“[God] said to him: I am God who took you out of Ur Casdim to give this land to you as a possession. [Abram] replied, O Lord God. How can I really know that it will be mine?” (Genesis 15:7-8)
If God was promising Abram that the Land of Canaan would be his, how could Abram dare ask God for proof? Abram was not questioning God’s veracity. Rather, Abram was inquiring how long God’s promise would last. Many times God’s promises are conditional; if one follows in his ways then He will fulfill His pledge—(Ibn Ezra). Abram did not doubt that his children would inherit the land. His question was, if the Jews sin, would they be supplanted by another nation? Or possibly, if the Canaanites repented, would they then retain squatter’s rights to the land? (Ramban) To this, God made a covenant with Abram to assure him that his children would always have a claim to the land.
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Author: Zev S. Itzkowitz
Keywords: Ur, Promise to Abrahm, Promise to Abraham, Land possession, Abram promised land, Abraham was promised the land of Palestine, Abraham promised land, All the land you see, Abraham's inheritance, Abram's inheritance, Inherit the land, Abraham's descendents, Abraham's descendants, Abraham's seed, Abram's seed, Abram's descendents, Abram's descendants, Abraham possession land, Abram possession land
Bible reference(s): Genesis 15:7-8
Source: Zev S. Itzkowitz (ed.), A Byte of Torah, Volume VI, Issue III.
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