He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Parallel Translations
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He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
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And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
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And He said unto him: 'Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.'
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Genesis 15:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 14:22 and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.
- Leviticus 14:30 He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, which ever he is able to afford,
- Luke 2:24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
- Leviticus 1:14 “ ‘If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering from turtledoves or of young pigeons.
- Leviticus 3:1 “ ‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 3:6 “ ‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh is from the flock, either male or female, he shall offer it without defect.
- Leviticus 9:2 and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defect, and offer them before Yahweh.
- Genesis 22:13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
- Leviticus 1:3 “ ‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 1:10 “ ‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect.
- Leviticus 9:4 and a bull and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Yahweh; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today Yahweh appears to you.’ ”
- Leviticus 12:8 If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’ ”
- Psalms 50:5 “Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
- Isaiah 15:5 My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. Take me an heifer of three years old.…
9. Take me an heifer of three years old. Some, instead of an heifer of three years old translate the passage, ‘three heifers’ and in each species of animals enumerated, would make the number three. Yet the opinion of those who apply the word three to the age of the heifer, is more general. Moreover, although God would not deny his servant what he had asked; he yet, by no means, granted what would gratify the desire of the flesh. For, what certainty could be added to the promise, by the slaughter of an heifer, or goat, or ram? For the true design of sacrifice, of which we shall see more presently, was hitherto hidden from Abram. Therefore by obeying the command of God, of which, however, no advantage was apparent, he hence proves the obedience of his faith; nor did his wish aim at any other end than this; namely, that the obstacle being removed, he might, as was just, reverently acquiesce in the word of the Lord. Let us, therefore, learn meekly to embrace those helps which God offers for the confirmation of our faith; although they may not accord with our judgment, but rather may seem to be a mockery; until, at length, it shall become plain from the effect, that God was as far as possible from mocking us.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me…
Gen 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
Ver. 9. Take me a heifer, &c.] Here God commands him a busy sacrifice, and then casts him into a terrible sleep; the better to prepare him to receive the ensuing oracle, and to teach him that he may not rashly rush upon divine mysteries. Heathens could say, Non loquendum de Deo absque lumine ;{ a} that is, without premeditation and advised consideration.
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{a} Pythagoras
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Take and offer at my command, and for my…
Take and offer at my command, and for my service,
an heifer of three years old, at which time it is perfect in stature and strength, and therefore fittest for God’s service. This and the other creatures here following, and sacrifices, are the same which afterwards were prescribed in the Levitical law.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he took unto him all these,.... The heifer,…
And he took unto him all these,.... The heifer, goat, ram, turtle, and young pigeon, not to himself, but to the Lord, as he was bid, and offered them before him, as the above Targums paraphrase it; or however he took them for his use, and set them before him, and did with them as he directed him:
and divided them in the midst; that is, the three animals, the heifer, goat, and ram; he did not take off their several limbs, and cut them up in small parts, but cut them in halves:
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and laid each piece one against another; one half against the other, the left side against the right, shoulder against shoulder, and leg against leg, so that they might seem to join, or might be easily joined together again, or however answer one another; though it is generally thought there was such a distance of the one from the other, as that there might be a passage between them; it being usual in making covenants for the covenanters to pass between the parts of a creature slain, signifying, that should they break the covenant made, they deserved to be cut asunder as that creature was; see Gill on Jer 34:18. So a burning lamp, or lamp of fire, an emblem of the divine Being, is said, Gen 15:17, to pass between those pieces: all this was expressive of the afflictions of the posterity of Abram, of their being distressed in the land of Egypt, cut as it were in twain there, and of their various dispersions in other countries; and yet, like the bones in Ezekiel's vision, were gathered together, and united again: and it may be this may have respect to the division of the people of Israel into two kingdoms, in the times of Rehoboam, and their after reunion, and especially in the latter day, Eze 37:7,
but the birds divided he not; but laid them one against another, as the pieces were laid; so the birds used in sacrifice under the law were not to be divided, Lev 1:17; which may signify, that when the people of the Jews, in the latter day, are converted, and brought together into their own land, when they will better answer the character of turtles and doves than they ever did, will be no more divided and separated from each other.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Take me an heifer - Perhaps Abram expected some…
Take me an heifer - Perhaps Abram expected some sign from heaven, but God gives him a sign upon a sacrifice. Those that would receive the assurances of God's favour, must attend instituted ordinances, and expect to meet with God in them. Observe,
1. God appointed that each of the beasts used for his service should be three years old, because then they were at their full growth and strength. God must be served with the best we have.
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2. We do not read that God gave Abram particular directions how to manage these, knowing that he was well versed in the custom of sacrifices.
3. Abram took as God appointed him, though as yet he knew not how these things should become a sign to him. He divided the beasts in the midst, according to the ceremony used in continuing covenants, Jer. xxxiv, 18, 19, where it is said, they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts.
4. Abram, having prepared according to God's appointment, set himself to expect what sign God would give him by these.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Take me a heifer] עגלה eglah, a…
Verse 9. Take me a heifer] עגלה eglah, a she-calf; a she-goat, עז ez, a goat, male or female, but distinguished here by the feminine adjective; משלשת meshullesheth, a three-yearling; a ram, איל ayil; a turtle-dove, תר tor, from which come turtur and turtle; young pigeon, gozal, a word signifying the young of pigeons and eagles. See De 32:11. It is worthy of remark, that every animal allowed or commanded to be sacrificed under the Mosaic law is to be found in this list. And is it not a proof that God was now giving to Abram an epitome of that law and its sacrifices which he intended more fully to reveal to Moses; the essence of which consisted in its sacrifices, which typified the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world?
On the several animals which God ordered Abram to take, Jarchi remarks: "The idolatrous nations are compared in the Scriptures to bulls, rams, and goats; for it is written, Ps 22:12: Many bulls have compassed me about. Da 8:20: The ram which thou hast seen is the king of Persia. The rough goat is the king of Greece. Da 8:21. But the Israelites are compared to doves, c. So 2:14: O my dove, that art in the cleft of the rock. The division of the above carcasses denotes the division and extermination of the idolatrous nations; but the birds not being divided, shows that the Israelites are to abide for ever." See Jarchi on the place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 15:9. Take me a heifer — Perhaps Abram…
Gen 15:9. Take me a heifer — Perhaps Abram expected some sign from heaven, but God gives him a sign upon a sacrifice. Those that would receive the assurances of God’s favour, must attend instituted ordinances, and expect to meet with God in them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Three years, when these animals have obtained a perfect…
Three years, when these animals have obtained a perfect age.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Take me an heifer, &c.--On occasions of great importance,…
Take me an heifer, &c.--On occasions of great importance, when two or more parties join in a compact, they either observe precisely the same rites as Abram did, or, where they do not, they invoke the lamp as their witness. According to these ideas, which have been from time immemorial engraven on the minds of Eastern people, the Lord Himself condescended to enter into covenant with Abram. The patriarch did not pass between the sacrifice and the reason was that in this transaction he was bound to nothing. He asked a sign, and God was pleased to give him a sign, by which, according to Eastern ideas, He bound Himself. In like manner God has entered into covenant with us; and in the glory of the only-begotten Son, who passed through between God and us, all who believe have, like Abram, a sign or pledge in the gift of the Spirit, whereby they may know that they shall inherit the heavenly Canaan.
Next: Genesis Chapter 16
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Take me — Select for me. Not any…
9. Take me — Select for me. Not any of the animals taken at random is a suitable victim for sacrifice, or for symbolic revelations.
Heifer… goat… ram… — Three separate animals representing the three classes of animals suitable for sacrificial offering, and each to be three years old, the age of full maturity and vigour. The fowls suitable for sacrifice were to be represented by a turtle-dove and a young pigeon. These two kinds of fowls were also adopted among the Mosaic offerings. Comp. Lev_1:14; Lev_5:7; Lev_12:8.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. Take me an heifer, &c.] The sign to…
9. Take me an heifer, &c.] The sign to Abram is the sign of the covenant, of which the ceremonial is here described. This ceremonial is evidently of great antiquity. The writer, perhaps, intends to refer the origin of the institution to the time of Abram and to this occasion. The ceremony is as follows: (1) Animals permitted for sacrifice are selected. (2) They are killed, and their carcases divided. (3) The divided portions are placed in two rows over against each other. (4) The contracting parties pass between the rows, invoking, as they do so, an imprecation upon any violator of the covenant, that he should in like manner be cut asunder.
It is this ceremonial which causes the making of a covenant to be expressed by words meaning “to cut,” e.g. Heb. karath b’rîth, Lat. foedus icere, Gr. ὅρκια τέμνειν.
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The details of the ceremony probably differed slightly from age to age. The origin of some old customs is lost in obscurity. Why, for instance, are the animals mentioned to be three years old? is it because they are to be full grown? (Cf. 1Sa_1:24, R.V. marg.) Why are the birds not to be divided like the beasts? These are questions of a technical ritual character to which at present we can give no answer.
The most interesting Scriptural illustration of covenant ceremonial is afforded by Jer_34:18, “the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9, 10) Take me an heifer . . .…
(9, 10) Take me an heifer . . . —This form of making a covenant was probably that usual in Babylonia, and thus Abram received the assurance of his inheritance by means of a ceremonial with which he was familiar. But in most ancient languages men are said to cut or strike a covenant, because the most solemn formula involved either the cutting of victims in two, or striking them dead, as was the Roman manner. The severing of the bodies was not, as some suppose, to represent the two parties; but, as explained in Jer_34:18-20, it set forth the penalty of perjury, and was usually accompanied by the imprecation upon the covenant-breaker of a destruction as complete as that which had befallen the slaughtered animals. There is no mention in this place of a sacrifice, although the animals are those subsequently set apart for sacrifice by the Levitical law. The heifer, she-goat, and ram at three years old would each have attained its full maturity; but there may be a further symbolic meaning in there being three animals each three years old.
Laid each piece . . . —More exactly, and laid each half over against the other. The birds were not divided; but as there were two, Abram probably placed one on one side and one on the other.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And he said unto him, Take me (literally, for…
And he said unto him, Take me (literally, for me, i.e. for my use in sacrifice) a heifer of three years old. So rightly (LXX, Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, Josephus, Bochart, Rosenm Keil); not three heifers (Onkelos, Jarchi, Kimchi, et alii). And a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old. These offerings, afterwards prescribed by the (Exo_29:15; Num_15:27 Num_19:2; Deu_21:3) were three in number, and of three years each, to symbolize him who was, and is, and is to come (Wordsworth); perhaps rather to indicate-the perfection of the victim in respect of maturity (Murphy). Cf. Ganymede"s offering (in "Lucian"s Dialogues") of a three years old ram for a ransom. And a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon also prescribed by the law (Lev_1:14; Luk_2:24)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the carcasses
the carcasses
"the dead bodies of the animals and birds"
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Abram drove them away
"Abram chased the birds away." He made sure the birds did not eat the dead animals.
translationWords
cow
goat
ewe
Abraham
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.