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;
13. a stranger ] The word used ( gr) (LXX ) means more than a “sojourner” (cf. Gen 23:4, Exo 2:22).
A stranger ( gr) is properly a guest residing in another country, whose rights are in a sense protected. He may be merely a temporary sojourner ( tshb). But as a “stranger” ( gr) he has a recognized status in the community. As a “sojourner” ( tshb), he has none; he is a mere social “bird of passage.” The difference is that between a “resident foreigner” and “a foreign visitor.”
and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them ] The personal pronouns in English are ambiguous. There is a change of subject. Israel shall be slaves to the people of a land that is not theirs, i.e. to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians shall afflict them. The LXX , “they, i.e. the Egyptians, shall make bondmen of them, i.e. the Israelites,” gives a different turn to the first clause, and avoids the interchange of subject and object: cf. the quotation in Act 7:6.
four hundred years ] See note on Gen 15:16. The figure agrees in round numbers with the number of 430 years assigned, in Exo 12:40, to the sojourning of Israel in Egypt. Cf. Act 7:6; Gal 3:17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 13. Four hundred years] “Which began,” says Mr. Ainsworth, “when Ishmael, son of Hagar, mocked and persecuted Isaac, Ge 21:9; Ga 4:29; which fell out thirty years after the promise, Ge 12:3; which promise was four hundred and thirty years before the law, Ga 3:17; and four hundred and thirty years after that promise came Israel out of Egypt, Ex 12:41.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In a land that is not theirs, i.e. in Canaan and Egypt; for though Canaan was theirs by promise, to be fulfilled in after-times, yet it was not theirs by actual donation and possession; but they were strangers in it, Gen 17:8; Psa 105:11-12.
Four hundred years, exactly four hundred and five years; but a small sum is commonly neglected in a great number, both in sacred and profane writers. There were four hundred and thirty years between the first promise, or between the renewing and confirming of the promise by the gift of Isaac, and Israel’s going out of Egypt, or God’s giving of the law, Exo 12:40; Gal 3:17; but part of this time Abraham with his son Isaac lived in much honour and comfort; but after Isaac grew up, the affliction here mentioned began with Isaac in Canaan, and continued to him and his posterity in Egypt till this time was expired.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said unto Abram,…. While he was in a deep sleep; this he said to him in a vision of prophecy:
know of a surety, or “in knowing thou shall or mayest know” n; and be assured of it, being now told it by the Lord himself, who foreknows all things that ever come to pass; many of which he acquaints his people with beforehand, nor would he hide from Abram his friend what should befall his posterity, as follows:
that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs; this prophecy could not take place at this time, since Abram had then no seed; but at the birth of Isaac, in whom his seed was called, who sojourned, or was a stranger in Gerar, a part of the land of Canaan, as Jacob also in the same land, Ge 36:3; as well as he and his posterity sojourned or lived as strangers in the land of Ham, in Egypt,
Ps 105:23; and neither of these countries were theirs; for though there was a grant of Canaan to Abram and his seed, yet it was not in possession; though a land of promise, it was a strange land, a land of their pilgrimage, and where all the patriarchs lived in it as such, see Ex 6:4:
and shall serve them; the inhabitants of the land not theirs, that is, the Canaanites and the Egyptians, especially the latter; and these they served after the death of Joseph, by whom their lives were made bitter with hard bondage:
and they shall afflict them four hundred years; this term “four hundred years” is not to be joined either with the word “afflict” or “serve”; for their hard servitude and severe affliction did not last long, but a few years at most; but with the phrase, “a stranger in a land not theirs”; and the rest is to be included in a parenthesis thus, and “thy seed shall be a stranger in the land not theirs ([and] shall serve them, and they shall afflict them) four hundred years”; so long they should be strangers and sojourners, as they were partly in the land of Canaan, and partly in the land of Egypt, neither of which were in their own land, however not in possession; within which space of time they would be in a state of subjection and servitude, and be greatly afflicted and oppressed, as they were particularly by the Egyptians before their deliverance from them, see Ex 1:11. These four hundred years, as before observed, are to be reckoned from the birth of Isaac to the Israelites going out of Egypt, and are counted by Jarchi thus; Isaac was sixty years of age when Jacob was born, and Jacob when he went down into Egypt was one hundred and thirty, which make one hundred and ninety; and the Israelites were in Egypt two hundred and ten years, which complete the sum of four hundred: according to Eusebius, there were four hundred and five years from the birth of Isaac to the Exodus of Israel; but the round number is only given, as is very usual; and though the sojourning of the Israelites is said to be four hundred and thirty years, Ex 12:40, this takes in the sojourning of Abram in that land, who entered into it sixty five years before the birth of Isaac, which added to four hundred and five, the sum total is four hundred and thirty; for Abram was seventy five years of age when he left Haran and went to Canaan, and Isaac was born when he was an hundred years old, see Gen 12:4.
n “cognoscendo cognosces”, Pagninus, Montanus; so Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) Four hundred years.The exact duration of the sojourn in Egypt was 430 years (Exo. 12:40-41), and with this agrees the genealogy of Jehoshua (1Ch. 7:23-27).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Thy seed shall be a stranger The Egyptian bondage is here foretold . That oppressive, but important, period in the history of the chosen seed, and its duration, is stated in round numbers as four hundred years. In Exo 12:40, it is said that “the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” There we have the exact statement of history; here the more general one of prophecy. For the question of chronology here involved, see note on Exo 12:40.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he said to Abram, “Know for a guaranteed certainty that your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not their’s, and will serve them, and they will afflict them, for four hundred years. And that nation whom they serve I will also judge. And afterwards they will come out with great substance. But you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they will come here again. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full”.’
Yahweh reveals to Abraham something of the future. Firstly that the certainty of him having seed comes out in that God can speak of their future. Secondly that their future will not be straightforward. They will be aliens and slaves in a foreign land. He has control of their destiny. But it stresses that their land will not be theirs for a long time to come. Thirdly there is the implication that this will be followed by them receiving a land of their own. Fourthly it brings out Yahweh’s power as the One Who can alone determine the future of that foreign land as their Judge. He is not a local tribal god. Fifthly Abraham has the guarantee that it will not happen in his lifetime. Sixthly it brings out that God is a God Who acts as Judge only in the light of true moral necessity. His judgments are not arbitrary, but on a moral basis, and He will not punish or condemn any until it is necessary, and will judge according to deserts. Again there is the implication that all judgment is in His hands. He is over all. Other ‘gods’ were arbitrary and limited in what they could do and rarely took morality into account. They were simply sinful super-humans.
This recognition of God’s power and goodness may be obvious to us. In the time of Abraham it was very special revelation.
The Amorites here represent the inhabitants of the whole of Canaan and Transjordan. The depth of their iniquity is spoken of in Lev 18:24-27 where the full nature of their sexual abominations, resulting from their debased religion, are discreetly described. But it has not yet reached its pinnacle and therefore a period of waiting is necessary. Yahweh allots to nations their times and seasons (Dan 2:21). Thus again does the writer remind us of the universal sovereignty of Yahweh.
The interchanging of the terms ‘Canaanites’ and ‘Amorites’ to describe the people of the land (although they are not necessarily precisely synonymous) is testified to in Egyptian texts where the inhabitants of the land can be called ‘Canaan’ or ‘the land of Amurru’.
This is a time of prophetic revelation. Yahweh has previously promised the land to Abram but now he is made aware of what will result before its fulfilment. Before that time Abram’s seed must be a stranger in a land that is not theirs. Already even now they were strangers in ‘a land that is not theirs’, a land where there were many nations (a contrast with what is to be), but they will yet suffer under another single nation, who must therefore be a powerful nation, whom they will serve, and who will afflict them, and this condition will go on for four hundred years. But it is the service and not necessarily the affliction that will endure for this time.
Abram may well have thought of some great king coming in and subjugating the land, but the later reader aware of the final complete narrative will know what is meant
Yet when it happened there could be no complaint, for Israel could have returned from Egypt when things were going well, but they did not do so. They had this warning but they still did not do so. They preferred the land of delights and plenty to the land promised to them by God. Thus it was also through their own disobedience that they suffered. It is the result that is being prophesied, not what should be.
But the promises of Yahweh cannot be hindered by men’s failure, or by great nations, and judgment will come on the nation which enslaves them and they will return to the land God promised them with great substance, just as Abram had himself come into the land with great substance, for God never does things by halves.
The number 400 is significant. Neither 3, 5 or 7 could be used for they would represent completeness, covenant connection and divine perfection. But four is certainly seen later as the number which signified the world and is the number of judgment. Four rivers flowing from Eden to encompass the known world outside the Garden (Gen 2:10), 40 days of rain on the earth producing the flood (Gen 7:12), 40 days still under judgment before release (Gen 8:6), 400 hundred years signifying the decline of man (Gen 11:12-17 – each with another significant number added on), four kings who were the first invaders of the land (14:9), four beasts who represent world empires (Daniel 2 and Daniel 7). Only four intensified could be used here. Thus it means a long period connected with world empire and judgment.
“But you will go to your fathers in peace, you will be buried in a good old age”. Abram is promised that while he is alive this will not happen. Until he dies there will be peace. To ‘go to one’s fathers’ was a stereotyped phrase meaning simply to die and be buried, for that is finally where one’s ancestors were. ‘In a good old age’ (compare Job 5:26). This was considered a special gift from God (compare Gen 25:8). So Abram learns that the land will not be theirs in his day.
“In the fourth generation they will come here again”. Later a generation would be 40 years, but here it is a hundred years. Longevity was still remembered and enjoyed. Yet again the emphasis is on ‘four’. Thus the number may be symbolic and not necessarily to be thought of as needing to be applied too literally. Once God’s judgment is ready for ‘the Amorites’, the inhabitants of the land, then they will come back.
So finishes the prophetic ‘word of Yahweh’ to Abram (Gen 15:1). Now its fulfilment must be finally guaranteed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The founding of the Covenant
v. 13. 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; v. 14. and also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance. v. 16. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. v. 16. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. v. 17. And it came to pass that, when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. v. 18. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates; v. 19. the Kenites, v. 20. and the Hittites, v. 21. and the Amorites,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Gen 15:13. Afflict them four hundred years That is, from the birth of Isaac, the seed to whom the promise was given: and from that birth to the coming out of AEgypt, were just four hundred years. It cannot fail to strike the attentive reader how exactly this prophecy, respecting Abram’s seed, was fulfilled.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Smoking furnace. See Deu 4:20 ; Isa 48:10 . Burning lamp. See Isa 62:1 ; Exo 3:2 . The former intimating affliction: the latter comfort. But do not both mean, in passing between the pieces of sacrifice, that Jesus is the one all-sufficient offering by which acceptance is found? See Psa 50:5 ; Jdg 13:23 .–passing between the parts of the sacrifice was an ancient form of confirming the most solemn covenants. Jer 34:18-19 . The burning lamp, (or lamp of fire), was a symbol of the divine presence, and by this probably the sacrifice was consumed. Lev 9:24 ; 1Ki 18:38 ; Jdg 6:21
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 15:13 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;
Ver. 13. Know of a surety, that thy seed. ] Must first suffer, before they can enter; and so be conformed to Christ their Captain, who was “perfected by sufferings,” Heb 2:10 and came not to the Crown but by the Cross. Difficile est ut praesentibus bonis quis fruatur et futuris; ut hic ventrem, illic mentem reficiat, ut de deliciis ad delicias transeat; ut in coelo et in terra gloriosus appareat , saith St Jerome. Through many tribulations we must enter into heaven. He that will go any other way, let him (as the emperor said to the heretic) erect a ladder, and go up alone a
a Erigito tibi scalam, et solus ascendito. – Const. Mag.
Know of a surety. Hebrew. knowing thou shalt know. Figure of speech Polyptoton, and note on Gen 26:28.
thy seed, i.e. Isaac. See note on Gen 21:12. The 400 years date from Isaac’s birth (Act 7:6). The 430 from the “promise” or Covenant here made (compare Gal 1:3, Gal 1:17), and include the whole “sojourning” (Exo 12:40). and shall serve, &c. Figure of speech Epitrechon. See App-6. This is shown by the Structure (Introversion). a | Thy seed shall be a stranger, &c. b | and shall serve them b | and they shall afflict them a | four hundred years. In a and a we have the whole sojourning and duration. In b and b the servitude in Egypt (215 years).
thy: Gen 17:8, Exo 1:1 – Exo 2:25, Exo 5:1-23, Exo 22:21, Exo 23:9, Lev 19:34, Deu 10:19, Psa 105:11, Psa 105:12, Psa 105:23-25, Act 7:6, Act 7:7, Heb 11:8-13
four: Exo 12:40, Exo 12:41, Gal 3:17
Reciprocal: Gen 46:2 – in the visions Gen 46:3 – fear not Gen 46:6 – into Egypt Gen 47:4 – For to Exo 1:11 – to afflict Exo 1:14 – their lives Exo 3:2 – bush burned Exo 3:17 – I will bring Exo 6:4 – the land of their Num 20:15 – dwelt Jos 21:43 – General Psa 105:25 – He turned Isa 44:8 – have declared Eze 16:4 – for Eze 20:6 – to bring Joh 8:33 – and were Act 7:17 – when Act 12:11 – I know
Gen 15:13. Thy seed shall be strangers So they were in Canaan first, Psa 105:12, and afterward in Egypt: before they were lords of their own land, they were strangers in a strange land. The inconveniences of an unsettled state make a happy settlement the more welcome. Thus the heirs of heaven are first strangers on earth. And they shall serve them So they did the Egyptians, Exo 1:13. See how that which was the doom of the Canaanites, Gen 9:25, proves the distress of Abrams seed: they are made to serve; but with this difference, the Canaanites serve under a curse, the Hebrews under a blessing. And they shall afflict them See Exo 1:11. Those that are blessed and beloved of God are often afflicted by wicked men. This persecution began with mocking, when Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian, persecuted Isaac, (Gen 21:9,) and it came at last to murder, the basest of murders, that of their new-born children; so that, more or less, it continued four hundred years.
15:13 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 {d} four hundred years;
(d) Counting from the birth of Isaac to their departure of Egypt: Which declares that God will allow his to be afflicted in this world.
Moses gave more detail regarding the history of the seed here than he had revealed previously (cf. Gen 15:14; Gen 15:16). The 400 years of enslavement were evidently from 1845 B.C. to 1446 B.C., the date of the Exodus.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)