Genesis 15:13-16

13 Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Genesis 15:13-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 15

This chapter informs us of a gracious appearance of God to Abram, and of a kind promise made unto him, Ge 15:1; of Abram's request for an heir, Ge 15:2,3; of an answer to it, that he should have one, and even a numberless seed, Ge 15:4,5; which he gave credit to, Ge 15:6; upon which he has a fresh promise of the land of Canaan, Ge 15:7; of his inheriting of which he desires a sign, and this was given him, Ge 15:8-12; and at the same time it was predicted to him how long his posterity should be afflicted in a land not theirs, and afterwards come out with great substance, Ge 15:13-16; and the grant of the land of Canaan to his seed is renewed, Ge 15:17-21.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 1:11; Exodus 3:7; Exodus 5:6,10-14,18; Exodus 6:5; Deuteronomy 5:15; Job 3:18
• 2. ver 16; Exodus 12:40; Numbers 20:15; Acts 7:6,17; Galatians 3:17
• 3. Genesis 50:24; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 6:6-8; Exodus 12:25; Numbers 10:29; Joshua 1:2; Acts 7:7*
• 4. Exodus 12:32-38
• 5. Genesis 47:30; Genesis 49:29; Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Psalms 49:19
• 6. Genesis 25:8; Genesis 35:29; Exodus 23:26; Deuteronomy 34:7; Joshua 14:11; Judges 8:32; 1 Chronicles 29:28; Job 5:26; Job 21:23; Job 42:17; Psalms 91:16; Proverbs 3:16; Proverbs 9:11; Isaiah 65:20
• 7. S ver 13; Exodus 12:40
• 8. Genesis 28:15; Genesis 46:4; Genesis 48:21; Genesis 50:24; Exodus 3:8,17
• 9. Leviticus 18:28; Joshua 13:4; Judges 10:11; 1 Kings 21:26; 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 21:11; Ezekiel 16:3