Genesis 15:8

Genesis 15:8

And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

a. NLT: But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”

b. NIV: But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

c. YLT: and he saith, 'Lord Jehovah, whereby do I know that I possess it?'

d. Amplified Bible: But he [Abram] said, Lord God, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it?

e. Septuagint: And he said, Master [and] Lord, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?

f. Stone Edition Chumash: And said,”Mu Lord, HASHEM/ELOHIM: Whereby shall I know that I amd to inherit it?”

1. “And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?”

a. he said [559* ‘amar] [Strong: [Strong: a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.]

b. Lord [136 * ‘Adonay] [Strong: am emphatic form of 113; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only):--(my) Lord.]

c. GOD [3069 * Yhovah] [Strong:  a variation of 3068 (used after 136, and pronounced by Jews as 430, in order to prevent the repetition of the same sound, since they elsewhere pronounce 3068 as 136):--God.]

d. whereby [4100 * mah] [Strong: a primitive particle; properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses:--how (long, oft, (- soever)), (no-)thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.]

e. shall I know [3045 * yada] [Strong: a primitive root; to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.) (as follow):--acknowledge, acquaintance(-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, (un-)awares, can(-not), certainly, comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be (ig-)norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have (knowledge), (be, make, make to be, make self) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have (understanding), X will be, wist, wit, wot.]

f. I shall inherit it [3423 * yarash] [Strong:  a primitive root; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin:--cast out, consume, destroy, disinherit, dispossess, drive(-ing) out, enjoy, expel, X without fail, (give to, leave for) inherit(-ance, -or) + magistrate, be (make) poor, come to poverty, (give to, make to) possess, get (have) in (take) possession, seize upon, succeed, X utterly.]

1). Abram then asked for proof he was getting this land. This is similar to other men of God asking for proof, such as Gideon and Hezakiah.

a). Judges 6:36-40 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

6:37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.

6:38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

6:39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

6:40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

b). 2 Kings 20:8-11 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?

20:9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

20:10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

2). In our dayIf someone in our day wanted to give you something of incredible value, say a 100 plus room mansion with 10,000 acres to go with it in Wyoming, and then give you along with that another 10 million dollars. If you just had a conversation to go by, you wouldn’t think much of the promise. But if this person was Bill Gates and you knew he the kind of wealth he spoke of and much more and he took you to a lawyer who drew up all the papers required and then took you to Congress and he signed it in front of both houses of Congress and they signed it. Then he took you to the White House and he signed it again in front of the President of the United States and then the President signed it. Then he took you to the Supreme Court and he signed it again in front of all the nine Justices and all the nine justices signed also. You would probably believe it was going to happen. The reality is though that in light of all the legal hoops that were just jumped through in order to give you assurance of Bill Gates promise, you still would not have one millioneth of the assurance that Abram had when God responded to Abram’s question, “LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?”

3). God Almighty responded by making a Covenant with Abram, and really, that is what Abram was asking for, because at that time the Covenant was the highest form of legal document.

4). The Blood Covenant, H. Clay Trumbull, p.4. “…the rite of blood-covenanting: a form of mutual  covenanting, by which two person enter into the closest, the most enduring, and the most sacred of compacts, as friends and brothers, or as more than brothers, through the inter-comingling of their blood…”