God Makes a Covenant with Abram (Genesis 15:1–21)
Chapter 15 consists of a series of dialogues or conversations between God and Abram in which the narrator pauses at certain points to address the reader or to describe events. The chapter is divided into two parts. In the first part, God promises Abram a son and many descendants (verses 1–6). In the second God promises Abram the land (verses 15:7–21).
In the first section. God is the speaker in verses 1, 4, and 5; and Abram is the speaker in verses 2 and 3. The narrator closes the first episode by addressing the reader in verse 6. In the second episode God speaks in verses 7, 9, 13, 14, 15, and 16, and Abram in verse 8. In verses 10, 11, and 12, the narrator describes for the reader what Abram does and what happens to him. Beginning with verse 13 and continuing through verse 16, the action is interrupted as God foretells what will happen to Abram’s descendants and how he will die. The narrator then concludes the account by picking up the action left off at verse 12 and completing it in verse 17. The narrator concludes the second episode by repeating the promise of the land (verse 18) and listing the ethnic groups that live in the land (verses 19–21).
For many years, scholars have debated the history of the text of chapter 15, and translators may wish to review the various theories put forward in the commentaries. Many interpreters view the chapter as consisting of the earlier promises of offspring and land reshaped into a narrative text. Whatever the text history may be, the text as we now have it has certain problems that must be faced before undertaking to translate it. The essential questions that need answers are:
(1) Given the text as we have it, should we translate the chapter as a single story, or as two or more separate stories? Many commentators regard the two parts (verses 1–6 and verses 15:7–21) as separate; and although most translations give the impression that verse 7 follows on immediately from verse 6, some commentators insist that verses 15:7–21 could have happened on a different occasion, or come from a different source. Since verses 12–16 seem to come as an interruption to the flow of the story in verse 15:7–21, it is suggested that they also may describe what happened on yet another occasion.
(2) Does the reference to a “vision” in verse 1 mean that everything described in the whole chapter takes place only in a vision or dream? (Or everything in verses 1–6, if we regard, verse 7 as beginning a separate story?) Some have taken this view; but it seems quite natural to understand the Hebrew text (and practically all English translations) to mean that Abram did actually go outside his tent in verse 5 and that he actually did the actions described in verses 10–11.
(3) What is the relationship in time between the various events reported in the chapter? Although there are only three direct references to time in the story (in verses 12, 17, and 18), there are actions described that normally only take place at night (verse) or during the day (verses 10–11). This is not such a difficult question if we translate the two parts of the chapter as separate stories. But we should note that we do not avoid the question by regarding the whole chapter as taking place in a vision because there is usually still a sequence of scenes or events within a vision.
The view that is taken in this Handbook is that the whole chapter should be regarded as a single story and that only verses 1–4 and verses 12–16 refer to what took place in the vision or dream. Comments about the time sequence of events will be given as appropriate in the comments that follow.
Reyburn, William David, and Euan McG. Fry. A Handbook on Genesis. New York: United Bible Societies, 1998. Print. UBS Handbook Series.
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