Genesis 15:10

10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.

Genesis 15:10 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 15:10

And he took unto him all these
The heifer, goat, ram, turtle, and young pigeon, not to himself, but to the Lord, as he was bid, and offered them before him, as the above Targums paraphrase it; or however he took them for his use, and set them before him, and did with them as he directed him:

and divided them in the midst;
that is, the three animals, the heifer, goat, and ram; he did not take off their several limbs, and cut them up in small parts, but cut them in halves;

and laid each piece one against another;
one half against the other, the left side against the right, shoulder against shoulder, and leg against leg, so that they might seem to join, or might be easily joined together again, or however answer one another; though it is generally thought there was such a distance of the one from the other, as that there might be a passage between them; it being usual in making covenants for the covenanters to pass between the parts of a creature slain, signifying, that should they break the covenant made, they deserved to be cut asunder as that creature was, (See Gill on Jeremiah 34:18). So a burning lamp, or lamp of fire, an emblem of the divine Being, is said, ( Genesis 15:17 ) , to pass between those pieces: all this was expressive of the afflictions of the posterity of Abram, of their being distressed in the land of Egypt, cut as it were in twain there, and of their various dispersions in other countries; and yet, like the bones in Ezekiel's vision, were gathered together, and united again: and it may be this may have respect to the division of the people of Israel into two kingdoms, in the times of Rehoboam, and their after reunion, and especially in the latter day, ( Ezekiel 37:7 Ezekiel 37:16-22 ) :

but the birds divided he not;
but laid them one against another, as the pieces were laid; so the birds used in sacrifice under the law were not to be divided, ( Leviticus 1:17 ) ; which may signify, that when the people of the Jews, in the latter day, are converted, and brought together into their own land, when they will better answer the character of turtles and doves than they ever did, will be no more divided and separated from each other.

Genesis 15:10 In-Context

8 But he said, "O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?"

9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.

11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.