Thank you for the biblical question on the land promised by God to Abraham, “Why did God promise Abraham the whole of Egypt in Genesis 15 and only Canaan in Genesis 17?”
It may appear that God promise Abraham the whole land of Egypt, but Genesis 15 excludes the land of Egypt.
Genesis 15 says this, “When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites” (NIV).
As I read the text in verse 18, it states FROM the Wadi of Egypt TO the great river, the Euphrates is the Promised Land given to Abram. In order to avoid any misunderstanding by Abram, God specifies 10 nations or people group’s land that will become his. Thus Genesis 15 does not include the land of Egypt.
Genesis 17 states that God will Abram the whole land of the Canaanites. The text says this, “8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God” (NIV). God uses a general term for the territory that Abram was walking and encamping during his lifetime in Canaan. God did not promise the land of Egypt to Abram in Genesis 17.
SUMMARY: Genesis 15 and 17 states that the land given to Abram were the Canaanites land, excluding the land of Egypt.
For further insight and discussion: