Genesis 15:10-14

15:10 So Abram ¹  took all these for him and then cut them in two ²  and placed each half opposite the other, ³  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, ⁴  and great terror overwhelmed him. ⁵  15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ⁶  that your descendants will be strangers ⁷  in a foreign country. ⁸  They will be enslaved and oppressed ⁹  for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. ¹⁰  Afterward they will come out with many possessions.

[15:10]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:10]  ² tn Heb “in the middle.”

[15:10]  ³ tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”

[15:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”

[15:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”

[15:13]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

[15:13]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.