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Genesis

About this book

The Promise of Descendants and Land

Chapter 15

1 After these things the Lord’s message came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram!⁠ I am your shield⁠ and the one who will reward you in great abundance.”⁠ 2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?”⁠ 3 Abram added, “Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” 4 But look, the Lord’s message came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 The Lord took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars—if you are able to count them!”⁠ Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”⁠ 6 Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord credited it as righteousness to him.⁠ 7 The Lord said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans⁠ to give you this land to possess.”⁠ 8 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, by what can I know that I am to possess it?” 9 The Lord said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”⁠ 10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.⁠ 11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.⁠ 12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country.⁠ They will be enslaved and oppressed⁠ for 400 years.⁠ 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”⁠ 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.⁠ 18 That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River—⁠ 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,⁠ 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 15:18 and 1 Kings 4:21

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

1 Kings describes Solomon’s territory covering the area from Egypt to the Euphrates river, language that is based on the covenant promise in Genesis, where Abraham is given the land with the same boundaries.

Passages

Genesis 15:18

Hebrew Bible
16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts. 18 That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

1 Kings 4:21

Hebrew Bible
19 Geber son of Uri was in charge of the land of Gilead (the territory which had once belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites and to King Og of Bashan). He was sole governor of the area. 20 The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy. 21 (5:1) Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms paid tribute as Solomon’s subjects throughout his lifetime. 22 Each day Solomon’s royal court consumed 30 cors of finely milled flour, 60 cors of cereal, 23 10 calves fattened in the stall, 20 calves from the pasture, and 100 sheep, not to mention rams, gazelles, deer, and well-fed birds.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Kings

References

"... The smoking fire pot and the flaming torch (verse 17) represent YHWH’s passing between the rows of animals to symbolize his binding himself to keep the covenant. verse 13–16 are a ‘prophecy after the event’ foretelling the captivity in Egypt and the Exodus; its purpose is to account for the long gap between promise and fulfilment. The 400 years of verse 13 and the ‘fourth generation’ of verse 16 can hardly be reconciled; it has been suggested that verse 16, which foreshadows the Israelites’ conquest of the Amorites (Canaanites), is a later revision of the prophecy. The Amorites are said not to be sufficiently wicked as yet to deserve this fate. The promise of verse 18–21, which contains a comprehensive list of the peoples believed to have preceded Israel in the land, describes the boundaries of the land in very grand terms—from the borders of Egypt to the Euphrates. In fact the borders of the state of Israel were probably never as extensive (1 Kings 4:21 is hardly a sober historical statement). The covenant with Abraham (verse 18), who here represents the future nation of Israel, is a free, unconditional promise, unlike the covenant of Sinai ..."
John Barton and John Muddiman, Oxford Bible Commentary: The Pentateuch (Oxford University Press, 2010), 70.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 15:18 and 1 Kings 4:21

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