Genesis 15:16-17

15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”

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


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.

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

tn Heb “is not yet complete.”

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).

tn Heb “these pieces.”