Genesis 15:5 BSB — MannaFest

Genesis 15:5

And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

KJV

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

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Commentary

4 voices

Ambrose of Milan

On Abraham (397)

What is the meaning then of the expression "he brought him outside"? The prophet is as it were led out, so that he goes outside of the body and sees the limitations imposed by the flesh that is his garment and the infusion of the Holy Spirit who makes a kind of visible descent. We too must exit from the confinement of this our temporary dwelling.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Abram feared he should have no child at all, but God tells him his descendents should be so many as not to be numbered. So illustrious, as the stars of heaven for splendour; for to them pertained the glory, Rom. ix, 4. Abram's seed according to the flesh were like the dust of the earth, Chap. xiii, 16, but his spiritual seed are like the stars of heaven.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

(2.) God is often better to us than our own fears, and gives the mercy we had long despaired of. To affect him the more with this promise, he took him out, and showed him the stars (this vision being early in the morning, before day), and then tells him, So shall thy seed be,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Look now toward heaven - It appears that this whole transaction took place in the evening; see on Gen 13:14 (note). Abram had either two visions, that recorded in Gen 15:1, and that in Gen 15:12, etc.; or what is mentioned in the beginning of this chapter is a part of the occurrences which took place after the sacrifice mentioned Gen 15:9, etc.: but it is more likely that there was a vision of that kind already described, and afterwards a second, in which he received the revelation mentioned Gen 15:13-

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

18 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיּוֹצֵ֨א	vai.yo.Tze'	and he brought out	H3318 →
אֹת֜וֹ	'o.To	<obj.> him	H853 →
הַח֗וּצָה	ha.Chu.tzah	the outside towards	H2351 →
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
הַבֶּט־	ha.bet-	look	H5027 →
נָ֣א	na'	please	H4994 →
הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה	ha.sha.May.mah	the heavens towards	H8064 →
וּסְפֹר֙	u.se.For	and count	H5608 →
הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים	ha.Ko.kha.Vim	the stars	H3556 →
אִם־	'im-	if	H518 →
תּוּכַ֖ל	tu.Khal	you are able	H3201 →
לִסְפֹּ֣ר	lis.Por	to count	H5608 →
אֹתָ֑ם	'o.Tam	<obj.> them	H853 →
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
ל֔וֹ	lo	to <the> him
כֹּ֥ה	koh	thus	H3541 →
יִהְיֶ֖ה	yih.Yeh	it will be	H1961 →
זַרְעֶֽךָ׃	zar.'E.kha	offspring your	H2233 →

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
Hebrews 11:12
And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
leads to
- Genesis 22:17
  I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Genesis 32:12
  But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”
Through
Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
leads to
- Jeremiah 33:22
  As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Genesis 26:4
  I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Genesis 24:60
  And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
- Genesis 13:16
  I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
- Numbers 24:17–19
  I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and…
Through
Romans 4:18
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
leads to
- Romans 8:24
  For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?

Featured studies on this passage

On Genesis 15:5

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

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On Genesis 15:5

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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On Genesis 15:5

Mazzaroth

Twelve constellation groupings; one biblical word (Job 38:32). Bullinger and Seiss read them as a gospel-arc; modern critics trace their figures to Albumazar, not Adam. The objections below are presented at full strength, and the founder's own slot on the page is his to fill.

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The Star of Bethlehem — Edward Burne-Jones

On Genesis 15:5

The Stars

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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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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