God’s Covenant with Abram: In this account God appears twice to Abram, each time giving him special promises. The text gives no indication of the length of time between these appearances, although it must have been at least a day. In the first appearance God gives Abram an object lesson at night (v. 5), and in the next there is mention of the sun setting (v. 12).

On both occasions Abram receives God’s word like a prophet. In the first he has a vision in which he receives two words, both introduced by a prophetic formula (vv. 1, 4–5). In the second God causes a deep sleep to fall on Abram and then tells him about his descendants’ future (vv. 12–16). The structures of these accounts stand in tandem: God speaks to Abram a word of encouragement (vv. 1, 7); Abram responds by expressing an agoniz…