Genesis 15:17
in Genesis 15When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.
KJV
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
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This verse in Genesis 15
Commentary
13 notes on this verseSmoking furnace and a burning lamp - Probably the smoking furnace might be designed as an emblem of the sore afflictions of the Israelites in Egypt; but the burning lamp was certainly the symbol of the Divine presence, which, passing between the pieces, ratified the covenant with Abram, as the following verse immediately states.
This site's exposition
a smoking firepot and a flaming torch
Both parties to an agreement walk between the pieces, and only God passes through. Abram is asleep, which makes it a unilateral covenant, one that binds the party who passed and no one else. The firepot and the torch are the fire Israel will follow out of Egypt.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
When it is added, "And when the sun was now setting there was a flame, and lo, a smoking furnace, and lamps of fire, which passed through between those pieces," this signifies that at the end of the world the carnal shall be judged by fire. The affliction of the city of God, such as never was before, which is expected to take place under Antichrist, was prefigured by Abraham's horror of great darkness about the going down of the sun. When the end of the world draws nigh, so at the going down of the sun, that is, at the very end of the world, there is signified by that fire the day of judgment, which separates the carnal who are to be saved by fire from the carnal who are to be condemned in the fire. And then the covenant made with Abraham particularly sets forth the land of Canaan and names eleven tribes in it from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates. It is not then from the great river of Egypt, that is, the Nile, but from a small one that separates Egypt from Palestine, where the city of Rhinocorura is.
Abraham thought, "Perhaps these kings will destroy each other, or other peoples might rise up and destroy them and empty out the land for us.
What is clearly stated in the text can be expounded as follows. When the sun was already near setting, a flame emerged, and there appeared a smoking oven and fiery torches "that passed between the two parts of the divided animals," burning and lighting up …
Therefore, in order that we may not come to this torture of soul, let us awake while there is time for correction and like good, profitable servants seek the will of our Lord.
Notice, brothers, that what is called a fiery torch passing between those pieces is also not said to have touched the turtledove and pigeon. That evening signified the end of the world.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
So when the sun had set, a dense darkness came over, and a smoking furnace appeared, and a blazing torch passed between the pieces.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
It is probable this furnace and lamp, which passed between the pieces, burned and consumed them, and so compleated the sacrifice, and testified God's acceptance of it, as of Gideon's, Jude vi, 21, Manoah's, Jude xiii, 19, 20, and Solomon's, 2 Chron. vii, 1. That God's covenants with man are made by sacrifice, Psalm l, 5, by Christ, the great sacrifice.
And it came to pass, when the sun went 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.
So it intimates, (1.) That God's covenants with man are made by sacrifice ( Ps. l. 5 ), by Christ, the great sacrifice: no agreement without atonement. (2.) God's acceptance of our spiritual sacrifices is a token for good and an earnest of further favours.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
The words behind it
15 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 |
| בָּ֔אָה | baah | it had gone | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וַעֲלָטָ֖ה | vaalatah | and darkness | H5939 → | |
| הָיָ֑ה | hayah | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֨ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| תַנּ֤וּר | tanur | a fire pot of | H8574 → | |
| עָשָׁן֙ | ʾashan | smoke | H6227 → | |
| וְלַפִּ֣יד | velapid | and a torch of | H3940 → | |
| אֵ֔שׁ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָבַ֔ר | ʾavar | it passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בֵּ֖ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הַגְּזָרִ֥ים | hagezarim | the pieces | H1506 → | |
| הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
וַיְהִ֤יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙the sun
hashemeshH8121 →134 times
בָּ֔אָהit had gone
baahH935 →2568 times
וַעֲלָטָ֖הand darkness
vaalatahH5939 →
הָיָ֑הit was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
וְהִנֵּ֨הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
תַנּ֤וּרa fire pot of
tanurH8574 →
עָשָׁן֙smoke
ʾashanH6227 →
וְלַפִּ֣ידand a torch of
velapidH3940 →
אֵ֔שׁfire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָבַ֔רit passed
ʾavarH5674 →556 times
בֵּ֖יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
הַגְּזָרִ֥יםthe pieces
hagezarimH1506 →
הָאֵֽלֶּה׃<the> these
haelehH428 →746 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
Judges 6:21Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the…
it leads to
- Leviticus 9:24
Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 7:1
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 18:38
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 9:24
Through
Jeremiah 11:4which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:12
I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.
- Jeremiah 7:22–23
For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
- Deuteronomy 4:20
Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.
- 1 Kings 8:51
For they are Your people and Your inheritance; You brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace for iron.
- Leviticus 26:12
Through
1 Chronicles 21:26And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the LORD, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
it leads to
- Judges 6:21
Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the…
- Judges 6:21
Where this verse is studied
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About Genesis
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.24; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 82.3; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 233-34; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 12:3; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.