Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Abram said, “Behold, to me you have given no children: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”
- KJV And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
- NKJV Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
- NASB Abram also said, “Since You have given me no son, one who has been born in my house is my heir.”
- NLT You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abram pressed his concern that a household servant would inherit since God had given him no child. He laid his unmet hope plainly before the Lord.
Overview
Repeating his complaint, Abram underscores that the central promise of descendants seems impossible. By naming the servant as his presumed heir, he highlights the gap between word and reality. God does not rebuke this honesty but answers it directly, teaching that faith may voice its struggles while still waiting on God's faithfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 14:14And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.
- Prov 29:21A servant pampered from his youth will bring grief in the end.
- Eccl 2:7I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,
- Heb 10:35–36So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
- Jer 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Gen 13:16I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
- Prov 30:23an unloved woman who marries, and a maidservant who supplants her mistress.
- Prov 13:12Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
- Gen 12:2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 15:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.