Genesis 12:8

12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel 1  and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. 2 

Genesis 15:13

15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain 3  that your descendants will be strangers 4  in a foreign country. 5  They will be enslaved and oppressed 6  for four hundred years.

1 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

2 tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

3 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.

4 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.

5 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

6 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.