Bible Strands
Genesis 15:12
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative describes Abram alone at dusk after he has driven scavenging birds from sacrificed carcasses, immediately preceding the LORD's address in the following verse.
The words — The text employs תַרְדֵּמָה (tardeMah) for a divinely induced deep sleep, coupled with נָפְלָה (nepeLah), meaning it fell upon him.
The thread — This pattern of God-initiated sleep recurs in Genesis 2:21 when God puts Adam into a sleep for creation, and Job 33:15 describes how God uses deep sleep to communicate in visions.
Why it lands — The verse records Abram's physical collapse into terror and darkness, requiring the reader to recognize that God's covenant promises unfold through human vulnerability rather than human strength.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
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.
- 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 10:8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
- 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 4:13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
- Psalms 4:3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him.
- Acts 9:8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
- Acts 20:9 And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead.