Genesis 15:9

15:9 The Lord ¹  said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Genesis 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ²  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ³  this land, from the river of Egypt ⁴  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

[15:9]  ¹ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:18]  ² tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ³ tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).

[15:18]  ⁴ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.