The LORD’s next speech, which Abram hears in his dream or trance, is a series of prophecies or statements about future events. Then the LORD said to Abram introduces his speech. Some translators may wish to make clear that Abram is dreaming, by saying, for example, “Then the LORD spoke to Abram in a dream and said….”
Know of a surety renders Hebrew that is formed by doubling the verb Know; this offers the troubled Abram assurance. The expression is better rendered by New English Bible and New Revised Standard Version “Know this for certain,” in which the word “this” points ahead to what the LORD is about to tell Abram. We may also say, for example, “You must understand what I will tell you,” “Listen carefully to what I tell you.” Good News Translation weakens the opening of the speech by omitting this expression.
Your descendants will be sojourners is literally “Your seed will be an alien.” An alien is a person living as a foreigner in a country to which he does not belong and where he does not have rights as a native citizen. In many English-speaking countries “alien” is also the official technical term for such a person, and there are similar technical terms in other major languages. Here Good News Translation says “will be strangers in a foreign land,” which may suggest that they will be a long way from their own land; in many areas, however, a person may live only a few kilometers from home and be considered an alien, foreigner, or stranger. In such cases it is best to say, for example, “Your descendants will live in a country where they do not belong,” or “… will live in other peoples’ country,” or “… will live in a foreign country where people will say ‘You do not belong here.’ ”
Will be slaves there: for discussion of slaves see 9.25
They will be oppressed: the verb rendered oppressed means to mistreat, punish, or as Good News Translation says, “treat cruelly.” Revised Standard Version translates the verb as a passive construction. However, the Hebrew is active with an impersonal plural subject, “they will oppress them”; and a number of languages will be able to use a similar construction. Other translators wishing to keep the active voice may say “the people of that land will treat them badly….” Egypt is not named in this context. In some languages expressions of mistreating people are stated figuratively; for example, “they will keep their feet on their necks” or “they will tie their hands and feet.”
For four hundred years probably is a round number representing the four hundred and thirty years of Exo 12.40. Translators may wish to use footnote references to the Hebrew bondage in Egypt, such as Exo 1.1-14; Acts 7.6.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .