Genesis 15:13

Genesis 15:13

And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

a. NLT: Then the LORD said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.

b. NIV: Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

c. YLT: and He saith to Abram, 'knowing -- know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,

d. Amplified Bible: And [God] said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted and oppressed for 400 years. [Fulfilled in Exod. 12:40.]

e. Septuagint: And it was said to Abram, Thou shalt surely know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land not their own, and they shall enslave them, and afflict them, and humble them four hundred years. 

f. Stone Edition Chumash: And He said to Abram, “Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own, and they will serve them, and oppress them, gour hundred years.

1. “And he said unto Abram…”

a. and he said [559 * ‘amar] [Strong: a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.

b. Abram [87 * ‘Abram] [Strong: contracted from 48; high father; Abram, the original name of Abraham:--Abram.]

2. “…Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs…”

a. know of a surety [3045 * yada] [Strong: a primitive root; to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.) (as follow):--acknowledge, acquaintance(-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, (un-)awares, can(-not), certainly, comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be (ig-)norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have (knowledge), (be, make, make to be, make self) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have (understanding), X will be, wist, wit, wot.]

b. thy seed [2233 * zera] [Strong: from 2233; seed; figuratively, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity:--X carnally, child, fruitful, seed(-time), sowing- time.]

c. a stranger [1616 * ger] [Strong: from 1481; properly, a guest; by implication, a foreigner:--alien, sojourner, stranger.]

d. in a land [776 * ‘erets] [Strong: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):--X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.]

3. “…and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;”

a. shall serve them [5647 * ‘abad] [Strong: a primitive root; to work (in any sense); by implication, to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.:--X be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, + husbandman, keep, labour(-ing man, bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve(-ing, self), (be, become) servant(-s), do (use) service, till(-er), transgress (from margin), (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper,]

b. they shall afflict them [6031 * ‘anah] [Strong: a primitive root (possibly rather ident. with 6030 through the idea of looking down or browbeating); to depress literally or figuratively, transitive or intransitive (in various applications, as follows):--abase self, afflict(-ion, self), answer (by mistake for 6030), chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing (by mistake for 6030), speak (by mistake for 6030), submit self, weaken, X in any wise.]

c. four [702 * ‘arba] [Strong: masculine oarbaah {ar-baw-aw'}; from 7251; four:--four.]

d. hundred [3967 * me’ah] [Strong: a primitive numeral; a hundred; also as a multiplicative and a fraction:--hundred((-fold), -th), + sixscore.]

1). Genesis Record, Henry Morris, p.327. “God said they would be in an alien land 400 years, a round number which was later seen to be exactly 430 years…Genesis 15:13 can be interpreted: “Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and [all the people among whom they dwell, both Canaanites and Egyptians] shall afflict them four hundred years.”

2). This point is backed up by the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament written approximately 300 B.C., and the Samaritan Pentateuch.

a). [Septuagint] And the sojourning of the children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was four hundred and thirty years.

b). [Samaritan Penteteuch] "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers which they had dwelt in the land of Canaan and in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years."

3). Another Jewish Rabbinical source is the Chumash and it supports the fact that the four hundred plus years include the time from the cutting of the Covenant until the giving of the law 430 years later.

a). Stone Edition of the Chumash, Mesorah Publications, Ltd. Ninth Impression of the Eleventh Edition, July 2007. “Although the verse gives the duration of Israel’s stay in Egypt as 430 years, it is clear that the nation could not have been in Egypt for that long, for the lifetimes of Kehoth, who came with Jacob, and his son Amram total only 270 years, and Amram’s son Moses was eighty at the time of the Exodus. Rather, the Rabbinic tradition, as cited by Rashi, is as follows: The Covenant between the Parts Genesis 15:7-21) took place 430 years before the Exodus, and that is the period referred to in our verse.”

4). More importantly, the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost also said the period between the cutting of the Covenant and the giving of the law was 430 years.

a). Galatians 3:16, 17 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

3:17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.