Genesis 15:12
in Genesis 15As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.
KJV
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
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This verse in Genesis 15
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA deep sleep - תרדמה tardemah, the same word which is used to express the sleep into which Adam was cast, previous to the formation of Eve; Gen 2:21. A horror of great darkness - Which God designed to be expressive of the affliction and misery into which his posterity should be brought during the four hundred years of their bondage in Egypt; as the next verse particularly states.
This site's exposition
Abram fell into a deep sleep
The Hebrew word here is tardemah, a deep sleep God sends, and it has appeared once before, over Adam at 2:21. Both times the man lies still while God does the work. Great terror and darkness come with the sleep, and the next verse names four hundred years of slavery.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
As he contemplated the wonderful things of God, Abraham was struck with fear, the fear that belongs to the perfect. It will be noted … that the ecstasy came upon him "toward sunset."
(Verse 12) But when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. The word for deep sleep in Hebrew is Thardema (), which means a descending, and we translated it as a deep sleep.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But what is added: When the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and a great and dark dread fell upon him, signifies the great distress and tribulation of the faithful that will occur near the end of this age.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(3.) To be an indication of the nature of that covenant of peculiarity which God was now about to make with Abram. The Old-Testament dispensation, which was founded on that covenant, was a dispensation, [1.] Of darkness and obscurity, 2 Cor. iii.
And when the sun was going down - About the time of the evening oblation. Early in the morning, while the stars were yet to be seen, God had given him orders concerning the sacrifices, ver. 5, and we may suppose it was at least his morning's work to prepare them, and set them in order; which when he had done, he abode by them praying and waiting 'till towards evening.
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2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And when the sun was going down,....
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The Rabbis in the Midrash have interpreted this fourfold. “A dread,” “a great,” “darkness,” “fell.” expression to be an allusion to the servitude of the four exiles, 274 Mentioned further in the text. for the prophet. See Ramban further, Verse, as to the nature of the prophetic vision.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
This is a verse that is to be transposed, its purport being that “thy seed shall be a stranger for four hundred years in a land that is not theirs, and they shall enslave them, and they shall afflict them.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֤י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ | hashemesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| לָב֔וֹא | lavo' | [about] to go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְתַרְדֵּמָ֖ה | vetardemah | and a deep sleep | H8639 → | |
| נָפְלָ֣ה | nafelah | it fell | H5307 → | 435 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַבְרָ֑ם | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֥ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֵימָ֛ה | ʾeimah | dread | H367 → | |
| חֲשֵׁכָ֥ה | chashekhah | darkness | H2825 → | |
| גְדֹלָ֖ה | gedolah | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| נֹפֶ֥לֶת | nofelet | [was] falling | H5307 → | 435 times |
| עָלָֽיו׃ | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וַיְהִ֤יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙the sun
hashemeshH8121 →134 times
לָב֔וֹא[about] to go
lavo'H935 →2568 times
וְתַרְדֵּמָ֖הand a deep sleep
vetardemahH8639 →
נָפְלָ֣הit fell
nafelahH5307 →435 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַבְרָ֑םAbram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
וְהִנֵּ֥הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אֵימָ֛הdread
ʾeimahH367 →
חֲשֵׁכָ֥הdarkness
chashekhahH2825 →
גְדֹלָ֖הgreat
gedolahH1419 →526 times
נֹפֶ֥לֶת[was] falling
nofeletH5307 →435 times
עָלָֽיו׃on him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 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
Job 33:15In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,
it leads to
- Job 4:13
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 12:6
He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- Genesis 20:3
One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”
- Genesis 31:24
But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- Daniel 4:5
I had a dream, and it frightened me; while in my bed, the images and visions in my mind alarmed me.
- Job 4:13
Through
1 Samuel 26:12So David took the spear and water jug by Saul’s head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep…
it leads to
- Genesis 2:21
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
- Genesis 2:21
Through
Genesis 2:21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
it leads to
- Daniel 8:18
While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, helped me to my feet,
- 1 Samuel 26:12
So David took the spear and water jug by Saul’s head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep…
- Daniel 8:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies36
On this chapter
- Abraham
- The Armor of God
- Caleb
- Chaldea
- Fear Not: How Often Scripture Says It
- Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 230; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.