Genesis 13:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.

NIV: All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.

NASB: for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever.

CSB: for I will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see.

NLT: I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession.

KJV: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

NKJV: for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.

In the previous verse, the Lord instructed Abram to lift up his eyes and to look in every direction. Abram may have been standing at an elevated spot north of Bethel, which would have given a good view of the territories all around him. There, the Lord reiterates His promise to Abram. God will give to Abram and his descendants all the land that he can see, and it will be theirs forever. In fact, this adds to the promise God had given to Abram earlier, both in the scope of the land and in the eternal possession of it.

Earlier verses described Lot "lifting his eyes" by his own will (Genesis 13:10) to look at the region of Sodom. This might be a spiritual parallel to Eve's assessment of the fruit in Eden (Genesis 3:6). Here, however, Abram has only "lifted his eyes" at the request of God. This, if nothing else, demonstrates Abram's growing trust and submission to God.

Genesis 13:14–18 shows Abram settling in Hebron, after offering his nephew Lot the first choice of which area to establish his family. Lot chose to live in the lush—but depraved—region of Sodom. Abram chooses to live on the general region of Canaan. Abram once again hears a promise from God: that he and his uncountable descendants will one day possess all the land he can see.

Both Abram and his nephew Lot have grown so wealthy in animals that they cannot occupy the same area together. They split up. At Abram's gracious offer to choose which land to take for himself, Lot elects to live on the well-watered plains of Jordan near Sodom. After the Lord speaks to Abram, reaffirming and expanding on His promises, Abram settles near Hebron, near the great trees of an Amorite man called Mamre. Abram builds an altar to the Lord there and continues to worship Yahweh.

Genesis 12 ended with Abram and his large company being kicked out of Egypt by an angry Pharaoh. Back in Canaan, Abram and his nephew Lot are forced to split up due to the large size of their herds. Lot's choice to live near the wicked city of Sodom will have grave implications in coming chapters. God reaffirms and expands on His promises to Abram, who settles near Hebron, building another altar to the Lord and worshiping God there.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/5/2024 11:52:50 PM