Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 15:13/אבן עזרא על בראשית ט״ו:י״ג
אכי גר יהיה זרעך. נקרא בלשון הקדש האיש שיש לו משפחה כסעיף שהוא דבק בשרש על כן נקרא אזרח כי טעמו כאזרח רענן (תהלים לז לה), וטעם גר כמו הגרגיר שנכרת מן הסעיף ויש חסרי לב שזה הטעם רחוק בעיניהם, ואלו היו יודעים טעם כל אות וצורתו אז יכירו האמת:
1THAT THY SEED SHALL BE A STRANGER IN A LAND THAT IS NOT THEIRS. In Hebrew a person who has a family is likened to a branch attached to its source. Therefore such an individual is called an ezrach,31 means native-born. According to I.E. one born in the land is called an ezrach because he is like a branch attached to its tree. It should be added that I.E. points out in his comments on Gen. 2:25 that the Bible compares man to a tree. for the meaning of ezrach is a branch, as in a sprouting tree with many branches (ke-ezrach ra’anan) (Ps. 37:35). On the other hand, a stranger is termed ger in Hebrew from the word gargir (berry), for he is like a berry plucked from a branch. There are some unintelligent people who find this explanation farfetched. However, if they knew the meaning of each letter and its form then they would recognize the truth.32. He explains that gimel means finished, or weaned (gamal), and resh cut. A poor person is called a rash because he is cut off from his sources. Ger is spelled gimel, resh; it thus means a person weaned and cut off from his family (Cherez, Netter).
בארבע מאות שנה., עד סוף זה הקץ מהיום:
2FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. Until the end of this period (four hundred years) starting from this very day.33