On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
Genesis 15:18 (NIV)
When the scriptures tell us that God "made a covenant" with Abram in Genesis 15:18, the word "made" is the hebrew word כָּרַת (kaw-rath). It means to cut down. The idiom is to "cut a covenant."
1. to cut off
– 1. to cut off a body part, behead
2. to cut down
3. to hew
4. to cut or make a covenant
H3772: כָּרַת (kāraṯ)
I wonder if scripture gives this because God is responding to Abram's action.