How would Abram be able to see the stars (Ge 15:5) if the sun had not gone down (v 12)?

Ge 15:

5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.”

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A few verses later:

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram.

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Did the sun set already in v 5?

There was something funny about time in this chapter. Let's see the context at the beginning of the chapter:

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

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Before the sun physically set, Abram had a vision.

2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside

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That happened in the vision.

and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

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Abram saw the stars in the vision.

6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

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God made a promise to Abram in a vision. Now, Abram was out of the vision and into physical reality. The sun had not physically set yet.

7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 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 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

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The above happened in the physical environment. He physically handled the animals and waited.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram.

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His vision continued. He was back to the vision.

And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

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God made more promises to Abram in the vision.

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark,

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Now, he was back to the physical reality with the animal carcasses:

behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

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Next came the summary. All of the above in this chapter happened in one day:

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

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Verses 1–6: vision
7–11: physical environment
12–16: back to the vision
17: back to the physical environment

The chapter blended these two modes of divine communication, interlacing Abram's spiritual encounter with God and his tangible actions in response to God's promises.

See also

• Did God make a covenant with Abram while he was in deep sleep?