This chapter prophesies the enslavement and future redemption , as well as the conditions that must be fulfilled to bring redemption, servitude, being a foreigner in a strange land, and oppression . (Hebrew: עבדות, גרות, ענוי)
When God makes the covenant with Abram (Abraham) and it is sealed with sacrifices cut in half, an oven passing between the pieces, and Abram chasing away raptors from the meat.
Here are, left to right, the Original Version, the 20th Century Version, with packaged meat and a microwave on a pickup truck, and the 21st Century Version, Sarah’s Vegan offerings with solar powered oven.
Genesis 15, translation adapted from the website, Chabad.org. Illustrated portions italicized:
1After these incidents, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram; I am your Shield; your reward is exceedingly great.”
2And Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am going childless, and the steward of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3And Abram said, “Behold, You have given me no seed, and behold, one of my household will inherit me.”
4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one will not inherit you, but the one who will spring from your innards-he will inherit you.”
5And He took him outside, and He said, “Please look heavenward and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So will be your seed.”
6And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him as righteousness.
7And He said to him, “I am the Lord, Who brought you forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”
8And he said, “O Lord God, how will I know that I will inherit it?”
9And He said to him, “Take for Me a three-year-old heifer and three-year-old goat and a three-year-old ram, and a turtle dove and a young bird.”
10And he took for Him all these, and he divided them in the middle, and he placed each part opposite its mate, but he did not divide the birds.
11And the birds of prey descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12Now the sun was ready to set, and a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, a fright, a great darkness was falling upon him.
13And He said to Abram, “You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years.
14And also the nation that they will serve will I judge, and afterwards they will go forth with great possessions.
15But you will come to your forefathers in peace; you will be buried in a good old age.
16And the fourth generation will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites will not be complete until then.”
17Now it came to pass that the sun had set, and it was dark, and behold, a smoking furnace and a fire brand, which passed between these parts.
18On that day, the Lord formed a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt until the great river, the Euphrates river.