Genesis 15

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:2

2. Lord God, what wilt thou give?—To his mind the declaration, "I am thy exceeding great reward" [Genesis 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. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:3

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 perhaps a temporary failure in the very virtue for which he is so renowned—and absolute submission to... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:4

4. This shall not be thine heir—To the first part of his address no reply was given; but having renewed it in a spirit of more becoming submission, "whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it" [ :-], he was delighted by a most explicit promise of Canaan, which was immediately confirmed by a remarkable ceremony. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:9

9-21. Take me an heifer, c.—On occasions of great importance, when two or more parties join in a compact, they either observe precisely the same rites as Abram did, or, where they do not, they invoke the lamp as their witness. According to these ideas, which have been from time immemorial engraven on the minds of Eastern people, the Lord Himself condescended to enter into covenant with Abram. The patriarch did not pass between the sacrifice and the reason was that in this transaction he was... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15

5. The Abrahamic Covenant ch. 15Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously obliged him by formalizing the promises and making a covenant. In the giving of the covenant God let Abram know symbolically that enslavement would precede the fulfillment of the promise.From chapters 12 through 14 issues involving God’s... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:1

"’The word of the LORD came.’ This is a phrase typically introducing revelation to a prophet, e.g., 1 Samuel 15:10; Hosea 1:1; but in Genesis it is found only here and in Genesis 15:4 of this chapter. Abraham is actually called a prophet in Genesis 20:7. It prepares the way for the prophecy of the Egyptian bondage in Genesis 15:13-16." [Note: Wenham, Genesis 1-15, p. 32] Only in Genesis 15:1 and Genesis 22:1; Genesis 22:11 did God address Abram directly. Visions were one of the three primary... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:2-3

Abram used a new title for God calling Him Master (Adonai) Yahweh (i.e., Sovereign LORD). Abram had willingly placed himself under the sovereign leadership of God."A childless couple adopts a son, sometimes a slave, to serve them in their lifetime and bury and mourn them when they die. In return for this service they designate the adopted son as the heir presumptive. Should a natural son be born to the couple after such action, this son becomes the chief heir, demoting the adopted son to the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:4

Abram assumed that since he was old and childless, and since Lot had not returned to him, the heir God had promised him would be his chief servant, Eliezer (cf. Proverbs 17:2).". . . under Hurrian law a man’s heir would be either his natural-born son-a direct heir-or, in the absence of any natural-born son, an indirect heir, who was an outsider adopted for the purpose. In the latter case, the adopted heir was required to attend to the physical needs of his ’parents’ during their lifetime."... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:5

To the promise of descendants as innumerable as the dust (physical descendants from the land? cf. Genesis 13:16) God added another promise that Abram’s seed would be as countless as the stars. This is perhaps a promise of Abram’s spiritual children, those who would have faith in God as he did. Abram may not have caught this distinction since he would have more naturally taken the promise as a reference to physical children. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:6-7

Moses did not reveal exactly what Abram believed (confidently trusted, relied upon) for which God reckoned him righteous. In Hebrew the conjunction waw with the imperfect tense verb following indicates consecutive action and best translates as "Then." When waw occurs with the perfect tense verb following, as we have here, it indicates disjunctive action and could read, "Now Abram had believed . . ." (cf. Genesis 1:2). God justified Abram (i.e., declared him righteous) because of his faith.... read more

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:2

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:3

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:4

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 15:9

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:1

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:2-3

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:4

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:5

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:6-7

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