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mannafest.faith

Genesis 15:4

in Genesis 15

Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

KJV

And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

This verse in Genesis 15

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On Abraham · Written before 397.

But if the words of Abraham are not enough to correct, consider the word of God, who condemns such a mode of transmitting inheritance. "This man shall not be your heir," he says, "but the other who will come out from you, he will be your heir." Who is this other of whom he speaks? In fact Hagar too bore a son, Ishmael, but he is not speaking of him. Instead, he is speaking of holy Isaac. For this reason he added "who will come out from you."

This site's exposition

one who comes from your own body

on Genesis 15:4-5

God sets the servant aside and names an heir who comes from Abram's own body, so there is nothing left for Abram to arrange. Then the LORD takes him outside and tells him to count the stars, if he is able. The promise of offspring beyond counting comes to a childless man.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) · Written before 735.

proposed

This one shall not be your heir; but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. This is proved by reason to have been said about Isaac and his offspring; of whom it was later heard: In Isaac shall your seed …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

This shall not be thine heir--To the first part of his address no reply was given; but having renewed it in a spirit of more becoming submission, "whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it" [Ge 15:8], he was delighted by a most explicit promise of Canaan, which was immediately confirmed by a remarkable ceremony.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְהִנֵּ֨הand there!

    vehinehH2009843 times

  • דְבַר־[the] word of

    devar-H16971440 times

  • יְהוָ֤הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֵלָיו֙[was] to him

    ʾelavH4135510 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH5595305 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H38085168 times

  • יִֽירָשְׁךָ֖he will inherit you

    yirashekhaH3423231 times

  • זֶ֑הthis [one]

    zehH20881180 times

  • כִּי־that

    ki-H35884482 times

  • אִם֙except

    ʾimH5181069 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣ר[one] who

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • יֵצֵ֣אhe will come out

    yetze'H33181067 times

  • מִמֵּעֶ֔יךָfrom inward parts your

    mimeeikhaH4578

  • ה֖וּאhe

    hu'H19311879 times

  • יִֽירָשֶֽׁךָ׃he will inherit you

    yirashekhaH3423231 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 7:12

    And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

    it leads to

    • Acts 2:30

      But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.

    • 1 Kings 8:20

      Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for…

    • 1 Kings 2:1

      As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon,

  • Through

    Genesis 21:12

    But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 11:18

      even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

    • Romans 9:7–8

      Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

  • Through

    Galatians 4:28

    Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 4:23

      His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.

    • Romans 9:8–9

      So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.

  • Through

    Genesis 17:16

    And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”

    it leads to

    • Genesis 35:11

      And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Creation of Light, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Creation of Light, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On Abraham; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.