Read Genesis 15:1-21 at Bible Gateway.
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Hebrew paragraph divisions:
Gen 15:1-21 {s} Promise reaffirmed by covenant
Strong themes of the parashah:
None this week
Gen 15:1-21 chiastic structure:
1a.1) Gen 15:1, The word of the LORD came to Abram: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield + great reward;
1a.2) Gen 15:2-5, Abram: What will you give me, seeing I have no offspring/ YHVH: So shall your descendants be;
1a) Gen 15:2-3, Abram: Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless/ my heir is Eliezer of Damascus;
1b) Gen 15:4a, The word of the LORD came to him: This one shall not be your heir;
central axis) Gen 15:4b, But one who will come from your own body;
2b) Gen 15:4c, Shall be your heir;
2a) Gen 15:5, Look now toward heaven +count the stars/ So shall your descendants be;”
central axis) Gen 15:6, Abram believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness;
2a.1) Gen 15:7a, Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans;
2a.2) Gen 15:7b-21, To you + your descendants I give this land/ promise ratified by covenant;
1a) Gen 15:7b-8, To give you this land to inherit it/ Abram: Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it;
1b) Gen 15:9, Bring Me a heifer + female goat + ram + turtledove + pigeon;
1c) Gen 15:10-11, He brought these to Him/ cut them + placed each piece opposite the other;
1d) Gen 15:12, When the sun was going down, a deep sleep + horror + great darkness fell upon Abram;
central axis) Gen 15:13-16, Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete;”
2d) Gen 15:17a, It came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold;
2c) Gen 15:17b, There appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces;
2b) Gen 15:18a, On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying:
2a) Gen 15:18b-21, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
gen 15, abram, the father of all who believe
Theme of the parashah:
The promise reaffirmed by covenant
Finding Messiah in Torah:
“A covenant is instituted through a sacrifice of a choice, fatted animal which is cut in two and the parties of the covenant pass through the pieces. If one party fails to meet the agreements of the covenant, then the other may do the same to them.” – Jeff Benner, Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, pg. 74
It is that the blood of the covenant may be avenged in the blood of the covenant breaker, that makes the blood covenant of the ancient world binding and unbreakable. This is why God cutting a blood covenant with Abram gave him the surety that he was asking for in Gen 15:8.
God’s covenant with Abram is a special kind of blood covenant (a royal grant covenant), for Abram did not have an obligation in the covenant other than belief (Gen 15:6). The obligations of the covenant were all on God’s side. God is again teaching us about Messiah, in whose blood the renewed covenant was cut, in which the obligations of the covenant is all of Him and His work, while our part is to put our trust in Him.
For further study off site:
Ancient Hebrew Research Center – Dr. Jeff Benner
Living Word Pictures – Dr. Frank Seekins
What Language Does YHVH Speak? – Brad Scott on Truth2U Radio
Covenant – Jewish Encyclopaedia
Israelite Covenants in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Covenants
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