Genesis 22:2-12

2 God said to him, Take thine one begotten son, whom thou lovest, Isaac; and go into the land of vision, and offer thou him there into burnt sacrifice on one of the hills which I shall show to thee. (And God said to him, Take Isaac, thy only son, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of Moriah; and there thou shalt offer him as a burnt sacrifice on one of the hills which I shall show to thee.)
3 Therefore Abraham rose by night, and saddled his ass, and led with him two young men, and Isaac his son; and when he had hewn trees into burnt sacrifice, he went to the place which God had commanded to him. (And so Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men, and his son Isaac; and when he had cut the wood for the burnt sacrifice, he went to the place to which God had commanded him to go.)
4 Forsooth in the third day (And on the third day), he raised [up] his eyes, and saw a place afar (off);
5 and he said to his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, I and the child shall go thither; and after that we have worshipped, we shall turn again to you. (and he said to his young men, Wait ye here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there; and after we have worshipped, we shall return to you.)
6 And he took the wood of burnt sacrifice, and laid (it) on Isaac his son; forsooth he bare fire, and a sword in his hands. And when they twain went together, (And he took the wood for the burnt sacrifice, and laid it on his son Isaac; and he carried the fire, and a knife in his hands. And as the two of them went together,)
7 Isaac said to his father, My father! And he answered, What wilt thou, (my) son? (And) He said, Lo! fire and wood, where is the beast of burnt sacrifice? (but where is the beast for the burnt sacrifice?)
8 Abraham said, My son, God shall purvey to him the beast of burnt sacrifice. Therefore they went together, (And Abraham said, My son, God himself shall provide the beast for the burnt sacrifice. And so they went together,)
9 and came to the place which God had showed to him; in which place Abraham builded an altar, and dressed [the] wood above; and when he had bound (al)together Isaac, his son (and when he had bound up his son Isaac), he laid Isaac on the altar, upon the heap of wood.
10 And he held forth his hand, and took the sword to sacrifice his son. (And he stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to sacrifice his son.)
11 And lo! the angel of the Lord cried from heaven, and said, Abraham! Abraham! Which answered, I am present (I am here).
12 And the angel said to him, Hold thou not forth thine hand on the child, neither do thou anything (of harm) to him; now I know that thou dreadest God, and sparedest not thine one begotten son for me. (And the angel said to him, Do not thou raise thy hand against the boy, nor do thou any harm to him; for now I know that thou fearest God, for thou hast not withheld thy only son from me.)

Genesis 22:2-12 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.