Genesis 15:12
New International Version
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

New Living Translation
As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him.

English Standard Version
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

Berean Standard Bible
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

King James Bible
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

New King James Version
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.

New American Standard Bible
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

NASB 1995
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

NASB 1977
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

Amplified Bible
When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram; and a horror (terror, shuddering fear, nightmare) of great darkness overcame him.

Christian Standard Bible
As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

American Standard Version
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And it happened that the sun was setting, and silence fell on Abram, and behold, fear and great darkness fell upon him.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And about sunset a trance fell upon Abram, and lo! a great gloomy terror falls upon him.

Contemporary English Version
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and everything became dark and frightening.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

English Revised Version
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
As the sun was just about to set, a deep sleep-a dreadful, deep darkness-came over Abram.

Good News Translation
When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.

International Standard Version
As the sun began to set, Abram was overcome with deep sleep, and suddenly a frightening and terrifying darkness descended on him.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a dread, even a great darkness, fell upon him.

Literal Standard Version
And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep has fallen on Abram, and behold, a terror of great darkness is falling on him;

Majority Standard Bible
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

New American Bible
As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great, dark dread descended upon him.

NET Bible
When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him.

New Revised Standard Version
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.

New Heart English Bible
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And look, a terror of great darkness fell on him.

Webster's Bible Translation
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.

World English Bible
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.

Young's Literal Translation
And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon him;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God Confirms His Promise
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. 13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.…

Cross References
Genesis 2:21
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man's ribs and closed up the area with flesh.

Genesis 15:11
And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

Genesis 28:11
On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

1 Samuel 26:12
So David took the spear and water jug by Saul's head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.

Job 33:15
In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,

Daniel 10:9
I heard the sound of his words, and as I listened, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.


Treasury of Scripture

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and, see, an horror of great darkness fell on him.

deep.

Genesis 2:21
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

1 Samuel 26:12
So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.

Job 4:13,14
In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, …

horror.

Psalm 4:3-5
But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him…

Acts 9:8,9
And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus…

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Abram Cloud Dark Darkness Deep Dread Dreadful Fallen Falling Fear Fell Great Horror Setting Sleep Sun Terror Thick
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Abram Cloud Dark Darkness Deep Dread Dreadful Fallen Falling Fear Fell Great Horror Setting Sleep Sun Terror Thick
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.














(12) When the sun was going down.--The time described was the evening following the night on which he had received the assurance that his seed should be countless as the stars. He had then, in his trance, also asked for some security that Canaan should be the heritage of his posterity, and in answer had received the command to arrange, upon a large scale, the ceremonial of a solemn treaty-making. The morning had been spent in the performance of the command, and after wards he had watched, probably for several hours, by the side of the divided bodies, uncertain what would happen, but occupied in driving away the vultures, which gathered from all quarters round the abundant feast. At sunset the revelation came to him, not in a waking trance, as on the previous night, but in "a deep sleep," and with those accompaniments of terror so powerfully described in Job 4:12-16, and which the creature cannot but feel when brought near to the manifest presence of the Creator (Daniel 10:8).

Lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.--Heb., lo, a terror, even great darkness, falling upon him. The terror was not mental so much as bodily, caused by a deep gloom settling round him, such as would be the effect of an eclipse of the setting sun, and shutting all mortal things away from his view.

Verse 12. - And when the sun was going down. Literally, was about to go down (cf. Gesenius, § 132). The vision having commenced the previous evening, an entire day has already passed, the interval being designed to typify the time between the pro-raise and its fulfillment (Kalisch). A deep sleep - tardemah (cf. Adam s sleep, Genesis 2:21); ἔκστασις (LXX.); a supernatural slumber, as the darkness following was not solely due to natural causes - fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness - literally, an, horror, a great darkness, i.e. an overwhelming dread occasioned by the dense gloom with which he was encircled, and which, besides Being designed to conceal the working of the Deity from mortal vision (Knobel), was meant to symbolize the Egyptian bondage (Grotius, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, Aalisch), and perhaps also, since Abram's faith embraced a larger sphere than Canaan (Hebrews 11:10, 14, 16), and a nobler seed than Sarah's son (John 8:56), the sufferings of Christ (Wordsworth, Inglis) - fell upon him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
As the sun
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ (haš·še·meš)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement

was
וַיְהִ֤י (way·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

setting,
לָב֔וֹא (lā·ḇō·w)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

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

fell
נָפְלָ֣ה (nā·p̄ə·lāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

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

a deep sleep,
וְתַרְדֵּמָ֖ה (wə·ṯar·dê·māh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8639: A lethargy, trance

and suddenly
וְהִנֵּ֥ה (wə·hin·nêh)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

great
גְדֹלָ֖ה (ḡə·ḏō·lāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

terror
אֵימָ֛ה (’ê·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 367: Fright, an idol

and darkness
חֲשֵׁכָ֥ה (ḥă·šê·ḵāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2825: Darkness, misery

overwhelmed
נֹפֶ֥לֶת (nō·p̄e·leṯ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

him.
עָלָֽיו׃ (‘ā·lāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against


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OT Law: Genesis 15:12 When the sun was going down (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 15:11
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