Genesis 15:13

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“Then 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.”

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Genesis 15:13 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“Then 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.”

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“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;”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“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;”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“and He saith to Abram, `knowing--know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Genesis 15:13 — 18 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Genesis 17:8And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
  2. Exodus 1:1These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:
  3. 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.
  4. Exodus 1:14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
  5. Exodus 5:1After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
  6. Exodus 12:40Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
  7. Exodus 22:21You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
  8. Exodus 23:9Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
  9. Leviticus 19:34You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
  10. Numbers 20:15how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,
  11. Deuteronomy 10:19So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
  12. Psalms 105:11“I will give you the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.”
  13. Psalms 105:23Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
  14. Psalms 105:42For He remembered His holy promise to Abraham His servant.
  15. Acts 7:6God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
  16. Acts 7:17As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
  17. 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.
  18. Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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