Discovery BoxGenesis 15:9-10 
Context15:9 The Lord 1 said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram 2 took all these for him and then cut them in two 3 and placed each half opposite the other, 4 but he did not cut the birds in half.
Genesis 15:17
Context15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch 5 passed between the animal parts. 6
1 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “in the middle.”
4 tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”
sn For discussion of this ritual see G. F. Hasel, “The Meaning of the Animal Rite in Genesis 15,” JSOT 19 (1981): 61-78.
5 sn A smoking pot with a flaming torch. These same implements were used in Mesopotamian rituals designed to ward off evil (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 113-14).
6 tn Heb “these pieces.”
