Genesis 15:8-16

15:8 But ¹  Abram ²  said, “O sovereign Lord, ³  by what ⁴  can I know that I am to possess it?”

15:9 The Lord ⁵  said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram ⁶  took all these for him and then cut them in two ⁷  and placed each half opposite the other, ⁸  but he did not cut the birds in half. 15:11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, ⁹  and great terror overwhelmed him. ¹⁰  15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ¹¹  that your descendants will be strangers ¹²  in a foreign country. ¹³  They will be enslaved and oppressed ¹⁴  for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. ¹⁵  Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, ¹⁶  you will go to your ancestors ¹⁷  in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁸  15:16 In the fourth generation ¹⁹  your descendants ²⁰  will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” ²¹ 

[15:8]  ¹ tn Here the vav carries adversative force and is translated “but.”

[15:8]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:8]  ³ tn See note on the phrase “sovereign Lord” in 15:2.

[15:8]  ⁴ tn Or “how.”

[15:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the middle.”

[15:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”

[15:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”

[15:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”

[15:13]  ¹¹ 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.

[15:13]  ¹² 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.

[15:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

[15:13]  ¹⁴ 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.

[15:14]  ¹⁵ 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.

[15:15]  ¹⁶ tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.

[15:15]  ¹⁷ sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.

[15:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in a good old age.”

[15:16]  ¹⁹ 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.

[15:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “is not yet complete.”