Genesis 15:3 BSB — MannaFest

Genesis 15:3

Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

KJV

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

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Commentary

5 voices

Ambrose of Milan

On Abraham (397)

Let us also consider what recompense he requests from the Lord. He does not ask for riches, as would a greedy person, nor for a long life in this world, as would one who fears death, nor for power. Rather he asks for an heir worthy of his work. "What will you give me?"—he says—"I am about to depart without children." And then he says, "Because you have not given me posterity, a slave born in my house will be my heir." Let everyone learn therefore not to despise marriage.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Behold to me thou hast given no seed - Not only no son, but no seed. If he had had a daughter, from her the promised Messias might have come, who was to be the Seed of the Woman; but he had neither son nor daughter.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, Till we have some comfortable evidence of our interest in Christ and the new covenant, we should not rest satisfied with any thing else. "This, and the other, I have; but what will all this avail me, if I go Christless?" Yet thus far the complaint was culpable, that there was some diffidence of the promise at the bottom of it, and a weariness of waiting God's time.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, Though we must never complain of God, yet we have leave to complain to him, and to be large and particular in the statement of our grievances; and it is some ease to a burdened spirit to open its case to a faithful and compassionate friend: such a friend God is, whose ear is always open.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But this man could have become his son only by adoption; and how sadly would that have come short of the parental hopes he had been encouraged to entertain! His language betrayed a latent spirit of fretfulness or perhaps a temporary failure in the very virtue for which he is so renowned--and absolute submission to God's time, as well as way, of accomplishing His promise.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
אַבְרָ֔ם	'av.Ram	Abram	H87 →
הֵ֣ן	hen	here!	H2005 →
לִ֔י	Li	to <the> me
לֹ֥א	lo'	not	H3808 →
נָתַ֖תָּה	na.Ta.tah	you have given	H5414 →
זָ֑רַע	Za.ra'	offspring	H2233 →
וְהִנֵּ֥ה	ve.hi.Neh	and there!	H2009 →
בֶן־	ven-	[the] son of	H1121 →
בֵּיתִ֖י	bei.Ti	household my	H1004 →
יוֹרֵ֥שׁ	yo.Resh	[is] inheriting	H3423 →
אֹתִֽי׃	'o.Ti	<obj.> me	H853 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

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
Jeremiah 12:1
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live…
leads to
- Malachi 3:15
  So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
- Psalms 92:7
  that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
- Psalms 37:1
  Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.
- Psalms 73:3–28
  For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Psalms 37:35
  I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
Through
Genesis 14:14
And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.
leads to
- Judges 18:29
  They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.
- Genesis 17:27
  And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.
- Deuteronomy 34:1
  Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,

Featured studies on this passage

On Genesis 15:3

The Abrahamic Covenant: Genesis 12 · 15 · 17, MannaFest

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On Genesis 15:3

The Covenants

Six covenants in succession, cumulative rather than replacing. Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, New. Each narrowing the line of promise while widening the scope of fulfillment.

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Walks through Genesis 15

The Armor of God

Roman legionary equipment surveyed by Paul as Christian discipline (Eph 6:10–18). Six pieces of armor and a seventh element — prayer — that is posture, not armor. Every piece carries an OT echo.

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Abraham Goes to the Land of Canaan — engraving by Gustave Doré

Walks through Genesis 15

Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism, MannaFest

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Walks through Genesis 15

Faith and Works, James and Paul on the Same Abraham, MannaFest

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Walks through Genesis 15

Fire

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About Genesis

The Creation of Light — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Genesis: the study guide →Read chapter 15 →The featured study →

Continue: Genesis 15 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Genesis

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Genesis