Genesis 15 KJV
God's Covenant with Abram
Genesis Chapter 15: God's Covenant with Abram
This chapter explores themes of Faith, Covenant. The first biblical occurrence of the term 'covenant' appears here, marking the formalization of the Abrahamic promise as a self-imposed divine obligation rather than a mutual agreement.
1fter 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.
2 And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, 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.
5 And 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.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.cf.
7 And 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.
8 And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9 And 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.cf.
10 And 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.cf.
11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.cf.
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.cf.
13 And 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;cf.
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.cf.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.cf.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.cf.
17 And 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.cf.
18 In 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:cf.
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
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Did You Know?
The first biblical occurrence of the term 'covenant' appears here, marking the formalization of the Abrahamic promise as a self-imposed divine obligation rather than a mutual agreement.
Only the smoking furnace and burning lamp. Representing Yahweh. Pass between the halved animals, deviating from ancient Near Eastern treaty rituals where both parties would walk the path to invoke mutual curses.
Abram's credited righteousness for believing the promise establishes an early scriptural basis for justification by faith, later echoed in Pauline theology without any accompanying works or circumcision.
The precise 400-year affliction prophecy for Abram's descendants includes both the Egyptian sojourn and the oppression under multiple pharaohs, linking directly to the Exodus narrative's timeline and purpose.
The deep sleep and 'horror of great darkness' that fall on Abram mirror later prophetic theophanies, such as Daniel's or Ezekiel's encounters, framing this as an inaugural visionary commissioning rather than a simple dialogue.