And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
and the ravenous birds come down upon the carcases, and Abram causeth them to turn back.
And the birds of prey came down on the carcases; and Abram scared them away.
Genesis — The book of beginnings. Creation, fall, flood, covenant, election, providence — eleven generational seams stitch one unbroken story from heaven-and-earth to a coffin in Egypt.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices8
And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. These divided birds, which descended upon the carcasses, do not indicate anything good, but rather certain spirits of this air seeking their sustenance from the division of the carnal; or certainly …
Bede· Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron), 735patristic
(Verses 10, 11.) And he placed them opposite each other: but he did not separate the birds. However, birds descended upon the carcasses and the divisions thereof, and Abram drove them away. It does not pertain to the present work to explain the sacrament. We only say this, because the Hebrew version has for these words: And birds descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. For he deservedly often delivered Israel from narrow straits.
Jerome· Hebrew Questions on Genesis, 420patristic
And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses,....
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
And when the fowls - העיט haayit, birds of prey, came down upon the carcasses to devour them, Abram, who stood by his sacrifice waiting for the manifestation of God, who had ordered him to prepare for the ratification of the covenant, drove them away, that they might neither pollute nor devour what had been thus consecrated to God.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical
According to these ideas, which have been from time immemorial engraven on the minds of Eastern people, the Lord Himself condescended to enter into covenant with Abram. The patriarch did not pass between the sacrifice and the reason was that in this transaction he was bound to nothing.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed
But God ensures both to him; and that which made these two, the promised seed and the promised land, comforts indeed to this great believer was that they were both typical of those two invaluable blessings, Christ and heaven; and so, we have reason to think, Abram eyed them. God's Covenant with Abram.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
Note, A very watchful eye must be kept upon our spiritual sacrifices, that nothing be suffered to prey upon them and render them unfit for God's acceptance. When vain thoughts, like these fowls, come down upon our sacrifices, we must drive them away, and not suffer them to lodge within us, but attend on God without distraction.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
This was not the first instance of Abram's implicit obedience. He divided the beasts in the midst, according to the ceremony used in confirming covenants, Jer. xxxiv. 18, 19 , where it is said, They cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
The verses this one reaches6
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.
And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
With my lips I proclaim all the judgments of Your mouth.
And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.
But there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed, so that he might water it.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Psalms 119:13With my lips I proclaim all the judgments of Your mouth.
leads to
My mouth will declare Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long, though I cannot know their full measure.
The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.
I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Through
Matthew 13:4And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
leads to
Consider, then, the parable of the sower:
Through
Ezekiel 17:3and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top…
leads to
Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.
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