Discovery BoxGenesis 15:8-17 
Context15:8 But 1 Abram 2 said, “O sovereign Lord, 3 by what 4 can I know that I am to possess it?”
15:9 The Lord 5 said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram 6 took all these for him and then cut them in two 7 and placed each half opposite the other, 8 but he did not cut the birds in half. 15:11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, 9 and great terror overwhelmed him. 10 15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain 11 that your descendants will be strangers 12 in a foreign country. 13 They will be enslaved and oppressed 14 for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. 15 Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, 16 you will go to your ancestors 17 in peace and be buried at a good old age. 18 15:16 In the fourth generation 19 your descendants 20 will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” 21
15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch 22 passed between the animal parts. 23
1 tn Here the vav carries adversative force and is translated “but.”
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn See note on the phrase “sovereign
4 tn Or “how.”
5 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “in the middle.”
8 tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”
sn For discussion of this ritual see G. F. Hasel, “The Meaning of the Animal Rite in Genesis 15,” JSOT 19 (1981): 61-78.
9 tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”
10 tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”
11 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.
12 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.
13 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”
14 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.
15 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.
16 tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.
17 sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.
18 tn Heb “in a good old age.”
19 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.
20 tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Heb “is not yet complete.”
sn The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit. The justice of God is apparent. He will wait until the Amorites are fully deserving of judgment before he annihilates them and gives the land to Israel.
22 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).
23 tn Heb “these pieces.”
