Genesis 22:8-13

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Genesis 22:8-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 22

In this chapter we have an account of an order given by God to Abraham to sacrifice his son, Ge 22:1,2; of his readiness to obey the will of God, he immediately preparing everything for that purpose, Ge 22:3-10, of the order being reversed, and another sacrifice substituted in its room, which occasioned the giving a new name to the place where it was done, Ge 22:11-14; upon which the promise of special blessings, of a numerous offspring, and of the seed in whom all nations should be blessed, is renewed, Ge 22:15-18; after this Abraham returns to Beersheba, where he is informed of the increase of his brother Nahor's family, Ge 22:19-24.

Cross References

• 1. ver 14
• 2. ver 13; S John 1:29
• 3. ver 2
• 4. S Genesis 4:26; S Genesis 8:20
• 5. Leviticus 1:7; 1 Kings 18:33
• 6. Hebrews 11:17-19; James 2:21
• 7. S ver 6
• 8. ver 3; S Genesis 18:19
• 9. S Genesis 16:7
• 10. S Genesis 21:17
• 11. Genesis 46:2
• 12. S ver 1
• 13. S Genesis 18:19; Genesis 42:18; Exodus 18:21; 1 Samuel 15:22; Job 1:1; Job 37:24; Proverbs 8:13; James 2:21-22
• 14. S ver 2; John 3:16; 1 John 4:9
• 15. S ver 8
• 16. S Genesis 8:20; Romans 8:32

Footnotes

• [a]. Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text "a ram behind him"