Genesis 15:2-5 ESV

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

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

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 15:1-21

God Promises an Heir to Abraham and the Land of Canaan for his Descendants. The Promise is Ratified by a CovenantThe passage is from the Primitive source. A somewhat similar account from the Priestly narrative is given in Genesis 17. The repetition shows the importance attached by the compiler of Genesis to these records of the promises as testifying to the divine purposes for the Hebrew people.1. Vision] probably a trance, with the senses dormant, but the mind awake to spiritual impressions:... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 15:2

(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... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 15:3

(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. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 15:5

(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 been a received metaphor for an infinite multitude, probably because, as men gaze, they perpetually... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Genesis 15:1-21

Genesis 15:0 'Read the fifteenth chapter with extreme care. If you have a good memory, learn it by heart from beginning to end; it is one of the most sublime and pregnant passages in the entire compass of ancient literature.' Ruskin, Fors Clarigeva (lxiv). References. XV. 1. J. Parker, Adam, Noah, and Abraham, p. 120. J. Thomas, Myrtle Street Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 341. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2814. XV. 2. J. Kelly, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii. p. 165. XV. 5, 6. Archbishop... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Genesis 15:1-21

COVENANT WITH ABRAMGenesis 15:1-21OF the nine Divine manifestations made during Abram’s life this is the fifth. At Ur, at Kharran, at the oak of Moreh, at the encampment between Bethel and Ai, and now at Mamre, he received guidance and encouragement from God. Different terms are used regarding these manifestations. Sometimes it is said "The Lord appeared unto him"; here for the first time in the course of God’s revelation occurs that expression which afterwards became normal, "The word of the... read more

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

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

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 15:1-21

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 15:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 15:3

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 15:5

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Genesis 15:1-21

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Genesis 15:1-21

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