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Gênesis 15

ARC · Chapter 15/50

1Depois d'estas coisas veiu a palavra do Senhor a Abrão em visão, dizendo: Não temas, Abrão, eu sou o teu escudo, o teu grandissimo galardão.

2Então disse Abrão: Senhor Jehovah, que me has de dar, pois ando sem filhos, e o mordomo da minha casa é o damasceno Elieser?

3Disse mais Abrão: Eis que me não tens dado semente, e eis que um nascido na minha casa será o meu herdeiro.

4E eis que veiu a palavra do Senhor a elle, dizendo: Este não será o teu herdeiro; mas aquelle que de tuas entranhas sair, este será o teu herdeiro.

5Então o levou fóra, e disse: Olha agora para os céus, e conta as estrellas, se as podes contar. E disse-lhe: Assim será a tua semente.

6E creu elle no Senhor, e imputou-lhe isto por justiça.

7Disse-lhe mais: Eu sou o Senhor, que te tirei de Ur dos Chaldeus, para dar-te a ti esta terra, para herdal-a.

8E disse elle: Senhor Jehovah, como saberei que hei-de herdal-a?

9E disse-lhe: Toma-me uma bezerra de tres annos, e uma cabra de tres annos, e um carneiro de tres annos, uma rola, e um pombinho.

10E trouxe-lhe todos estes, e partiu-os pelo meio, e poz cada parte d'elles em frente da outra; mas as aves não partiu.

11E as aves desciam sobre os cadaveres; Abrão, porém, as enxotava.

12E pondo-se o sol, um profundo somno caiu sobre Abrão; e eis que grande espanto e grande escuridão caiu sobre elle.

13Então disse a Abrão: Saibas, de certo, que peregrina será a tua semente em terra que não é sua, e servil-os-hão; e affligil-os-hão quatrocentos annos;

14Mas tambem eu julgarei a gente, a qual servirão, e depois sairão com grande fazenda.

15E tu irás a teus paes em paz: em boa velhice serás sepultado.

16E a quarta geração tornará para cá; porque a medida da injustiça dos Amoreos não está ainda cheia.

17E succedeu que, posto o sol, houve escuridão: e eis um forno de fumo, e uma tocha de fogo, que passou por aquellas metades.

18N'aquelle mesmo dia fez o Senhor um concerto com Abrão, dizendo: Á tua semente tenho dado esta terra, desde o rio Egypto até ao grande rio Euphrates;

19E o Keneo, e o Kenezeo, e o Kadmoneo,

20E o Hetheo, e o Pereseo, e os Rephains,

21E o Amoreo, e o Cananeo, e o Girgaseo, e o Jebuseo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God makes a formal covenant with Abram, promising offspring as numerous as the stars and the land of Canaan, and Abram is counted righteous because of his faith.

Explanation

This is a theologically central chapter: faced with Abram's honest doubt about how he would have heirs, being already old and childless, God takes him outside and shows him the stars as a symbol of his future descendants. Verse 6 — 'he believed in the LORD, and he counted it to him for righteousness' — will become one of the most quoted texts in the whole Bible, used by the apostle Paul in Romans 4 and Galatians 3 to explain that salvation comes through faith, not by merit or works. The covenant ceremony, with animals cut in half and a flaming torch passing between the pieces, followed an ancient custom for sealing solemn pacts, in which normally both parties would walk between the pieces — but here, only the presence of God (the smoking furnace and the torch) passes through, showing that the promise depended solely on God's faithfulness, not on Abram's performance.

Fun facts

  • The custom of cutting animals in half to seal a covenant (v. 9-10) is confirmed by texts and archaeological finds from other cultures of the ancient Near East, in which the contracting parties would walk between the pieces saying, essentially, 'may this be done to me if I break this agreement.'
  • The prophecy of 400 years of slavery in Egypt (v. 13) is taken up literally in the book of Exodus, connecting this chapter of Genesis directly to the story that would be told hundreds of years later in the biblical narrative.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Gênesis 15:1After the victory over the kings, God reassures Abram, telling him not to fear retaliation—and presents Himself as shield and reward, promising protection and repayment for what he had done.
  2. Gênesis 15:2Eliezer of Damascus was “the steward of my house,” Abram’s trusted administrator—and in the ancient world it was common that, when a man had no children, this kind of trusted servant would become the family’s official heir. It’s this gap, the lack of a son, that Abram is bringing up to God at this moment.
  3. Gênesis 15:3Abram lays out the problem plainly: without a son of his own, the one who will inherit everything he has built is a servant born in his house, not a blood descendant.
  4. Gênesis 15:4God corrects Abram: the heir will not be the servant Eliezer, but a son who will come from Abram’s own body—the promise starts to become more specific.
  5. Gênesis 15:5God takes Abram outside and uses the stars as an image of descendants impossible to count—the same promise that, at another moment, will also be compared to the sand and the dust of the earth.
  6. Gênesis 15:6Saying that God “counted it to him for righteousness” is an old way of saying that He regarded Abram’s trust in the promise as something that put him in good standing with Him, without Abram having done anything more than believe. It’s a dense phrase, and different readers interpret its scope in different ways.
  7. Gênesis 15:7God identifies Himself as the one who brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees specifically to give him that land—recalling the origin of his journey, told back in chapter 11.
  8. Gênesis 15:8Abram asks for a sign of confirmation, not out of lack of faith, but to know with more certainty how the promise will be fulfilled.
  9. Gênesis 15:9God answers by asking for specific animals for a covenant ritual—the details of this ancient ritual are explained in the next verse.
  10. Gênesis 15:10Cutting the animals in half and laying the halves facing each other was an ancient ritual for sealing an agreement: the parties would walk between the halves as if to say, “may what happened to this animal happen to me too, if I break this agreement.” The birds, being small, didn’t need to be cut in half—only the larger animals went through that process.
  11. Gênesis 15:11Birds of prey try to attack the pieces of the sacrificed animals, and Abram has to drive them off—a detail that shows his vigilance during the covenant ritual that is about to be completed.
  12. Gênesis 15:12As the sun sets, a deep sleep and an intense fear come over Abram—the somber setting that precedes the important revelation told in the following verses.
  13. Gênesis 15:13God warns, well in advance, that Abram’s descendants will live as strangers in a land that isn’t theirs and will be enslaved for “four hundred years”—a prediction that points straight to the slavery in Egypt, told much further on, in the book of Exodus.
  14. Gênesis 15:14God promises that, despite the slavery announced in the previous verse, He will judge the oppressing nation, and Abram’s people will come out of that slavery with great wealth—a prediction that points to the exodus from Egypt.
  15. Gênesis 15:15God guarantees Abram a peaceful death, in peace and at a good old age—a personal promise to him, different from the promise about his descendants’ distant future.
  16. Gênesis 15:16Explains why the return of Abram’s descendants to that land will take generations: the Amorites who lived there had not yet committed enough wickedness to deserve being driven out.
  17. Gênesis 15:17A “smoking furnace” and a torch of fire passing alone between the halves of the animals represent God’s presence sealing the agreement, without Abram needing to pass through as well. Normally both parties to a pact would walk together between the pieces; here only one side passes, suggesting that this promise depends solely on God to fulfill, not on Abram.
  18. Gênesis 15:18God formalizes the covenant by giving the exact boundaries of the promised land, from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates—the most detailed territorial extent given to Abram so far.
  19. Gênesis 15:19Begins the list of peoples who already lived in the promised land and whom Abram’s descendants would later replace.
  20. Gênesis 15:20Continues the list of peoples of the promised land, including the Rephaims, associated with an ancient population of great stature.
  21. Gênesis 15:21Closes the list of peoples, among them the Amorites and the Canaanites, the same groups already mentioned as inhabitants of Canaan in earlier chapters.

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