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12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep,[a] and great terror overwhelmed him.[b] 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain[c] that your descendants will be strangers[d] in a foreign country.[e] They will be enslaved and oppressed[f] for 400 years. 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve.[g] Afterward they will come out with many possessions.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 15:12 tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”
  2. Genesis 15:12 tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”
  3. Genesis 15:13 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yadaʿ, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.
  4. Genesis 15:13 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 foreigners without rights of citizenship.
  5. Genesis 15:13 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”
  6. Genesis 15:13 tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (ʾinnu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ʾanah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.
  7. Genesis 15:14 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.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep,(A) and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years(B) your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved(C) and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out(D) with great possessions.(E)

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