Genesis 15:13
in Genesis 15Then 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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;
KJV
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;
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This verse in Genesis 15
Commentary
9 notes on this verseFour hundred years - “Which began,” says Mr. Ainsworth, “when Ishmael, son of Hagar, mocked and persecuted Isaac, Gen 21:9; Gal 4:29; which fell out thirty years after the promise, Gen 12:3; which promise was four hundred and thirty years before the law, Gal 3:17; and four hundred and thirty years after that promise came Israel out of Egypt, Exo 12:41.”
This site's exposition
strangers in a land that is not their own
on Genesis 15:13-14
Abram is given the shape of the Exodus before Egypt has any hold on his family. Four beats come in order, a foreign land, slavery, judgment on that nation, and a departure with many possessions. Four hundred years is the figure here, and Exodus 12:40 gives four hundred and thirty.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
But note what is said to Abraham, "Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land not theirs, and they shall reduce them to servitude, and shall afflict them four hundred years." This is most clearly a prophecy about the people of Israel, who were to be in servitude in Egypt. Not that this people was to be in that servitude under the oppressive Egyptians for four hundred years, but it is foretold that this should take place in the course of those four hundred years. It is written of Terah the father of Abraham, "And the days of Terah in Haran were 205 years," not because they were all spent there but because they were completed there. So it is said here also, "And they shall reduce them to servitude and shall afflict them four hundred years" … because that number was completed, not because it was all spent in that affliction. The years are said to be four hundred in round numbers, although they were a little more—whether you reckon from this time when these things were promised to Abraham, or from the birth of Isaac, as the seed of Abraham, of which these things are predicted. For, as we have already said above, from the seventy-fifth year of Abraham, when the first promise was made to him, down to the exodus of Israel from Egypt, there are reckoned 430 years, which the apostle thus mentions: "And this I say, that the covenant confirmed by God, the law, which was made 430 years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of no effect." So then these 430 years might be called four hundred, because they are not much more, especially since part even of that number had already gone by when these things were shown and said to Abraham in vision, or when Isaac was born in his father's one hundredth year, twenty-five years after the first promise, when of these 430 years there now remained 405, which God was pleased to call four hundred.
This word anticipates the sojourn of the people in Egypt, for they were to sojourn as it were in a land not their own. They would be reduced to slavery by the Pharaoh and mistreated in many ways by him and by the Egyptians.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And it was said to him: Know for certain that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not their own, and they will enslave them, and oppress them for four hundred years, etc. This was very clearly prophesied about the people of Israel who …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And they shall afflict them - See Exod. i, 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, chap. xxi, 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 400 years.
The inconveniences of an unsettled state make a happy settlement the more welcome. Thus the heirs of heaven are first strangers on earth, a land that is not theirs. [2.] They shall be servants; so they were to the Egyptians, Exod. i. See how that which was the doom of the Canaanites ( ch. ix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he said unto Abram,....
But God ensures both to him; and that which made these two, the promised seed and the promised land, comforts indeed to this great believer was that they were both typical of those two invaluable blessings, Christ and heaven; and so, we have reason to think, Abram eyed them. God's Covenant with Abram.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
This is a verse that is to be transposed, its purport being that “thy seed shall be a stranger for four hundred years in a land that is not theirs, and they shall enslave them, and they shall afflict them.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The Rabbis in the Midrash have interpreted this fourfold. “A dread,” “a great,” “darkness,” “fell.” expression to be an allusion to the servitude of the four exiles, 274 Mentioned further in the text. for the prophet. See Ramban further, Verse, as to the nature of the prophetic vision.
‘VEGAM’ (AND ALSO) THAT NATION THAT MADE SLAVES OF THEM WILL I JUDGE. The words, And also, include the kingdoms of the four exiles which will be judged for having enslaved Israel. Thus the language of Rashi.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְאַבְרָ֗ם | leavram | to Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| יָדֹ֨עַ | yadoa' | certainly <to know> | H3045 → | 945 times |
| תֵּדַ֜ע | teda' | you will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גֵ֣ר׀ | ger | a sojourner | H1616 → | |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| זַרְעֲךָ֗ | zarakha | offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| בְּאֶ֙רֶץ֙ | beeretz | in a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | [belongs] to <the> them | ||
| וַעֲבָד֖וּם | vaavadum | and they will serve them | H5647 → | 288 times |
| וְעִנּ֣וּ | veinu | and they will afflict | H6031 → | 82 times |
| אֹתָ֑ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַרְבַּ֥ע | ʾarba' | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| מֵא֖וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| שָׁנָֽה׃ | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לְאַבְרָ֗םto Abram
leavramH87 →61 times
יָדֹ֨עַcertainly <to know>
yadoa'H3045 →945 times
תֵּדַ֜עyou will know
teda'H3045 →945 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גֵ֣ר׀a sojourner
gerH1616 →
יִהְיֶ֣הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
זַרְעֲךָ֗offspring your
zarakhaH2233 →229 times
בְּאֶ֙רֶץ֙in a land
beeretzH776 →2504 times
לֹ֣א[which] not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
לָהֶ֔ם[belongs] to <the> them
lahem
וַעֲבָד֖וּםand they will serve them
vaavadumH5647 →288 times
וְעִנּ֣וּand they will afflict
veinuH6031 →82 times
אֹתָ֑ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
אַרְבַּ֥עfour
ʾarba'H702 →318 times
מֵא֖וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
שָׁנָֽה׃year[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 1:11So 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.
it leads to
- Genesis 47:11
So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
- Exodus 2:11
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
- Exodus 3:7
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Genesis 47:11
Through
Galatians 3:17What 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.
it leads to
- Exodus 12:40–41
Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
- Romans 4:13–14
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
- Hebrews 11:39–40
These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
- 2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
- Hebrews 6:13–18
When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
- Exodus 12:40–41
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies36
On this chapter
- Abraham
- The Armor of God
- Caleb
- Chaldea
- Fear Not: How Often Scripture Says It
- Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.24; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Chuck Missler, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 231; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.