32 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Genesis 15 This chapter informs us of a gracious appearance of God to Abram, and of a kind promise made unto him, Genesis 15:1; of Abram's request for an heir, Genesis 15:2; of an answer to it, that he should have one, and even a numberless seed, Genesis 15:4; which he gave credit to, Genesis 15:6; upon which he has a fresh promise...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
After these things,.... The battle of the kings, the captivity of Lot, the rescue of him and his goods, and of those of Sodom and Gomorrah by Abram, and the conversation that passed between him, and the kings of Sodom and Salem: the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision; Christ, the essential Word, appeared to Abram in an human form,...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter we have a solemn treaty between God and Abram concerning a covenant that was to be established between them. In the former chapter we had Abram in the field with kings; here we find him in the mount with God; and, though there he looked great, yet, methinks, here he looks much greater: that honour have the great men of the world,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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. 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? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,.... As if he should say, what signifies what thou givest me of temporal blessings, if thou withholdest from me the blessing of a child; from whom it might be hoped and believed would spring the promised Messiah, in whom all nations of the earth shall be blessed. All my wealth...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Abram said, behold, to me thou hast given no seed,.... He had bestowed many temporal blessings on him, as well as spiritual ones, having given himself in covenant, and all things in it, but he had not given him a child: and lo, one born in my house is mine heir; meaning either Eliezer or his son, whom he had made his heir, or intended to make...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And behold, the word of the Lord [came] unto him,.... Either having disappeared, and then came a second time, or he again spoke unto him: saying, this shall not be thine heir; this Eliezer, this servant of thine, as thou hast made him, or hast intended to make him, giving up all hopes of having issue by Sarai: but he that shall come forth out of...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come out of thine own bowels shall be their heir. 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. Now was his faith tried indeed,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he brought him forth abroad,.... Out of his tent into the open air, which was done through his call, and at his direction; or by an impulse upon his mind; or this might not be real and local, only vision: and said, look now towards heaven; either with his bodily eyes, or with the eyes of his mind: and tell the stars, if thou be able to number...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he believed in the Lord,.... The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are, "in the Word of the Lord;'' in the essential Word of the Lord, in Christ the Lord his righteousness; he believed in the promise of God, that he should have a seed, and a very numerous one; he believed that the Messiah would spring from his seed; he believed in him as his...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Oh, what a blessing to learn the way of ample faith in God! This is the saving quality in many a life. Look through Paul’s list of the heroes of faith; some of them are exceedingly imperfect characters’ some we should hardly have thought of mentioning, but they had faith; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto him,.... After he had expressed his faith in him, and in his word, and the blessedness of a justifying righteousness came openly upon him, and he was declared a justified person: I [am] the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees; not only called him, but brought him out of it; not out of a furnace there, as the Jews...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? What! Abraham, is not God’s promise sufficient for thee? O father of the faithful, though thou dost believe, and art counted as righteous through believing, dost...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?] Not as questioning or doubting whether he should or not; but this he asked for the further confirmation of his faith in the promise, and for the sake of his posterity, that they might more easily and strongly believe that they should inherit the land given and promised to them;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto him, take me an heifer of three years old,.... This, with what follows, is the sign by which Abram might know that he, that is, his seed, should inherit the land of Canaan; for the whole of this is an emblem of the state and condition of his posterity, until they should enter into that land: wherefore he is ordered to "take" out...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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. 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. And when the fouls came down upon the carcases,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he took unto him all these,.... The heifer, goat, ram, turtle, and young pigeon, not to himself, but to the Lord, as he was bid, and offered them before him, as the above Targums paraphrase it; or however he took them for his use, and set them before him, and did with them as he directed him: and divided them in the midst; that is, the three...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses,.... Upon the birds, as Aben Ezra and Ben Melech interpret it, whose carcasses were whole; or rather upon the divided carcasses of the animals, and indeed on both: this is to be understood of birds of prey, as eagles, vultures, kites, crows, c. and are an emblem of the Egyptians chiefly, and other...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the sun was going down,.... Just setting, descending below the hemisphere; or "about to enter" (m) into his chamber, as Piscator observes, from whence he went forth in the morning, as a strong man to run his race; which at sunset is finished according to human appearance, and the common apprehensions of men, who have thought it goes under...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. He had asked for a manifestation, a sign, a token, and, lo, it comes in the “horror of great darkness.” Do not be afraid, beloved, if your soul sometimes knows what horror is. Remember how the favored three, on the Mount of...