Genesis 15:8
in Genesis 15But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, O Lord Jehovah, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
KJV
And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
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This verse in Genesis 15
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd he said, Lord God - אדני יהוה Adonai Yehovah, my Lord Jehovah. Adonai is the word which the Jews in reading always substitute for Jehovah, as they count it impious to pronounce this name.
This site's exposition
brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans
on Genesis 15:7-8
God names Himself by a rescue already done, the LORD who brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans. Exodus 20:2 opens the law at Sinai in the same shape, the God who brought Israel out of Egypt. Abram asks how he can know, and no rebuke follows. Jerome records a reading of Ur as fire, which stands behind the old Jewish story of Abram in the furnace.
This site's exposition
how can I know that I will possess it
Abram replied, Lord GOD, and Adam Clarke gives the Hebrew as Adonai YHWH. Matthew Henry reads the question of how Abram can know he will possess the land as a request to confirm the faith that verse 6 credited to him. Bede agrees.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
But he said: Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it? Abraham is not to be thought to have failed in faith after he believed in God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, so as to say: Lord God, …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Note, Those that are satisfied themselves should desire that others also may be satisfied of the truth of God's promises. John sent his disciples to Christ, not so much for his own satisfaction as for theirs, Matt. xi. Canaan was a type of heaven.
This did not proceed from distrust of God's power or promise, as that of Zacharias; but he desired this, 1. For the strengthening and confirming of his own faith; he believed (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
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.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יֱהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | |
| בַּמָּ֥ה | bamah | <in> how? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אֵדַ֖ע | ʾeda' | will I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִֽירָשֶֽׁנָּה׃ | ʾirashenah | I will take possession of it | H3423 → | 231 times |
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יֱהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →
בַּמָּ֥ה<in> how?
bamahH4100 →752 times
אֵדַ֖עwill I know
ʾeda'H3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִֽירָשֶֽׁנָּה׃I will take possession of it
ʾirashenahH3423 →231 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Psalms 86:17Show me a sign of Your goodness, that my enemies may see and be ashamed; for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
it leads to
- Judges 6:17
Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 41:10–11
But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, that I may repay them.
- Psalms 71:20–21
Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.
- Psalms 71:9–13
Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.
- Micah 7:8–10
Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- Judges 6:17
Through
Isaiah 7:11“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 19:29
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 37:30
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third…
- Isaiah 38:7–8
This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised:
- 2 Kings 19:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this chapter
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.