King James Version
Genesis 15
21 verses with commentary
God's Covenant with Abram
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am t...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XV.
**JEHOVAH’S COVENANT WITH ABRAM.**
(1) **After these things.**—After the war with Chedorlaomer.
**The word of the Lord came (Heb., *was**)* **unto Abram.**—This phrase, used so constantly afterwards to signify revelation, occurs here for the first time. The revelation on this occasion is made by night (Genesis 15:5), not however in a dream, but in a trance, in which the senses of Abram were cl...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
God encourages Abram.(1)
The Divine promise, Abraham is justified by faith.(2-6)
God promises Canaan to Abraham for an inheritance.(7-11)
The promise confirmed in a vision.(12-16)
The promise confirmed by a sign.(17-21)
**Verse 1**
God assured Abram of safety and happiness; that he should for ever be safe. I am thy shield; or, I am a shield ...
Read full commentary →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?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Lord God.**—Not *Jehovah Elohim, *but *Lord Jehovah, *“Lord” being the ordinary title of respect. Usually Jehovah takes the vowels of *‘donai, “*lord,” but as the two words occur here together, it takes the vowels of *Elohim, *whence the translation in our version, in obedience to a superstition of the Jews (Genesis 4:1).
**What wilt thou give me?**—There is a slight tone of complaint in the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-6**
Though we must never complain of God, yet we have leave to complain to him; and to state all our grievances. It is ease to a burdened spirit, to open its case to a faithful and compassionate friend. Abram's complaint is, that he had no child; that he was never likely to have any; that the want of a son was so great a trouble to him, that it took away all his comfort. If we suppo...
Read full commentary →And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise f...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **One born in my house.**—This is a mistake. Those born in Abram’s house were his servants (Genesis 14:14). The Hebrew is, *the son of my house, *my house-son, not born of me, but the chief of the house next to myself, and its representative. Eliezer was probably born at Damascus.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-6**
Though we must never complain of God, yet we have leave to complain to him; and to state all our grievances. It is ease to a burdened spirit, to open its case to a faithful and compassionate friend. Abram's complaint is, that he had no child; that he was never likely to have any; that the want of a son was so great a trouble to him, that it took away all his comfort. If we suppo...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that s...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-6**
Though we must never complain of God, yet we have leave to complain to him; and to state all our grievances. It is ease to a burdened spirit, to open its case to a faithful and compassionate friend. Abram's complaint is, that he had no child; that he was never likely to have any; that the want of a son was so great a trouble to him, that it took away all his comfort. If we suppo...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be ab...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **He brought him forth.**—There is no reason for regarding this as a poetical description of a merely mental emotion. With his senses dormant, but alive to every spiritual impression, Abram feels himself led forth from the tent into the open space around, and is there commanded to count the stars. As a matter of fact, the stars visible to the naked eye are not very numerous, but they have ever...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. they took Lot ... and his goods, and departed--**How would the conscience of that young man now upbraid him for his selfish folly and ingratitude in withdrawing from his kind and pious relative! Whenever we go out of the path of duty, we put ourselves away from God's protection, and cannot expect that the choice we make will be for our lasting good.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-6**
Though we must never complain of God, yet we have leave to complain to him; and to state all our grievances. It is ease to a burdened spirit, to open its case to a faithful and compassionate friend. Abram's complaint is, that he had no child; that he was never likely to have any; that the want of a son was so great a trouble to him, that it took away all his comfort. If we suppo...
Read full commentary →And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Central...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **He believed in the Lord (in Jehovah)** . . . —We have here the germ of the doctrine of free justification. Abram was both a holy man and one who proved his faith by his works; but nevertheless the inspired narrator inserts this reflection, not after the history of the offering of Isaac, but in the account of this vision, where all that Abram did was to believe, and for that belief’s sake was...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. there came one that had escaped--**Abram might have excused himself from taking any active concern in his "brother," that is, nephew, who little deserved that he should incur trouble or danger on his account. But Abram, far from rendering evil for evil, resolved to take immediate measures for the rescue of Lot.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-6**
Though we must never complain of God, yet we have leave to complain to him; and to state all our grievances. It is ease to a burdened spirit, to open its case to a faithful and compassionate friend. Abram's complaint is, that he had no child; that he was never likely to have any; that the want of a son was so great a trouble to him, that it took away all his comfort. If we suppo...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this l...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants--**domestic slaves, such as are common in Eastern countries still and are considered and treated as members of the family. If Abram could spare three hundred and eighteen slaves and leave a sufficient number to take care of the flocks, what a large establishment he must have had.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Assurance was given to Abram of the land of Canaan for an inheritance. God never promises more than he is able to perform, as men often do. Abram did as God commanded him. He divided the beasts in the midst, according to the ceremony used in confirming covenants, Jer 34:18, 19. Having prepared according to God's appointment, he set himself to wait for the sign God might give hi...
Read full commentary →And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Central the...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Lord God.**—Heb., *Lord Jehovah, *as in Genesis 15:2.
**Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?**—Jehovah had required Abram to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldees on a general promise of future endowment with the land of Canaan. Abram now asks this question, not from want of faith, but from a desire for a more direct confirmation of the promise and fuller knowledge of the details. Wh...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. he divided himself ... by night--**This war between the petty princes of ancient Canaan is exactly the same as the frays and skirmishes between Arab chiefs in the present day. When a defeated party resolves to pursue the enemy, they wait till they are fast asleep; then, as they have no idea of posting sentinels, they rush upon them from different directions, strike down the tent poles--if...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Assurance was given to Abram of the land of Canaan for an inheritance. God never promises more than he is able to perform, as men often do. Abram did as God commanded him. He divided the beasts in the midst, according to the ceremony used in confirming covenants, Jer 34:18, 19. Having prepared according to God's appointment, he set himself to wait for the sign God might give hi...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9, 10) **Take me an heifer . . . —**This form of making a covenant was probably that usual in Babylonia, and thus Abram received the assurance of his inheritance by means of a ceremonial with which he was familiar. But in most ancient languages men are said to *cut *or *strike *a covenant, because the most solemn formula involved either the cutting of victims in two, or striking them dead, as was...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15-16. he divided himself ... by night--**This war between the petty princes of ancient Canaan is exactly the same as the frays and skirmishes between Arab chiefs in the present day. When a defeated party resolves to pursue the enemy, they wait till they are fast asleep; then, as they have no idea of posting sentinels, they rush upon them from different directions, strike down the tent poles--if...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Assurance was given to Abram of the land of Canaan for an inheritance. God never promises more than he is able to perform, as men often do. Abram did as God commanded him. He divided the beasts in the midst, according to the ceremony used in confirming covenants, Jer 34:18, 19. Having prepared according to God's appointment, he set himself to wait for the sign God might give hi...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against anoth...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Assurance was given to Abram of the land of Canaan for an inheritance. God never promises more than he is able to perform, as men often do. Abram did as God commanded him. He divided the beasts in the midst, according to the ceremony used in confirming covenants, Jer 34:18, 19. Having prepared according to God's appointment, he set himself to wait for the sign God might give hi...
Read full commentary →And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Central t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **And when the fowls . . . —**Heb., *And the birds of prey came down upon the carcases, and Abram scared them away. *Had there been a sacrifice the fire would have kept the vultures from approaching; but the bodies lay exposed, and Abram therefore kept guard over them, lest the purpose of the ceremonial should be frustrated by any want of respect shown to the outward symbols.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. Melchizedek--**This victory conferred a public benefit on that part of the country; and Abram, on his return, was treated with high respect and consideration, particularly by the king of Sodom and Melchizedek, who seems to have been one of the few native princes, if not the only one, who knew and worshipped, "the most high God," whom Abram served. This king who was a type of the Saviour (He ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Assurance was given to Abram of the land of Canaan for an inheritance. God never promises more than he is able to perform, as men often do. Abram did as God commanded him. He divided the beasts in the midst, according to the ceremony used in confirming covenants, Jer 34:18, 19. Having prepared according to God's appointment, he set himself to wait for the sign God might give hi...
Read full commentary →And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness ...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **When the sun was going down.**—The time described was the evening following the night on which he had received the assurance that his seed should be countless as the stars. He had then, in his trance, also asked for some security that Canaan should be the heritage of his posterity, and in answer had received the command to arrange, upon a large scale, the ceremonial of a solemn treaty-makin...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-16**
A deep sleep fell upon Abram; with this sleep a horror of great darkness fell upon him: a sudden change. The children of light do not always walk in the light. Several things were then foretold. 1. The suffering state of Abram's seed for a long time. They shall be strangers. The heirs of heaven are strangers on earth. They shall be servants; but Canaanites serve under a curse,...
Read full commentary →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;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not the...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) F**our hundred years.**—The exact duration of the sojourn in Egypt was 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41), and with this agrees the genealogy of Jehoshua (1Chronicles 7:23-27).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. he gave him tithes of all--**Here is an evidence of Abram's piety, as well as of his valor; for it was to a priest or official mediator between God and him that Abram gave a tenth of the spoil--a token of his gratitude and in honor of a divine ordinance (Pr 3:9).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-16**
A deep sleep fell upon Abram; with this sleep a horror of great darkness fell upon him: a sudden change. The children of light do not always walk in the light. Several things were then foretold. 1. The suffering state of Abram's seed for a long time. They shall be strangers. The heirs of heaven are strangers on earth. They shall be servants; but Canaanites serve under a curse,...
Read full commentary →And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with gr...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **That nation.**—Had it been expressly revealed that the country that would afflict them was Egypt, the patriarchs might have been unwilling to go thither; but the reference to the plagues in the denunciation of judgment, and to the spoiling of the Egyptians in the promise that they should “come out with great substance” (Exodus 12:36), gave detail sufficient for future guidance, and for thei...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. the king of Sodom said ... Give me the persons--**According to the war customs still existing among the Arab tribes, Abram might have retained the recovered goods, and his right was acknowledged by the king of Sodom. But with honest pride, and a generosity unknown in that part of the world, he replied with strong phraseology common to the East, "I have lifted up mine hand" [that is, I have s...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-16**
A deep sleep fell upon Abram; with this sleep a horror of great darkness fell upon him: a sudden change. The children of light do not always walk in the light. Several things were then foretold. 1. The suffering state of Abram's seed for a long time. They shall be strangers. The heirs of heaven are strangers on earth. They shall be servants; but Canaanites serve under a curse,...
Read full commentary →And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace.**—Abram’s ancestors had died in Babylonia, but the phrase, used here for the first time, evidently involves the thought of the immortality of the soul. The body may be buried far away, but the soul joins the company of its forefathers in some separate abode, not to be absorbed, but still to enjoy a personal existence. (Comp. Genesis 25:8.) A similar, b...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-16**
A deep sleep fell upon Abram; with this sleep a horror of great darkness fell upon him: a sudden change. The children of light do not always walk in the light. Several things were then foretold. 1. The suffering state of Abram's seed for a long time. They shall be strangers. The heirs of heaven are strangers on earth. They shall be servants; but Canaanites serve under a curse,...
Read full commentary →But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not y...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **The fourth generation.**—Heb., *dôr. *(See Note on Genesis 6:9.) As the four generations are identical with the four centuries of Genesis 15:13, we have here an undesigned testimony to the long duration of human life. So Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Isaac was 60 at the birth of his children, and Jacob 64 years of age at his marriage. But the word *dôr *had probably come ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-16**
A deep sleep fell upon Abram; with this sleep a horror of great darkness fell upon him: a sudden change. The children of light do not always walk in the light. Several things were then foretold. 1. The suffering state of Abram's seed for a long time. They shall be strangers. The heirs of heaven are strangers on earth. They shall be servants; but Canaanites serve under a curse,...
Read full commentary →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. a burning: Heb. a lamp of fire
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a ...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **A smoking furnace.**—The word really means the circular firepot which Orientals use in their houses to sit round for purposes of warmth. This one was wreathed in smoke, out of which shot “a burning lamp” (Heb., *a torch of flame*)*. *For not two symbols, but only one, passed between the divided carcases. Abram had probably passed between them immediately after arranging them, and now Jehova...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-21**
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp, probably represented the Israelites' severe trials and joyful deliverance, with their gracious supports in the mean time. It is probable that this furnace and lamp, which passed between the pieces, burned and consumed them, and so completed the sacrifice, and testified God's acceptance of it. So it intimates that God's covenants with m...
Read full commentary →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:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, f...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **The Lord made a covenant.**—Heb., *Jehovah cut a covenant. *Abram had divided the slaughtered animals, and Jehovah, by passing between them, made the whole act His own.
**The river of Egypt.**—That is, the Nile. In the Hebrew the Wady-el-Arish, on the southern border of Simeon, is always distinguished from the Nile. though the distinction is neglected in our version. Thus in Numbers 34:5; J...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-21**
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp, probably represented the Israelites' severe trials and joyful deliverance, with their gracious supports in the mean time. It is probable that this furnace and lamp, which passed between the pieces, burned and consumed them, and so completed the sacrifice, and testified God's acceptance of it. So it intimates that God's covenants with m...
Read full commentary →The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Central themes include God'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **The Kenites.**—An Arab race, found both among the Amalekites in the south (1Samuel 15:6) and among the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon in the north (Judges 4:11), and even in Midian, as Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, is called a Kenite (Judges 1:16). Balaam speaks of them as being a powerful nation (Numbers 24:21), and this wide dispersion of them into feeble remnants seems to show that...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 15 Ge 15:1-21. Divine Encouragement.
**1. After these things--**the conquest of the invading kings.
**the word of the Lord--**a phrase used, when connected with a vision, to denote a prophetic message.
**Fear not, Abram--**When the excitement of the enterprise was over, he had become a prey to despondency and terror at the probable revenge that might be meditated against him. To dispe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-21**
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp, probably represented the Israelites' severe trials and joyful deliverance, with their gracious supports in the mean time. It is probable that this furnace and lamp, which passed between the pieces, burned and consumed them, and so completed the sacrifice, and testified God's acceptance of it. So it intimates that God's covenants with m...
Read full commentary →And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Central themes include G...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. Lord God, what wilt thou give?--**To his mind the declaration, "I am thy exceeding great reward" [Ge 15:1], had but one meaning, or was viewed but in one particular light, as bearing on the fulfilment of the promise, and he was still experiencing the sickness of hope deferred.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-21**
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp, probably represented the Israelites' severe trials and joyful deliverance, with their gracious supports in the mean time. It is probable that this furnace and lamp, which passed between the pieces, burned and consumed them, and so completed the sacrifice, and testified God's acceptance of it. So it intimates that God's covenants with m...
Read full commentary →And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Ce...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. Eliezer of Damascus ... one born in my house is mine heir--**According to the usage of nomadic tribes, his chief confidential servant, would be heir to his possessions and honors. But this man could have become his son only by adoption; and how sadly would that have come short of the parental hopes he had been encouraged to entertain! His language betrayed a latent spirit of fretfulness or pe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-21**
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp, probably represented the Israelites' severe trials and joyful deliverance, with their gracious supports in the mean time. It is probable that this furnace and lamp, which passed between the pieces, burned and consumed them, and so completed the sacrifice, and testified God's acceptance of it. So it intimates that God's covenants with m...
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