Endnote 6 – The Exodus of Abraham

The Hebrew phrase is ka’et chayyah, which seems to mean “the time of reviving” or, perhaps, “the time of life.” According to some scholars (see, for example, M.I. Gruber, “The Reality Behind the Hebrew Expression hyj tek,” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 103 [1991], pp. 271–274), this phrase should be translated as “this time next year.” However, I am partial to Brown, Driver and Briggs’s suggestion that it means “spring”—an understanding reflected in the Revised Standard Version’s translation: “At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:14).