| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with vayomer {וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | way-yō-mer} ‘and he said’, where the vav consecutive prefixed to a Qal imperfect third person masculine singular conveys past narrative with an implicit subject (Yahweh). The prepositional phrase le-Avram {לְאַבְרָ֗ם | lə-ʾaḇ-rām} marks the indirect object. The paired construction yadoa teda {יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע | yā-ḏō-aʿ tē-ḏaʿ} combines a Qal infinitive absolute and a matching imperfect for emphatic force, ‘know for certain.’ The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the content clause. In that clause ger {גֵ֣ר | gēr} functions as predicate nominal to yihyeh {יִהְיֶ֣ה | yih-yeh} ‘will be’, yielding ‘your offspring will be sojourners,’ rendered idiomatically as ‘your offspring will be sojourners.’ The phrase be-erets lo lahem {בְּאֶ֙רֶץ֙ לֹ֣א לָהֶ֔ם | bə-ʾe-reṣ lō lā-hem} expresses ‘in a land not their own,’ rendered ‘in a land that is not theirs.’ The sequential wayyiqtol forms vaavadum {וַעֲבָד֖וּם | wa-ʿă-ḇā-ḏūm} and ve-inu {וְעִנּ֣וּ | wə-ʿin-nū} predict service and affliction, with otam {אֹתָ֑ם | ʾō-tām} marking ‘them’ as direct object. The construct chain arba meot shanah {אַרְבַּ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה | ʾar-baʿ mē-ʾōt šā-nāh} conveys ‘four hundred years’ adverbially. Emphatic Hebrew structures are rendered with intensifiers (‘know for certain’ / ‘you can be sure’) and future auxiliaries to reflect prophetic certainty. |