Atlas Biblica

    Genesis · 21 verses

    Genesis 15

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    Abram prepares a covenant with split carcasses, and then has to spend the solemn interval chasing off scavenger birds.

    Stars, heirs, and an inconvenient flockvv. 1–11

    The LORD appears to Abram in a vision, promising both protection and offspring. Abram, who has no child, names Eliezer of Damascus as the heir of his household; the answer is that the heir will come from Abram’s own body, in numbers as uncountable as the stars. Abram believes, and the belief is credited to him as righteousness. Then the promise turns practical: animals must be brought, divided, and arranged. The birds are left whole, for reasons the chapter does not explain, and the birds of prey promptly arrive to make themselves part of the ceremony. Abram drives them away.

    The promise passes between the halvesvv. 12–21

    At sunset Abram falls into a deep sleep, accompanied by great terror and darkness rather than a particularly restful night. The LORD tells him that his descendants will be strangers, enslaved, and mistreated for four hundred years, before departing with many possessions. Abram himself is given a peaceful old age; the descendants will return in the fourth generation, but not yet, because the iniquity of the Amorites is not complete. After darkness falls, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the carcass halves. The covenant gives the land to Abram’s descendants, with its far boundary at the great River Euphrates, and concludes with a formidable roll call of peoples.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Gen 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

    2. Gen 15:2But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

    3. Gen 15:3Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

    4. Gen 15:4Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

    5. Gen 15:5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

    6. Gen 15:6Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

    7. Gen 15:7The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

    8. Gen 15:8But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

    9. Gen 15:9And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

    10. Gen 15:10So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.

    11. Gen 15:11And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

    12. Gen 15:12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

    13. Gen 15:13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

    14. Gen 15:14But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.

    15. Gen 15:15You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.

    16. Gen 15:16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

    17. Gen 15:17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.

    18. Gen 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

    19. Gen 15:19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

    20. Gen 15:20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

    21. Gen 15:21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 258 passages were voted onto 21 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 6James 2:23And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
    • 6Galatians 3:6–14So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
    • 6Romans 4:9Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
    • 1Isaiah 41:10Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
    • 6Romans 4:20–25Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
    • 6Romans 4:3–6For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
    • 1Psalms 119:114You are my hiding place and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.
    • 1Hebrews 13:5–6Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
    • 1Genesis 26:24and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”
    • 6Psalms 106:31It was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
    • 6Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
    • 1Lamentations 3:24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
    • 1Deuteronomy 33:26–29“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.
    • 6Romans 4:11And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
    • 1Psalms 5:12For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous; You surround them with the shield of Your favor.
    • 1Ruth 2:12May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

    Onward

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