Genesis 15:12

Genesis 15:12

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

a. NLT: As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him.

b. NIV: As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

c. YLT: And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon him;

d. Amplified Bible: When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram, and a horror (a terror, a shuddering fear) of great darkness assailed and oppressed him.

e. Septuagint: And about sunset a trance fell upon Abram, and lo! a great gloomy terror falls upon him. 

f. Stone Edition Chumash: And it happened, as the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, a dread! Great darkness fell upon him.

1. “And when the sun was going down…”

a. the sun [8121 * shemesh] [Strong: from an unused root meaning to be brilliant; the sun; by implication, the east; figuratively, a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched battlement:--+ east side(-ward), sun ((rising)), + west(-ward), window.]

b. was going down [935 * bow’] [Strong: a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):--abide, apply, attain, X be, befall, + besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, X certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, + eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, + follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, + have, X indeed, (in-)vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, X (well) stricken (in age), X surely, take (in), way.]

1). An interesting fact of this encounter between Almighty God and Abram is that in verse 5, it appears to be night and yet in verse 12 the sun begins to go down. I have trouble believing that it took Abram the rest of the evening, the next morning and all day the next day to cut up the animals and finish right before the sun went down the next day. Now there may be a simple explanation for this, but because God is in the picture I don’t believe it is simple. Jewish tradition says that God took Abram outside the realm of reason and nature. (Stone Edition of the Chumash. Note under Genesis 15:5). I don’t think it is out of the question to believe that God brought Abram to a place where he could see the stars in the daytime. Supernatural travel has happened to more than a few individuals in Scripture. Elijah, Enoch, Phillip, Jesus, Paul, John. If God can bring a person to heaven such as John and Paul why not to a place where he can see the stars in the daytime.

2. “…a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.”

a. a deep sleep [8639 * tardemah] [Strong: from 7290; a lethargy or (by implication) trance:--deep sleep.]

b. fell [5307 * naphal] [Strong: a primitive root; to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative):--be accepted, cast (down, self, (lots), out), cease, die, divide (by lot), (let) fail, (cause to, let, make, ready to) fall (away, down, -en, -ing), fell(-ing), fugitive, have (inheritance), inferior, be judged (by mistake for 6419), lay (along), (cause to) lie down, light (down), be (X hast) lost, lying, overthrow, overwhelm, perish, present(-ed, -ing), (make to) rot, slay, smite out, X surely, throw down.]

c. upon Abram [97 * ‘Abram] [Strong: contracted from 48; high father; Abram, the original name of Abraham:--Abram.]

d. a horror [367 * ‘eymah] [Strong: from the same as 366; fright; concrete, an idol (as a bugbear):--dread, fear, horror, idol, terrible, terror.]

e. great [1419 * gadowl] [Strong: from 1431; great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent:--+ aloud, elder(-est), + exceeding(-ly), + far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, X sore, (X ) very.]

f. darkness [2825 * chashekah] [Strong: from 2821; darkness; figuratively, misery:--darkness.]

g. fell [5307 * naphal] See ‘fell’ above.