Genesis 15:13

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

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;

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לְאַבְרָ֗ם יָדֹ֨עַ תֵּדַ֜ע כִּי־גֵ֣ר ׀ יִהְיֶ֣ה זַרְעֲךָ֗ בְּאֶ֙רֶץ֙ לֹ֣א לָהֶ֔ם וַעֲבָד֖וּם וְעִנּ֣וּ אֹתָ֑ם אַרְבַּ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה׃

Transliteration

And-yōʾmer to-ʾAḇrām yāḏōaʿ tēḏaʿ that-gēr yihyeh zarʿăḵā in-ʾereṣ not to-them and-ʿăḇāḏûm and-ʿinnû them four mēʾôṯ šānāh.

Grammar Details

• *yōʾmer*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he said
• *ʾAḇrām*: proper name
• *yāḏōaʿ*: Qal infinitive absolute - to know
• *tēḏaʿ*: Qal imperfect 2nd masculine singular - you will know
• *gēr*: masculine singular noun - sojourner/alien
• *yihyeh*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - will be
• *zarʿăḵā*: masculine singular noun with 2nd masculine singular suffix - your seed/offspring
• *ʾereṣ*: feminine singular noun - land
• *ʿăḇāḏûm*: Qal perfect 3rd common plural with waw consecutive and 3rd masculine plural suffix - and they will serve them
• *ʿinnû*: Piel perfect 3rd common plural with waw consecutive - and they will afflict/oppress
• *mēʾôṯ*: feminine plural construct noun - hundreds of
• *šānāh*: feminine singular noun - year

Word Meanings

• *yāḏōaʿ* *tēḏaʿ*: surely know/certainly know (emphatic construction)
• *gēr*: sojourner/alien/foreigner/stranger
• *zarʿăḵā*: your seed/your offspring/your descendants
• *ʾereṣ*: land/earth/territory/country
• *ʿăḇāḏûm*: serve them/be slaves to them/work for them
• *ʿinnû*: afflict/oppress/humble/mistreat

Referenced Verses

• Acts 7:6-7 : 6 And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill, four hundred years. 7 And the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.
• Gal 3:17 : 17 Now this I say: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, {G1519} {G5547} the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of none effect.
• Ps 105:23-25 : 23 Israel also came into Egypt; And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24 And he increased his people greatly, And made them stronger than their adversaries. 25 He turned their heart to hate his people, To deal subtly with his servants.
• Acts 7:17 : 17 But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
• Exod 1:11 : 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Raamses.
• Exod 5:1-9 : 1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go. 3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 6 And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And the number of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 9 Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein; and let them not regard lying words. 10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11 Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nought of your work shall be diminished. 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 And the taskmasters were urgent, saying, Fulfil your works, [your] daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14 And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task both yesterday and to-day, in making brick as heretofore? 15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah. 18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks. 19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, when it was said, Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, [your] daily tasks. 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21 and they said unto them, Jehovah look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 22 And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
• Exod 12:40-41 : 40 Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt.
• Exod 22:21 : 21 And a sojourner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him: for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
• Exod 23:9 : 9 And a sojourner shalt thou not oppress: for ye know the heart of a sojourner, seeing ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
• Lev 19:34 : 34 The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.
• Deut 10:19 : 19 Love ye therefore the sojourner; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
• Ps 105:11-12 : 11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance; 12 When they were but a few men in number, Yea, very few, and sojourners in it.
• Gen 17:8 : 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
• Exod 1:1-2 : 1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
• Heb 11:8-9 : 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a [land] not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past {G2540} age, since she counted him faithful who had promised: 12 wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, [so many] as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the {G2281} sea-shore, innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.