What Does Genesis 15:2 Mean?

(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 these words. Jehovah promised Abram a “reward great exceedingly.” He answers that no reward can really be great so long as he has no heir. **I go childless.**—Either, *I am going to my grave childless *(Psalm 39:13), or better, *I continue to be, pass my days, in childlessness.* **The steward of my house.**—Heb., *the benmeshek of my house. *Ben-meshek is generally explained as meaning “the son of possession,” that is, the possessor, owner of my. house when I die. Other authorities derive *meshek *from a verb signifying “to run about,” as if it was Eliezer’s business to go to and fro in execution of Abram’s orders. The term is rare, and has evidently been chosen for the play of words upon *Dammesek= *Damascus. Perhaps this may also explain the last words, which literally are, *he is Damascus Eliezer. *Grammatically it should have been, “he is the Damascene Eliezer,” but this would have spoiled the assonance between *ben-meshek *(probably pronounced *bemmeshek*) and *Dammesek.*