15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch 4 passed between the animal parts. 5
1 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.
2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “is not yet complete.”
4 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).
5 tn Heb “these pieces.”