Genesis 15

Genesis 15 is one of the central scenes of the Abraham narrative. In the preceding chapter, Genesis 14, Abram rescued Lot and refused the goods offered to him by the king of Sodom. This chapter follows directly from those events, opening with the words "After these things."

Outline

• Verses 1–3 The word of the LORD comes to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." Abram, being childless, says that Eliezer of Damascus, a man raised in his household, will be his heir.
• Verses 4–6 God declares that one who comes from Abram's own body will be his heir. He then shows Abram the stars of heaven and promises that his descendants will be as numerous. Abram believes, and the LORD counts it to him for righteousness.
• Verses 7–11 God says that He brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees to give him this land as an inheritance. When Abram asks how he may know this, God tells him to bring a heifer, a she goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon. Abram divides the animals and lays the halves opposite each other but does not divide the birds, and he drives away the birds of prey that come down upon the carcasses.
• Verses 12–16 As the sun goes down, a deep sleep falls on Abram, and darkness and dread come upon him. God tells him that his descendants will be strangers in a land not their own and will be afflicted for four hundred years, but that God will judge that nation, and afterward they will come out with great substance. Abram himself will live to a good old age and die in peace. His descendants will return in the fourth generation, because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
• Verses 17–21 A smoking furnace and a burning lamp pass between the divided pieces. On that day God makes a covenant with Abram, declaring that He will give his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates—the land of ten peoples, from the Kenites to the Jebusites.

Key Verses

• Genesis 15:1 "I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" — commonly read as God's assurance to Abram, who had just refused material wealth, that God Himself would be his protector and his reward.
• Genesis 15:6 "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness" — a representative verse linking faith and righteousness, quoted several times in the New Testament.
• Genesis 15:18 "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" — here the land promise of the Abrahamic covenant is set out in concrete terms.

People and Places

• Abram: In this chapter he is still called Abram; his name is changed in Genesis 17.
• Eliezer: A man raised in Abram's household, whom Abram regarded as his heir.
• Damascus: An Aramean city, identified as Eliezer's place of origin.
• Ur of the Chaldees: The place from which God brought Abram out.
• The river of Egypt and the Euphrates: The southern and northeastern limits of the promised land. Interpreters differ over whether the river of Egypt refers to the Nile or to a wadi (seasonal streambed) in the northern Sinai.
• The ten peoples, including the Amorites: Nations who lived in the land of Canaan.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 6 is quoted several times in the New Testament. In Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6, Paul uses this verse to explain justification—being declared righteous by faith rather than by works. James 2:23 quotes the same verse while emphasizing a faith that is shown by works. Traditions differ in how they explain the relationship between these passages.
• The ceremony of passing between divided animals is often read alongside Jeremiah 34:18–19. On that basis, a widely known interpretation views it as an oath ceremony in which the parties call down upon themselves the fate of the animals should they break the covenant. Because only the burning lamp passes between the pieces, another interpretation—emphasized especially in Reformed circles—reads it as a covenant for which God alone takes responsibility.
• The "four hundred years" of verse 13 differs from the "four hundred and thirty years" of Exodus 12:40 and Galatians 3:17. Some regard the figure as a round number, while others hold that the periods are counted from different starting points. Stephen quotes verses 13–14 in Acts 7:6–7.
• Dispensationalism tends to read the land promise as one to be fulfilled literally for the nation of Israel, while covenant theology tends to read it as a promise fulfilled more broadly in Christ.

In the Korean Church

Verse 6 is frequently cited to explain the Protestant doctrine of salvation that one is "justified by faith." The scene in verse 5, in which Abram is told to count the stars, is commonly featured when the story of Abraham is taught in Sunday school.