"Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own" Why the decree of exile?

Midrashei Chazal offer many instances of judgmental evaluations of biblical characters that are different – sometimes even quite contrary – to the impression we receive from a reading of the plain level of the biblical narrative. Often, a midrash will judge a person favorably concerning an act that seems, on the literal level, to be a sin; there are also instances in which the midrash attributes a sin to a character even where no such act is mentioned in the text, nor is there any sign of any rebuke or punishment. An example of this phenomenon is the accusation of Avraham, by no less than four different sages, of bearing responsibility for the decree of subjugation that Bnei Yisrael will suffer in Egypt for 210 years. This article explains the seemingly unbridgeable gap between Avraham's character as depicted in the biblical text, and as reflected in the midrash and the question of Divine retribution on a nation that has not yet been born, which already pervades the decree of future subjugation. Through an exploration of the midrashim and the biblical text we can understand that the sages are attempting to inculcate values for the guidance of national and political life for the generations to come.