Passage

Genesis 15

Book: Genesis · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2. And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? 3. And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4. And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6. And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness. 7. And he said unto him, I am Jehovah that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8. And he said, O Lord Jehovah, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9. And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. 10. And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not. 11. And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14. and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15. But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16. And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full. 17. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. 18. In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19. the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, 20. and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, 21. and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite." (Genesis 15:1-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2. Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3. Abram said, “Behold, to me you have given no children: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” 4. Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” 5. Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So will your offspring be.” 6. He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness. 7. He said to Abram, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8. He said, “Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?” 9. He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10. He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds. 11. The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12. When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. 13. He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. 14. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, 15. but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. 16. In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.” 17. It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18. In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: 19. the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20. the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21. the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”" (Genesis 15:1-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3. And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. 7. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9. And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 17. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. ^{a burning: Heb. a lamp of fire} 18. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19. The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20. And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21. And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." (Genesis 15:1-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. After these things hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram, I [am] a shield to thee, thy reward [is] exceeding great.' 2. And Abram saith, 'Lord Jehovah, what dost Thou give to me, and I am going childless? and an acquired son in my house is Demmesek Eliezer.' 3. And Abram saith, 'Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and lo, a domestic doth heir me.' 4. And lo, the word of Jehovah [is] unto him, saying, 'This [one] doth not heir thee; but he who cometh out from thy bowels, he doth heir thee;' 5. and He bringeth him out without, and saith, 'Look attentively, I pray thee, towards the heavens, and count the stars, if thou art able to count them;' and He saith to him, 'Thus is thy seed.' 6. And he hath believed in Jehovah, and He reckoneth it to him, righteousness. 7. And He saith unto him, 'I [am] Jehovah who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give to thee this land to possess it;' 8. and he saith, 'Lord Jehovah, whereby do I know that I possess it?' 9. And He saith unto him, 'Take for Me a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a young bird;' 10. and he taketh to him all these, and separateth them in the midst, and putteth each piece over against its fellow, but the bird he hath not divided; 11. and the ravenous birds come down upon the carcases, and Abram causeth them to turn back. 12. And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon him; 13. and He saith to Abram, 'knowing, know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years, 14. and the nation also whom they serve I judge, and after this they go out with great substance; 15. and thou, thou comest in unto thy fathers in peace; thou art buried in a good old age; 16. and the fourth generation doth turn back hither, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.' 17. And it cometh to pass, the sun hath gone in, and thick darkness hath been, and lo, a furnace of smoke, and a lamp of fire, which hath passed over between those pieces. 18. In that day hath Jehovah made with Abram a covenant, saying, 'To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Phrat, 19. with the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, 20. and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, 21. and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.'" (Genesis 15:1-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.