36 | Genesis 15:8
brought you out of Ur of the Chal de ans to give you this land to take pos ses sion of it.”
8
But Abram said,“ Sov er eign Lord, how can I know that I will gain pos ses sion of it?”
9
So the Lord said to him,“ Bring me a heif er, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pi geon.”
10
Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and ar ranged the halves op po site each oth er; the birds, how ev er, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the car cass es, but Abram drove them away.
12
As the sun was set ting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dread ful dark ness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him,“ Know for cer tain that for four hun dred years your descen dants will be strang ers in a coun try not their own and that they will be en slaved and mis treat ed there. 14 But I will pun ish the na tion they serve as slaves, and af ter ward they will come out with great pos ses sions. 15 You, how ev er, will go to your an ces tors in peace and be bur ied at a good old age.
16
In the fourth gen er a tion your de scen dants will come back here, for the sin of the Am o rites has not yet reached its full mea sure.”
17
When the sun had set and dark ness had fall en, a smok ing fire pot with a blaz ing torch ap peared and passed be tween the piec es. 18 On that day the Lord made a cov enant with Abram and said,“ To your de scen dants I give this land, from the Wadi a of Egypt to the great riv er, the Eu phra tes— 19 the land of the Ke nites, Ken iz zites, Kad mon ites, 20 Hittites, Per iz zites, Reph a ites, 21 Am o rites, Ca naanites, Gir ga shites and Jeb u sites.”
Hagar and Ishmael
Now Sa rai, Abram’ s wife, had borne him
16 no chil dren. But she had an Egyp tian slave named Ha gar; 2 so she said to Abram,“ The Lord has kept me from hav ing chil dren. Go, sleep with my slave; per haps I can build a fam i ly through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sa rai said. 3 So af ter a
18 Or river
15:8 how can I know This is not an expression of doubt that would undermine Abram’ s statement of faith in Ge 15:6. Yahweh now offers Abram land— such transactions in the ancient Near East required a covenant ceremony( compare ch. 23). Abram is asking for this ceremony.
15:9 – 21 Yahweh’ s response to Abram is a covenant ceremony that closely follows the pattern of ancient Near Eastern land grant treaties. It is unclear whether the covenant relationship with Abram begins here or in 12:1 – 3( see v. 18; note on 12:2). The covenant of 15:9 – 21 is unilateral( one-sided), but when the sign of the covenant( circumcision) is given later, the covenant relationship becomes two-sided— it includes obligations for Abram( 17:1 – 2,10 – 14).
15:10 cut them in two The animals are cut in half, and the halves are separated. The most common expression for making a covenant in the OT uses the Hebrew word karath( meaning“ to cut”). This is because covenants usually involved literally cutting animals. This type of covenant practice was common in the ancient Near East. Ordinarily, those entering into a covenant would walk through the halved carcasses— indicating that they should end up like the animals if they break the agreement( see Jer 34:17 – 20). The fate of the sacrificial animals is applied onto the participants. In this case, only Yahweh— whose presence is signaled by the firepot and flaming torch— passes through( Ge 15:17). 15:13 four hundred years It is difficult to fit these 400 years into Biblical chronology. There is no information about when this sequence of years begins, and the OT does not state the number of years between Joseph’ s death and the beginning of the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt. It also appears inconsistent with the mention of the fourth generation in 15:16, and it fails to match the 430-year figure given in Ex 12:40 regarding Israel’ s time in Egypt. Most likely, the 400 years here is a round number. 15:14 will punish the nation they serve See Ex 7 – 12; note on Ex 7:3. they will come out with great possessions This is fulfilled when the Egyptians send the Hebrew people away with great wealth( Ex 12:33 – 36).
15:15 to your ancestors in peace This expression for death conveys an optimistic belief about the afterlife. While the OT at times can seem to lack this optimism, the righ teous are depicted as hoping that God would remove them from she’ ol— the Hebrew word for the grave or underworld( e. g., 1Sa 2:6; Pr 15:24; Ps 30:3; 49:15; 73:23 – 26). See the infographic“ Ancient Hebrew Conception of the Universe” on p. 5. 15:16 sin of the Amorites This phrase shows that Yahweh does not later displace those occupying the promised land because of favoritism— he makes a judgment against their abhorrent practices( see Lev 18:24 – 25; 20:23 – 24). 15:18 your descendants See note on Ge 12:7. the Wadi of Egypt The river( nahar in Hebrew) mentioned here is not the Nile, which is referred to with the Hebrew word ye’ or elsewhere in the OT( 41:1; Ex 2:3,5); rather, this river is the Wadi elʿArish.
15:19 – 21 This passage presents the most complete OT list of the preconquest inhabitants of the promised land. The Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites and Rephaim( Rephaites) appear in no other list like this. This list is also the only one to exclude the Hivites.
15:19 the Kenites This people group seems to be named after Cain( 4:1,22). This seminomadic tribe was known for metalworking and are connected to the Midianites and Amalekites( compare Jdg 1:16; 4:11; Nu 24:21 – 22; 1Sa 15:1 – 6). Kenizzites This group of people are connected to the Edomites— descendants of Esau( Ge 36:4,11,15,42). Kadmonites This people group is not mentioned elsewhere in the OT, but may be the same as the Kedemites( a phrase which may be rendered“ people of the east”) noted in several passages. The Kedemites were seminomadic and ventured as far north as Aram( Syria) and as far south as the Red Sea( Jdg 6:3,33; 7:12; 8:10). 15:20 Perizzites See note on 13:7. Rephaites See note on Ge 14:5. 15:21 Amorites See note on 10:16. Canaanites A general term for a wide range of people groups. Girgashites and Jebusites See note on 10:16.