongdoing of the Amorites, a people in Canaan, has reached its full measure.
In everyday life
A farmer signs a plan to leave land to his granddaughter, but the handover cannot happen for years. A long lease must end first, and other claims still stand. The promise is real even though possession is delayed. Genesis gives a delay across generations and ties it to suffering and divine judgment, not to a normal lease.
Notice
Genesis 15:16 God says the return waits because the Amorites' iniquity is not yet full. The timing of the land promise is tied to judgment on people already there.
Genesis 15:7-16
King James Version7And 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.
8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9And 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.
10And 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.
11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13And 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;
14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Genesis 15:17-21
The Covenant Defines the Land
Darkness falls. A smoking furnace and a burning lamp appear and pass between the divided animal pieces. Genesis does not say Abram walks between them. On that day the LORD makes a covenant with Abram. God states the land promise in formal terms, from the river of Egypt, a southern boundary, to the Euphrates, a great river to the east. Genesis then names Kenites, Hittites, Amorites and Canaanites among the peoples living across that region. Abram does not take over all this land at once. God has already said that his descendants will wait through many years before they return and receive it.
In everyday life
A homeowner signs a deed that names a future heir and states the exact property involved. The heir watches the legal act and now has a clear record of what was promised. The document gives shape to a future transfer. Genesis uses a covenant rite with animal pieces and signs from God, not a modern deed signed by two people.
Notice
Genesis 15:17 The smoking furnace and burning lamp pass between the pieces, while Abram is not said to do so. The covenant sign moves as Abram watches.
Genesis 15:17-21
King James Version17And 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.
18In 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:
19The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Genesis 15:1 begins with “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.”
Where the chapter turns
Genesis 15:8 forms a natural hinge: “And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?”
The final note
Genesis 15:21 leaves the reader with “And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Abram, LORD, seed, years, heir, land help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- bowels
- The inner body; here it means Abram's own physical offspring.
- tell
- Count, as in trying to number the stars.
- heifer
- A young female cow that has not yet borne a calf.
- surety
- Certainty; to know of a surety means to know for certain.
- covenant
- A binding pledged relationship or agreement sealed by solemn promises.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
