And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
Parallel translations
- WEB Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying,
- BSB Then Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
- NKJV Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
- NASB Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
- NLT At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him,
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 fell facedown as God continued speaking. His posture shows reverent submission before the Almighty.
Overview
Overwhelmed by God's presence and word, Abram prostrates himself in worship and humility. This response of awe befits the encounter with El Shaddai. Abram's reverent submission models the proper human posture before God's gracious self-revelation, receiving His covenant not as a negotiator but as a worshiper.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Gen 17:17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
- Judg 13:20For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
- 1 Kgs 18:39And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
- Num 16:45Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
- Rev 1:17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
- Matt 17:6And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
- Josh 5:14And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
- Exod 3:6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
- Ezek 3:23Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.
- Dan 10:9Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
- Ezek 1:28As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
- Lev 9:23–24And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.
- Num 16:22And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
- Dan 8:17–18So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
- Num 14:5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
- Ezek 9:8And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
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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 17:3 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.