Before completing the prophecy of the return of the people to Canaan, verse 15 assures Abram of his own future, including his death and burial.

As for yourself: this expression shifts the focus from Abram’s descendants in the distant future to Abram himself in the nearer future. Good News Translation and some other English translations mark this shift with the pronoun “yourself.” In some other languages this shift is stated more fully; for example, “speaking now about you,” “but your story is like this,” or “this is what will happen to you….”

Go to your fathers in peace: this expression is not to be taken literally to mean that Abram’s body would be returned at death to Ur in Babylonia or to Haran, but to be taken as a figurative expression meaning to die. A parallel expression “gathered to his people” is used in Gen 25.8. The nonfigurative form is used in Job 5.26.

In peace: this is the first use of the term shalom in Genesis. As Speiser says, “The emphasis is on security, satisfaction or fulfillment; in other words here ‘in peace of mind, untroubled.’ ” This thought is commonly translated in some languages by idiomatic expressions; for example, “with a cool heart,” “with a quiet innermost.”

You shall be buried: or “they will bury you.”

In a good old age refers not merely to living a great many years but rather to living happily to an advanced age, that is, to die a happy old man. See also Gen 25.8; Judges 8.32; 1 Chr 29.28.

Translators should note how Good News Translation has rearranged the order of the events in verse 15 so that they follow the order in which they happen: “Live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried.” Bible en français courant offers another possibility: “You will die in peace, and you will be buried after a happy old age.”

In some languages this verse may be translated in some such manner as follows: “This is what will happen to you: you will live happily until you have only one hair left. Then you will close your eyes forever with a cool heart, and they will bury you in the ground.” A Pacific translation says this: “You will live for a long time until you are very old, and then you will die with a quiet mind, and they will give you a good burial.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .