Genesis 15:16-17

15:16 In the fourth generation ¹  your descendants ²  will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” ³ 

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 

[15:16]  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.

[15:16]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ³ tn Heb “is not yet complete.”

[15:17]  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).

[15:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “these pieces.”