Genesis 15:11
New International Version
Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

New Living Translation
Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.

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

Berean Standard Bible
And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

King James Bible
And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

New King James Version
And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

New American Standard Bible
And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

NASB 1995
The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

NASB 1977
And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Amplified Bible
The birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

Christian Standard Bible
Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

American Standard Version
And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And a bird of prey was descending on the carcasses and Abram was driving it off.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And birds came down upon the bodies, even upon the divided parts of them, and Abram sat down by them.

Contemporary English Version
And when birds came down to eat the animals, Abram chased them away.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the fowls came down upon carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

English Revised Version
And the birds of prey came down upon the carcases, and Abram drove them away.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Good News Translation
Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.

International Standard Version
When birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Literal Standard Version
and the ravenous birds come down on the carcasses, and Abram causes them to turn back.

Majority Standard Bible
And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

New American Bible
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them away.

NET Bible
When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

New Revised Standard Version
And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

New Heart English Bible
And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

Webster's Bible Translation
And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

World English Bible
The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Young's Literal Translation
and the ravenous birds come down upon the carcases, and Abram causeth them to turn back.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God Confirms His Promise
10So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.…

Cross References
Genesis 15:10
So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.

Genesis 15:12
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.


Treasury of Scripture

And when the fowls came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

fowls.

Ezekiel 17:3,7
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: …

Matthew 13:4
And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Abram.

Psalm 119:13
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

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Abram Birds Bodies Carcases Carcasses Causeth Drove Evil Fowls Prey Ravenous Scared Turn
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Abram Birds Bodies Carcases Carcasses Causeth Drove Evil Fowls Prey Ravenous Scared Turn
Genesis 15
1. God encourages Abram, who asks for an heir.
4. God promises him a son, and a multiplying of his seed.
6. Abram is justified by faith.
7. Canaan is promised again,
9. and confirmed by a sign, and a vision,
18. prophetic of the condition of his posterity till brought out of Egypt.














(11) And when the fowls . . . --Heb., And the birds of prey came down upon the carcases, and Abram scared them away. Had there been a sacrifice the fire would have kept the vultures from approaching; but the bodies lay exposed, and Abram therefore kept guard over them, lest the purpose of the ceremonial should be frustrated by any want of respect shown to the outward symbols.

Verse 11. - And when the fowls - literally, and the bird of prey, a collective singular with the article, as in Genesis 14:13, symbolizing the Egyptians and other adversaries of Israel, as in Ezekiel 17:3, 7, 12; Ezekiel 39:4, 17; Revelation 19:17, 18 (Knobel, Rosenmüller, Lunge, Keil, Kalisch), which may be regarded as probable if the divided victims represented Israel in affliction, which is doubtful (vide supra). It does not appear necessary to attach any special significance to the descent of the vultures, which are always attracted towards carrion, and the introduction of which here completes the naturalness of the scene - came down upon the caresses (the LXX. interpolates, ἐπὶ τὰ διχοτομήματα), Abram drove them away. Literally, caused them to be blown away, i.e. by blowing. "Though Abram is here represented as the instrument, yet the effect is to be ascribed primarily to the tutelar agency of omnipotence" (Bush; cf. Exodus 15:10; Ezekiel 21:31). The act of scaring the voracious birds has been taken to represent the ease with which Abram or Israel would ward off his enemies (Jonathan, Targums, Rosenmüller, Bush); the averting of destruction from the Israelites through Abram's merit (Kalisch, Keil); Abram's religious regard for and observance of God's treaty (Wordsworth); the patriarch's expectation that God was about to employ the sacrificial victims for some holy purpose (Alford); simply his anxiety to preserve the victims pure and un-mutilated for whatever end they might have to serve (Murphy).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And the birds of prey
הָעַ֖יִט (hā·‘a·yiṭ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5861: A hawk, other bird of prey

descended
וַיֵּ֥רֶד (way·yê·reḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3381: To come or go down, descend

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the carcasses,
הַפְּגָרִ֑ים (hap·pə·ḡā·rîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6297: A carcase, an idolatrous image

but Abram
אַבְרָֽם׃ (’aḇ·rām)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 87: Abram -- 'exalted father', the original name of Abraham

drove them away.
וַיַּשֵּׁ֥ב (way·yaš·šêḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5380: To blow, to disperse


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OT Law: Genesis 15:11 The birds of prey came down (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 15:10
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