And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?”
- BSB But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
- NKJV And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
- NASB But he said, “Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”
- NLT But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”
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 asked how he could know he would truly inherit the land. His question seeks assurance, not denial, of God's promise.
Overview
Abram requests confirmation, much as believers seek assurance of God's promises. This is not faithless doubt but a desire for certainty, and God graciously responds with a solemn covenant ceremony. The Lord's willingness to provide a sign shows His tender accommodation to human weakness, strengthening faith with concrete pledges.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Luke 1:18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
- Luke 1:34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
- 2 Kgs 20:8And 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?
- Isa 7:11Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
- Judg 6:17–24And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.
- Judg 6:36–40And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
- Ps 86:17Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.
- Gen 24:2–4And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
- Gen 24:13–14Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
- 1 Sam 14:9–10If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.
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 15:8 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.