Genesis 15:13-17

15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ¹  that your descendants will be strangers ²  in a foreign country. ³  They will be enslaved and oppressed ⁴  for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. ⁵  Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, ⁶  you will go to your ancestors ⁷  in peace and be buried at a good old age. ⁸  15:16 In the fourth generation ⁹  your descendants ¹⁰  will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” ¹¹ 

15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch ¹²  passed between the animal parts. ¹³ 

¹ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.

² tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.

³ tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

⁴ tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.

⁵ tn The participle דָּן (dan, from דִּין, din) is used here for the future: “I am judging” = “I will surely judge.” The judgment in this case will be condemnation and punishment. The translation “execute judgment on” implies that the judgment will certainly be carried out.

⁹ tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.

¹⁰ sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.

¹¹ tn Heb “in a good old age.”

¹³ sn The term generation is being used here in its widest sense to refer to a full life span. When the chronological factors are considered and the genealogies tabulated, there are four hundred years of bondage. This suggests that in this context a generation is equivalent to one hundred years.

¹⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Heb “is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ sn A smoking pot with a flaming torch. These same implements were used in Mesopotamian rituals designed to ward off evil (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 113-14).

¹⁸ tn Heb “these pieces.”