“He said to Abram: Know with certainty that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved to them and they will oppress them, four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13). “He said to Abram: Know with certainty [yado’a teda]73In Hebrew a verb is often doubled to express intensity or certainty. that your descendants will be strangers” – “yado’a” – know that I will scatter them; “teda” – know that I will gather them [again].
“Yado’a” – know that I will give them over as a pledge;74I will give them over to subjugation until their sins are expiated. “teda” – know that I will redeem them.75As someone redeems a pledge by paying his debt. “Yado’a” – know that I will enslave them; “teda” – know that I will liberate them. “That your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs” – from when you will see descendants.76The tally of four hundred years would begin with the birth of his son, Isaac.
Being strangers in a land that is not theirs, enslavement, and oppression are all included in their tally.77These were the different stages that they experienced that together totalled four hundred years.