Genesis 15

Genesis 15

Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of Yahveh came to Abram in a vision, and this is what he said: “Do not fear the future, Abram, I am your present shield; your future wages will be very great.”

Genesis 15:2 But Abram said, “O Lord Yahveh, what will you give me, because I stay childless, and the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?”

Genesis 15:3 And Abram said, “Notice, you have given me no seed, and only a member of my household staff will be my heir.”

Genesis 15:4 And notice, the word of Yahveh came to him, and this is what he said: “This man will not be your heir; your very own son will be your heir.”

Genesis 15:5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward the sky, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So will your seed be.”

Genesis 15:6 And he believed Yahveh, and Yahveh counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:7 And he said to him, “I am Yahveh who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Genesis 15:8 But he said, “O Lord Yahveh, how am I to know that I will possess it?”

Genesis 15:9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Genesis 15:10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.

Genesis 15:11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Genesis 15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And notice, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

Genesis 15:13 Then Yahveh said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be foreign guests in a land that is not theirs and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years.

Genesis 15:14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they are enslaved in, and after that they will come out with great property.

Genesis 15:15 As for yourself, you will go to where your fathers are in peace; you will be buried having a good grey head.

Genesis 15:16 And they will come back here in the fourth generation, because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Genesis 15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, notice, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

Genesis 15:18 On that day Yahveh made a covenant with Abram, and this is what he said, “To your seed I promise this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

Genesis 15:19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

Genesis 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

Genesis 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Genesis 15 quotes:

“While the covenant of Genesis 15 focuses primarily on nationhood (land and descendants), the covenant in Genesis 17 highlights Abraham’s special status as regards the nations. Unfortunately, biblical scholars have tended to blur the differences between these two covenants, some viewing them as parallel accounts of the same covenant, preserved in different sources.”

Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land : An Introduction to the Pentateuch. 2nd ed., Paternoster Press ; Baker Academic, 2002. p. 86.

“Genesis 15 also includes the first Abrahamic covenant ceremony. “For the first time in the history of religions, God becomes the contracting party, promising a national territory to a people yet unborn. This pledge constitutes the main historic title of the Jewish people to its land, a title that is unconditional and irrevocable, secured by a divine covenant whose validity transcends space and time.” The promises made in previous chapters are here, in chapter 15, solidified. Literarily, the chapter as a whole constitutes “the ‘great reward’ promised to the patriarch.””

Tracy, Elizabeth B. See Me! Hear Me! : Divine. Peeters, 2015. p. 71.

“Since the reckoning in Genesis 15 and the obedient act of Abraham in Genesis 22 have long been read together, it is in the Jewish biblical tradition to see obedience as the ground of acceptance by God.”

Yeung, Maureen W. Faith in Jesus and Paul: A Comparison with Special Reference to “faith That Can Remove Mountains” and ’Your Faith Has Healed. Mohr Siebeck, 2002. p. 248.