And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Parallel translations
- WEB Abram said, “Behold, to me you have given no children: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”
- BSB Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my 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 brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
- Prov 29:21He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.
- Eccl 2:7I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
- Heb 10:35–36Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
- Jer 12:1Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
- Gen 13:16And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
- Prov 30:23For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
- Prov 13:12Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
- Gen 12:2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
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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.