• Acts 7:6
    The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures

    • 6 ἐλάλησεν Spoke δὲ but οὕτως thus ὁ the θεὸς God ὅτι that ἔσται will be τὸ the σπέρμα seed αὐτοῦ of him πάροικον dweller beside ἐν in γῇ earth ἀλλοτρίᾳ, foreign, καὶ and δουλώσουσιν they will enslave αὐτὸ it καὶ and κακώσουσιν they will treat badly ἔτη years τετρακόσια· four hundred;

  • Acts 7:6
    The Bible in Living English

    • 6* But God spoke in this way: that his descendants should live the life of immigrants in an alien country, and they should enslave this posterity and ill-treat it four hundred years;

  • Acts 7:6
    American Standard Version

    • 6 And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill, four hundred years.

  • Acts 7:6
    The Emphasized Bible

    • 6 But God spake thus—His seed shall be a sojourner in a foreign land, and they will bring it into bondage and ill-treat it four-hundred years;

  • Acts 7:6
    King James Version

    • 6 And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

  • Acts Study Notes—Chapter 7
    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)

    • 7:6

      offspring: Lit., “seed.”​—See App. A2.

      afflict them for 400 years: At Ge 15:13, which is quoted here, God told Abram (Abraham) that his descendants would be enslaved and afflicted for 400 years. This period ended when Jehovah freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt on Nisan 14, 1513 B.C.E., so it must have begun in 1913 B.C.E. Bible chronology indicates that in that year, Abraham’s offspring Isaac​—who was about five years old at the time​—began to be mocked and mistreated by Ishmael, his half brother. Ishmael was born some 19 years earlier to Sarai’s (Sarah’s) Egyptian servant Hagar. Ishmael may have taunted his younger brother because Isaac was to receive the firstborn’s inheritance even though Ishmael was born first. (Ge 16:1-4; 21:8-10) Paul later described Ishmael’s treatment of Isaac as persecution. (Ga 4:29) Apparently, it was severe enough for Jehovah to approve of Sarah’s demand that Abraham drive Ishmael and his mother away. (Ge 21:11-13) So Isaac was the first of Abraham’s offspring to experience the foretold affliction. Therefore, this incident, recorded in detail in the divine record, apparently marks the commencement of the prophesied 400-year period of affliction that would not end until the Exodus.