Genesis 15

The Covenant with Abram

¹After these things the LORD’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

²Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”

³Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”

⁴Behold, the LORD’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.”

⁵The LORD brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.”

⁶He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness.

⁷He said to Abram, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸He said, “Lord GOD, how will I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹He 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.”

¹⁰He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds.

¹¹The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹²When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.

¹³He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.

¹⁴I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth;

¹⁵but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age.

¹⁶In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”

¹⁷It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

¹⁸In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

¹⁹the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Previous Genesis 14

Next Genesis 16

God appears to Abram in a vision, promising him countless descendants despite his childlessness and confirming the gift of the Promised Land. When Abram believes God's promise, it is credited to him as righteousness—a pivotal moment in biblical theology. God then establishes a formal covenant through an ancient ritual involving divided animals, prophesying Israel's future bondage in Egypt and eventual deliverance while specifying the boundaries of the land his descendants will inherit.

Context

This chapter follows Abram's victory over the kings and his encounter with Melchizedek, deepening the covenant relationship that began with God's initial call in chapter 12.

Key Themes

Outline

1-3
God's Promise and Abram's Doubt God reassures the childless Abram with promises of protection and reward, but Abram expresses concern about his lack of an heir.
4-6
The Promise of Countless Offspring God promises Abram descendants as numerous as the stars, and Abram's faith in this promise is credited as righteousness.
7-11
Covenant Preparation Ritual God promises the land and instructs Abram to prepare animals for a covenant ceremony, which Abram guards from birds of prey.
12-16
Prophetic Vision of Future Bondage In a deep sleep, Abram receives a prophecy about his descendants' 400-year enslavement and eventual deliverance with great wealth.
17-21
Divine Covenant Ceremony God passes between the divided animals as a smoking furnace and flaming torch, formally establishing the covenant and defining the land's boundaries.

The Covenant with Abram

15:1–15:21

narrative vision solemn

God makes a formal covenant with Abram, promising him descendants as numerous as the stars and the land of Canaan as an inheritance. Abram's faith is credited to him as righteousness, and God reveals the future bondage and deliverance of his descendants.

quotation_chain

Genesis 15:6's declaration that Abram's faith "was credited to him as righteousness" becomes the most quoted Old Testament verse about justification in Paul's letters.

Insight Quotation Chain

Genesis 15:6's declaration that Abram's faith "was credited to him as righteousness" becomes the most quoted Old Testament verse about justification in Paul's letters.