Genesis 15

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:8

Abram requested a sign, a supernatural verification that God would indeed fulfill the distant promise. His request shows that he was taking God seriously."Requests for signs were not unusual in Old Testament times. They were not so much to discover God’s will as to confirm it." [Note: Davis, p. 186.] God responded by making a covenant with Abram (Genesis 15:9-12; Genesis 15:17)."Only after he had been counted righteous by his faith could Abraham enter into God’s covenant." [Note: Sailhamer, The... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:9-10

The animals used were standard types of sacrificial animals and may have represented the nation of Israel, "a kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6)."The use of five different kinds of sacrificial animals on this occasion underlines the solemnity of the occasion." [Note: Gordon J. Wenham, "The Symbolism of the Animal Rite in Genesis 15 : A Response to G. F. Hasel, JSOT 19 (1981):61-78," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 22 (1981):135.] "We suggest that the animal cutting in Genesis 15:9-10;... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:11

"The birds of prey are unclean (Leviticus 11:13-19; Deuteronomy 14:12-18) and represent foreign nations (Ezekiel 17:3; Ezekiel 17:7; Zechariah 5:9), most probably Egypt. . . . Thus Abram driving off the birds of prey from the dismembered pieces portrays him defending his descendants from the attacks of foreign nations. Genesis itself tells of a number of attacks by foreigners against the children of Abraham (e.g. chs. 26, 34) and it already looks forward to the sojourn in Egypt (chs. 37-50 [cf.... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:12

Abram’s terror reflects his reaction to the flame that passed between the parts and to the revelation of the character of God that the flame represented (cf. Genesis 15:17). read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:13-14

Moses gave more detail regarding the history of the seed here than he had revealed previously (cf. Genesis 15:14; Genesis 15:16). The 400 years of enslavement were evidently from 1845 B.C. to 1446 B.C., the date of the Exodus. read more

Thomas Constable

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

The ancients conceived of death as a time when they would rejoin their departed ancestors (cf. 2 Samuel 12:23). There was evidently little understanding of what lay beyond the grave at this time in history. [Note: For a synopsis of Israel’s view of life after death, see Bernhard Lang, "Afterlife: Ancient Israel’s Changing Vision of the World Beyond," Bible Review 4:1 (February 1988):12-23.] read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:16

The Hebrew word translated "generation" really refers to a lifetime, which at this period in history was about 100 years. [Note: See W. F. Albright, The Biblical Period from Abraham to Ezra, p. 9; and Theological Workbook of the Old Testament, s.v., "dor," by Robert D. Culver, 1:186-87.] This seems a better explanation than that four literal generations are in view. The writer mentioned four literal generations in Exodus 6:16-20 and Numbers 26:58-59, but there were quite evidently gaps in those... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:17

The smoking oven and flaming torch were one. This was an intensely bright, hot flame symbolic of God in His holiness. The flame is a good symbol of God in that it is pure, purges in judgment, and provides light and warmth."This act is . . . a promise that God will be with Abraham’s descendants (e.g. Genesis 26:3; Genesis 26:24; Genesis 28:15; Genesis 31:3; Genesis 46:4, etc.). Indeed the description of the theophany as a furnace of smoke and ’a torch of fire’ invites comparison with the pillar... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:18

This was the formal "cutting" of the Abrahamic Covenant. God now formalized His earlier promises (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 12:7) into a suzerainty treaty, similar to a royal land grant, since Abram now understood and believed what God had promised. God as king bound Himself to do something for His servant Abram. The fulfillment of the covenant did not depend on Abram’s obedience. It rested entirely on God’s faithfulness. [Note: Westermann, "The Promises . . .," p. 690.] ". . . it is fitting that... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:19-21

Here Moses named ten of the native tribes then inhabiting the Promised Land. The longest of the 27 lists of pre-Israelite nations that inhabited the Promised Land name 12 entities (Genesis 10:15-18 a; 1 Chronicles 1:13-18). Sometimes as few as two receive mention, and most of these lists identify six. [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 177.] "Canaanites" is both a general name for all these tribes (a synecdoche) and, as used here, the name of one of them. These "Hittites" lived near Hebron... read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:8

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:9-10

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:11

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:12

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:13-14

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

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:16

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:17

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:18

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 15:19-21

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