Genesis 13:15

Gen 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Ver. 15. For all the land which thou seest is thine.] "God gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as a foot breadth"; {Act 7:5} yet he promised that he would give it to him: and that Abram took for good freehold. Men use to reckon their wealth, not by what ready money they have only, but by the good bonds and leases they can produce. A great part of a Christian’s estate lies in bonds and bills of God’s hand.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meaning, a long time, and till the coming of Christ as Exod. 12:14 and 21:6; Deut. 15:17, and spiritually this is referred to the true children of Abram, born according to the promise, and not according to the flesh, which are heirs of the true land of Canaan.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 15. To thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.] This land was given to Abram, that it might lineally and legally descend to his posterity; and though Abram himself cannot be said to have possessed it, Ac 7:5, yet it was the gift of God to him in behalf of his seed; and this was always the design of God, not that Abram himself should possess it, but that his posterity should, till the manifestation of Christ in the flesh. And this is chiefly what is to be understood by the words for ever, אד עולם ad olam, to the end of the present dispensation, and the commencement of the new. עולם olam means either ETERNITY, which implies the termination of all time or duration, such as is measured by the celestial luminaries: or a hidden, unknown period, such as includes a completion or final termination of a particular era, dispensation, c. therefore the first is its proper meaning, the latter its accommodated meaning. See Clarke on Ge 17:7. See Clarke on Ge 21:33.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever] The gift to Abram is one of promise and prediction. The gift to his “seed” was to be fulfilled in history. If the words “for ever” are to have their fullest meaning, the land is a pledge symbolic of God’s mercy and goodness towards the people. Their expansion and discipline will be in Palestine. The land and the people will be identified.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it,.... Not only so much of it as his eye could reach, but all of it, as far as it went, which way soever he looked; and this he gave him to sojourn in now where he pleased, and for his posterity to dwell in hereafter; he gave him the title to it now, and to them the possession of it for future times:

and to thy seed for ever; the meaning is, that he gave it to his posterity to be enjoyed by them until the Messiah came, when a new world would begin; and which Abram in person shall enjoy, with all his spiritual seed, after the resurrection, when that part of the earth will be renewed, as the rest; and where particularly Christ will make his personal appearance and residence, the principal seed of Abram, and will reign a thousand years; see Gill on Mat 22:32; besides, this may be typical of the heavenly Canaan given to Abram, and all his spiritual seed, and which shall be enjoyed by them for evermore.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And to: This is by way of explanation to the former words: (Haydock) for Abram never possessed a foot of this land by inheritance, Acts viii. 5. Even his posterity never enjoyed it, at least, for any long time. St. Augustine gives the reason; because the promise was conditional, and the Jews did not fulfil their part by obedience and fidelity. (q. 3. in Gen.) It is better, however, to understand these promises of another land, which the people, who imitate the faith of Abram, shall enjoy in the world to come. (Calmet) (Romans iv. 16.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Object. Abram could see but a little part of the land.

Answ.

1. He might now possibly be upon a mountain, from whence he might have a large prospect every way.

2. He gave him all that he saw, but not only that, but also the rest of the land, and therefore he bids him walk through and view the whole land, Gen 13:17.

Quest. How was the land given to Abram, when it is expressly said: He, i.e. God, gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on, Act 7:5.

Answ.

1. God gave Abram the right to it, though not the actual possession of it, until the time that God appointed; as God gave the right of the kingdom to David, but not the possession till Saul's death.

2. God explains himself, To thee and to thy seed, i.e. to thee, that is, to thy seed, and that for thy sake; the particle and being put oft for that is, as 1Ch 21:12, compared with 2Sa 24:13; Eph 1:3, and in many other plaecs, as we shall see.

Quest. How was this for ever, when after some hundreds of years they were turned out of it?

Answer.

1. This promise was made to them upon condition of their obedience, which is oft expressed in other places, as Lev 18:26; Deu 4:25-26; Isa 48:18-19.

2. The word olam, rendered for ever, doth not always signify eternity, but a long continuance, as is evident from Gen 17:13; 48:4; Exo 21:6; Psa 132:14, and many other places of Scripture; and in particular, when it is applied to the Jewish rites and privileges, it commonly signifies no more than during the standing of that commonwealth, or until the coming of the Messias; and so it may here be understood.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

כי את כל הארץ, even though Avram could not see the whole of the land of Canaan from where he stood, G’d told him to look in all the four directions of the globe to tell him that just as the land extended beyond his range of physical vision in every direction, so G’d would give to his descendants all of this as an inheritance, after at this time already having given it to Avram as a gift. The fact that at the moment this land was under the sovereignty of the Canaanites was legally irrelevant. He, Avram, would transfer title to his descendants as his heirs. [an inheritance cannot be revoked, whereas a gift can be revoked by the donor. Ed.]

עד עולם, they would expel the nations living here from this land. Even though, eventually, the Israelites themselves would be exiled from their land, in the end they would return there on a permanent enduring basis.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.