Genesis 15:13
New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
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.

English Standard Version
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

King James Bible
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;

New King James Version
Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

New American Standard Bible
Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

NASB 1995
God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

NASB 1977
And God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

Amplified Bible
God said to Abram, “Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers [living temporarily] in a land (Egypt) that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

Christian Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years.

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

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he said to Abram, “Surely you shall know that your seed shall be an inhabitant in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them, and they shall subject them four hundred years;

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

Douay-Rheims Bible
And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

English Revised Version
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;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
God said to Abram, "You can know for sure that your descendants will live in a land that is not their own, where they will be slaves, and they will be oppressed for 400 years.

Good News Translation
The LORD said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.

International Standard Version
Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be certain about this: Your descendants will be foreigners in a land that isn't theirs. They will be slaves there and will be oppressed for 400 years.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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;

Literal Standard Version
and He says to Abram, “knowing—know that your seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,

Majority Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

New American Bible
Then the LORD said to Abram: Know for certain that your descendants will reside as aliens in a land not their own, where they shall be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

NET Bible
Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

New Revised Standard Version
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years;

New Heart English Bible
And he said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs; and they will be servants there. And they will oppress them four hundred years.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to Abram, Know certainly 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;

World English Bible
He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.

Young's Literal Translation
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,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God Confirms His Promise
12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him. 13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.…

Cross References
Acts 7:6
God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

Acts 7:17
As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.

Galatians 3:17
What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.

Genesis 15:16
In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

Genesis 47:4
Then they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen."

Exodus 1:11
So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

Exodus 1:13
They worked the Israelites ruthlessly


Treasury of Scripture

And he said to Abram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

thy.

Genesis 17:8
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Exodus 1:1-2:25
Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob…

Exodus 5:1-23
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness…

four.

Exodus 12:40,41
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years…

Galatians 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.

Jump to Previous
Abram Afflict Afflicted Assuredly Country Cruel Descendants Enslaved Foreigners Four Hundred Live Oppressed Seed Servants Serve Served Slaves Sojourner Sojourners Stranger Strangers Sure Surety Theirs
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Abram Afflict Afflicted Assuredly Country Cruel Descendants Enslaved Foreigners Four Hundred Live Oppressed Seed Servants Serve Served Slaves Sojourner Sojourners Stranger Strangers Sure Surety Theirs
Genesis 15
1. God encourages Abram, who asks for an heir.
4. God promises him a son, and a multiplying of his seed.
6. Abram is justified by faith.
7. Canaan is promised again,
9. and confirmed by a sign, and a vision,
18. prophetic of the condition of his posterity till brought out of Egypt.














(13) Four hundred years.--The exact duration of the sojourn in Egypt was 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41), and with this agrees the genealogy of Jehoshua (1Chronicles 7:23-27).

Verse 13. - And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety - literally, knowing know (cf. Genesis 2:17; vide Ewald's 'Hebrew Syntax,' § 312) - that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land which is not there (literally, not to them, viz., Egypt, or Egypt and Canaan, according to the view which is taken of the point of departure for the reckoning of the 400 years), and shall serve them (i.e. the inhabitants of that alien country); and they (i.e. these foreigners) shall afflict them - three different stages of adverse fortune are described: -

(1) exile;

(2) bondage;

(3) affliction (Murphy); . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then the LORD said
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to Abram,
לְאַבְרָ֗ם (lə·’aḇ·rām)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 87: Abram -- 'exalted father', the original name of Abraham

“Know
יָדֹ֨עַ (yā·ḏō·a‘)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 3045: To know

for certain
תֵּדַ֜ע (tê·ḏa‘)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

that
כִּי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

your descendants
זַרְעֲךָ֗ (zar·‘ă·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2233: Seed, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity

will be
יִהְיֶ֣ה (yih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

strangers
גֵ֣ר ׀ (ḡêr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1616: A guest, a foreigner

in a land
בְּאֶ֙רֶץ֙ (bə·’e·reṣ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

that is not their own;
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

they will be enslaved
וַעֲבָד֖וּם (wa·‘ă·ḇā·ḏūm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

and mistreated
וְעִנּ֣וּ (wə·‘in·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 6031: To be bowed down or afflicted

four
אַרְבַּ֥ע (’ar·ba‘)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 702: Four

hundred
מֵא֖וֹת (mê·’ō·wṯ)
Number - feminine plural
Strong's 3967: A hundred

years.
שָׁנָֽה׃ (šā·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8141: A year


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OT Law: Genesis 15:13 He said to Abram Know for sure (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 15:12
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