GénesisCapítulo 15

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After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great."

But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will you give me? I remain childless, and the one who will inherit my house is Eliezer of Damascus."

Abram said, "Look, you have given me no offspring, so a member of my household will be my heir."

Then the word of the LORD came to him: "He will not be your heir. Your heir will be one who comes from your own body."

He brought him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

And Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

But Abram said, "Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?"

He answered him, "Take for me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon."

So Abram took all these, cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut in two.

Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and suddenly a terror, a great darkness, fell upon him.

Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know this for certain: your offspring will be strangers in a land not their own, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

But I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will come out with great wealth.

As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.

In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your offspring I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—

the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

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Resumen2

Capítulo 15

Main Theme: God makes a formal covenant with Abram, promising him numerous descendants and a land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates.

Content: God reveals Himself to Abram in a vision and promises to be his shield and great reward. Abram expresses concern about his childlessness—his servant Eliezer would inherit him—but God promises descendants as numerous as the stars. Abram believed the Lord, who counted it to him as righteousness. God predicts that his descendants will be strangers and oppressed for 400 years but will return in the fourth generation. The covenant is confirmed when God, symbolized by a smoking oven and a flaming torch, passes between the divided animals.

Key Words/Images:

The Stars: A symbol of the countless descendants God promises Abram (v.5).
Righteousness by Faith: Abram's faith in God's promise was counted to him as righteousness (v.6)—a central verse in biblical theology.
Covenant Ritual: The animals are divided, and God passes between them as a smoking oven and a flaming torch—a unilateral covenant where God alone binds Himself (v.17).

Contexto histórico

Historical and Cultural Context for Genesis 15

People

Eliezer of Damascus is mentioned as Abram’s steward (בֶן־מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי, "son of my house" or "he who manages my house") and potential heir (vv. 2–3). The name means "God is help." The practice of appointing a trusted servant as an heir when one was childless is well documented in texts from the ancient Near East. The Nuzi texts from the 15th–14th centuries BC describe how childless couples could adopt a servant or relative as an heir, with the obligation to care for them in old age. This heir would then be replaced if a biological child was later born—exactly as God assures Abram in verse 4.

Places

Ur of the Chaldeans (אוּר כַּשְׂדִּים, v. 7) was a major Sumerian city-state in southern Mesopotamia, near the modern city of Nasiriyah in Iraq. Archaeological excavations have revealed a highly developed civilization with impressive architecture, including a large ziggurat dedicated to the moon god Nanna (Akkadian: Sin). The city was a center for moon worship. By identifying Himself as the one who "brought you out from Ur," God establishes a parallel to the later Exodus formula and emphasizes that Abram’s journey was a divine deliverance from idolatry.

The Boundaries of the Land are defined from נְהַר מִצְרַיִם ("the River of Egypt") to נְהַר־פְּרָת ("the Euphrates, the great river") (v. 18), representing the maximum extent of the promised land. "The River of Egypt" likely refers to Wadi el-Arish on the Sinai Peninsula, not the Nile. These boundaries reflect known political and geographical markers from the second millennium BC.

Events and Customs

The Covenant-Ratification Ritual (vv. 9–17) represents a well-known ancient Near Eastern ceremony for establishing a binding agreement. The animals were cut in two, and the parties walked between the pieces. This action was symbolic: "May it happen to me as with these animals if I break the covenant." Parallels are found in Hittite, Assyrian, and Aramaic treaties, as well as in Jeremiah 34:18–19. The striking feature of this chapter is that only God, represented by תַנּוּר עָשָׁן ("a smoking firepot") and לַפִּיד אֵשׁ ("a flaming torch"), passes between the pieces. Abram does not actively participate—this is a unilateral, unconditional covenant in which God alone assumes the obligation.

The Birds of Prey That Attack (v. 11)—the Hebrew עַיִט (ayit)—may symbolically represent threats to the covenant or hostile nations that would attempt to prevent the fulfillment of the promises. Abram’s driving them away shows his role as protector until God’s promises are fulfilled.

The Prophecy About the Sojourn in Egypt (vv. 13–16) predicts that Abram’s descendants will be strangers in a land not their own, become slaves, and be oppressed for 400 years. God promises to judge the oppressors and bring the people out with great wealth. The reference to "the fourth generation" (v. 16) and that "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure" provides both a timeframe and a theological rationale for the conquest of Canaan.

Key Terms

Machazeh (מַחֲזֶה, "vision") in verse 1 is a rare term otherwise used primarily in prophetic literature (Num 24:4, 16; Ezek 13:7). This is the first time in the Bible that God reveals Himself through a formal vision, marking the revelation as a formal prophetic experience.

Tsedaqah (צְדָקָה, "righteousness") in verse 6 is theologically central. The verb וְהֶאֱמִן ("and he believed") is in the Hiphil form and expresses active, enduring trust. That Abram’s faith "was counted to him as righteousness" does not mean that faith is a meritorious work, but rather that God recognized Abram’s trusting response as the right relationship to the covenant promises. The verb "counted" (חָשַׁב) is otherwise used in accounting and evaluation contexts. This verse is quoted in the New Testament (Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6; Jas 2:23).

Tardemah (תַּרְדֵּמָה, "deep sleep") in verse 12 is the same word that describes Adam’s sleep in Genesis 2:21. It denotes a God-given, unnatural state of sleep in which God acts while the human remains passive—a literary device emphasizing that the covenant is solely God’s work.

Historical Parallels

The Mari texts (c. 1800s BC) and the Alalakh texts (c. 1700–1400 BC) contain several covenant documents using the expression "to cut/make a covenant" (Hebrew: כָּרַת בְּרִית, karat berit). This expression, used in verse 18, refers directly to the ritual cutting of the animals. The texts confirm that this was standard terminology throughout the Fertile Crescent for describing the establishment of binding agreements, showing that Genesis 15 reflects authentic practices from the second millennium BC.

Personas2

Eliezer (Abram's servant from Damascus)1 Abraham7

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Palabras clave13

Abram — The main character in chapter 15, later known as Abraham, is a central figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Lord — A title used to refer to God, the almighty Creator.
Covenant — An agreement or commitment between two parties, here between God and Abram.
Land — The area that God promises to give to Abram's descendants, later known as Canaan or the Promised Land.
Vision — A divine revelation or dream that provides insight or guidance.
Sacrificial animal — An animal offered to God as part of a covenant or religious ceremony.
Burnt offering — A ritual act in which smoke from burning offerings rises up to God as a symbolic gesture.
Future — What will happen later; here it refers to prophecies about Abram's descendants and their destiny.
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