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11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

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.

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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.