I don't think the singular B.:)EREC should be pressed to mean a single country, especially as it is taken up with a plural pronoun, just as the singular ZAR:(:AKF is taken up with a plural pronoun. The meaning may be that "each of your descendants will live in a country not his/her own", referring to various different countries. Remember that Isaac lived in the land of the Philistines for many years (ch.26) and Jacob served and was to some extent oppressed by Laban in Aram for many years (chs.29-31). So the plural object could refer to the various countries.
I have just noticed something fascinating here. We have
WA(:ABFDW.M "and they will serve them"
W:(IN.W. )OTFM "and they will afflict them"
In the first clause, we presume that the subject is the Israelites and the object is presumably the strange countries or their people (as explicitly in the next verse), but in the second, the subject and object are reversed. Is this switch reference signalled by the use of the full non-suffix pronoun in the second clause, or is it taken only from the context?
I also note the form DFN in the next verse, translated "I will judge/punish", but surely this must be a participle?
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.