Genesis 15:14-16

15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. ¹  Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, ²  you will go to your ancestors ³  in peace and be buried at a good old age. ⁴  15:16 In the fourth generation ⁵  your descendants ⁶  will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” ⁷ 

Genesis 26:3

26:3 Stay ⁸  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ⁹  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ¹⁰  and I will fulfill ¹¹  the solemn promise I made ¹²  to your father Abraham.

Genesis 35:12

35:12 The land I gave ¹³  to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants ¹⁴  I will also give this land.”

Genesis 46:4

46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. ¹⁵  Joseph will close your eyes.” ¹⁶ 

Genesis 48:21

48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you ¹⁷  and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.

Exodus 3:16-17

3:16 “Go and bring together ¹⁸  the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, ¹⁹  appeared ²⁰  to me – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – saying, “I have attended carefully ²¹  to you and to what has been done ²²  to you in Egypt, 3:17 and I have promised ²³  that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, ²⁴  to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

[15:14]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.

[15:15]  ³ sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.

[15:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “in a good old age.”

[15:16]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “is not yet complete.”

[26:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.

[26:3]  ⁹ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

[26:3]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[26:3]  ¹¹ tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.

[26:3]  ¹² tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

[35:12]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew verb translated “gave” refers to the Abrahamic promise of the land. However, the actual possession of that land lay in the future. The decree of the Lord made it certain; but it has the sense “promised to give.”

[35:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and to your offspring after you.”

[46:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.”

[46:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.

[48:21]  ¹⁷ tn The pronouns translated “you,” “you,” and “your” in this verse are plural in the Hebrew text.

[3:16]  ¹⁸ tn The form is the perfect tense with the sequential vav (ו) linking the nuance to the imperative that precedes it. Since the imperative calls for immediate action, this form either carries the same emphasis, or instructs action that immediately follows it. This applies likewise to “say,” which follows.

[3:16]  ¹⁹ sn “The God of your fathers” is in simple apposition to the name “the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”) as a recognizable identification. If the holy name were a new one to the Israelites, an explanation would have been needed. Meanwhile, the title “God of my/your/our father(s)” was widely used in the ancient Near East and also in Genesis (26:24; 28:13; 31:5, 29; 46:1, 3; N. M. Sarna, Exodus [JPSTC], 268).

[3:16]  ²⁰ tn The form is the Niphal perfect of the verb “to see.” See the note on “appeared” in 3:2.

[3:16]  ²¹ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) has traditionally been rendered “to visit.” This only partially communicates the point of the word. When God “visited” someone, it meant that he intervened in their lives to change their circumstances or their destiny. When he visited the Amalekites, he destroyed them (1 Sam 15:2). When he visited Sarah, he provided the long awaited child (Gen 21:1). It refers to God’s active involvement in human affairs for blessing or for cursing. Here it would mean that God had begun to act to deliver the Israelites from bondage and give them the blessings of the covenant. The form is joined here with the infinitive absolute to underscore the certainty – “I have indeed visited you.” Some translate it “remember”; others say “watch over.” These do not capture the idea of intervention to bless, and often with the idea of vengeance or judgment on the oppressors. If God were to visit what the Egyptians did, he would stop the oppression and also bring retribution for it. The nuance of the perfect tense could be a perfect of resolve (“I have decided to visit”), or an instantaneous perfect ( “I hereby visit”), or a prophetic perfect (“I have visited” = “I will visit”). The infinitive absolute reinforces the statement (so “carefully”), the rendering “attended to” attempts to convey the ideas of personal presence, mental awareness, and action, as when a nurse or physician “attends” a patient.

[3:16]  ²² tn The second object for the verb is the passive participle הֶעָשׂוּי (he’asuy). To say that God has visited the oppression (or “attended to” it) affirms that God has decided to judge the oppressing people as he blesses Israel.

[3:17]  ²³ tn Heb “And I said.”

[3:17]  ²⁴ tn See the note on this list in 3:8.