language · Gen 15:12–16 · ✓ Approved

Deep sleep, four hundred years and the fourth generation

Says וַיְהִי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לָבוֹא is “and the sun was about to set.” וְתַרְדֵּמָה נָפְלָה עַל־אַבְרָם is “and a deep sleep fell on Abram,” the tardemah of 2:21; the Greek has “ἔκστασις.” וְהִנֵּה אֵימָה חֲשֵׁכָה גְדֹלָה נֹפֶלֶת עָלָיו is “and behold, terror, a great darkness, falling on him.”

Says In 15:13 יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע (“knowing you shall know”) uses the infinitive for emphasis. כִּי־גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם is “that a sojourner your seed will be in a land not theirs”; then וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם, “and they will serve them, and they will afflict them,” and last אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה, “four hundred years.” BSB has the passive “they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.” In 15:15 תִּקָּבֵר בְּשֵׂיבָה טוֹבָה is “you will be buried in a good old age.”

Says In 15:16 וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה is “and a fourth generation will return here”; BSB supplies “your descendants,” and the Greek has “τετάρτῃ δὲ γενεᾷ.” The Samaritan text in von Gall’s edition has ודור הרביעי ישוב הנה, with the article and a singular verb. כִּי לֹא־שָׁלֵם עֲוֺן הָאֱמֹרִי is “for the iniquity of the Amorite is not complete.”

Uncertain Keil writes that “The calculations are made here on the basis of a hundred years to a generation,” and Driver, if 15:13 and 15:16 have one writer, takes a generation “at 100 years.” Charles, as editor, notes: “A generation was one hundred years.” No lean is taken here.

Claims

Saysוַיְהִי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לָבוֹא is “and the sun was about to set.” וְתַרְדֵּמָה נָפְלָה עַל־אַבְרָם is “and a deep sleep fell on Abram,” the tardemah of 2:21; the Greek has “ἔκστασις.” וְהִנֵּה אֵימָה חֲשֵׁכָה גְדֹלָה נֹפֶלֶת עָלָיו is “and behold, terror, a great darkness, falling on him.”
SaysIn 15:13 יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע (“knowing you shall know”) uses the infinitive for emphasis. כִּי־גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם is “that a sojourner your seed will be in a land not theirs”; then וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם, “and they will serve them, and they will afflict them,” and last אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה, “four hundred years.” BSB has the passive “they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.” In 15:15 תִּקָּבֵר בְּשֵׂיבָה טוֹבָה is “you will be buried in a good old age.”
SaysIn 15:16 וְדוֹר רְבִיעִי יָשׁוּבוּ הֵנָּה is “and a fourth generation will return here”; BSB supplies “your descendants,” and the Greek has “τετάρτῃ δὲ γενεᾷ.” The Samaritan text in von Gall’s edition has ודור הרביעי ישוב הנה, with the article and a singular verb. כִּי לֹא־שָׁלֵם עֲוֺן הָאֱמֹרִי is “for the iniquity of the Amorite is not complete.”
UncertainKeil writes that “The calculations are made here on the basis of a hundred years to a generation,” and Driver, if 15:13 and 15:16 have one writer, takes a generation “at 100 years.” Charles, as editor, notes: “A generation was one hundred years.” No lean is taken here.

Citations

OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 15:12–16 (WLC/OSHB; morph HC/Ncfsa HVqa HC/Vqp3cp/Sp3mp HC/Ncmsa)
BSB public domain Gen 15:12–16 (BSB)
BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, s.v. H8639 (no Gen 15 page claimed)
von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain Gen 15:16, main text; Samaritan text, von Gall p. 23 (leaf n538), archive.org vonGall_SamaritanPentateuch, checked against the printed page (scan)
LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 15:12–16, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 23 (leaf n54), p. 24 (leaf n55). Checked against the printed page (scan).
Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 15:16, p. 216 (leaf n219); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain Driver, The Book of Genesis (Westminster, 4th ed.), on Gen 15:16, p. 177 (leaf n278); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
APOT public domain Jubilees 14 (Charles, APOT vol. 2, 1913), editor’s note (Charles) on Gen 15:16, p. 34 (leaf n53); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted

Sources OSHB CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain BDB CC BY 4.0 von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain APOT public domain

Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits

2026-11-12

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