A smoking furnace. — The word really means the circular firepot which Orientals use in their houses to sit round for purposes of warmth. This one was wreathed in smoke, out of which shot “a burning lamp” (Heb., a torch of flame). For not two symbols, but only one, passed between the divided carcases. Abram had probably passed between them immediately after arranging them, and now Jehovah does the same. Fire is the recognised symbol of the Deity, as in the burning bush, the pillar of fire, the lightnings on Mount Sinai, &c.
Related Commentaries of Genesis 15:17
Genesis 15:17
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burninga lamp that passed between those pieces.