Genesis 22:4-24

4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

5 And Abraham said to his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and the knife, and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father! And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the sheep for a burnt-offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself with the sheep for a burnt-offering. And they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built the altar there, and piled the wood; and he bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slaughter his son.

11 And the Angel of Jehovah called to him from the heavens, and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Stretch not out thy hand against the lad, neither do anything to him; for now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son], from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt-offering instead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said at the present day, On the mount of Jehovah will be provided.

15 And the Angel of Jehovah called to Abraham from the heavens a second time,

16 and said, By myself I swear, saith Jehovah, that, because thou hast done this, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son],

17 I will richly bless thee, and greatly multiply thy seed, as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because thou hast hearkened to my voice.

19 And Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also has borne sons to thy brother Nahor:

21 Uz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.

23 (And Bethuel begot Rebecca.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24 And his concubine, named Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maacah.

Genesis 22:4-24 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Lit. 'bow down:' so always.
• [b] Lit. 'we will come.' See Heb. 11.19.
• [c] See Note, Ex. 12.3.
• [d] Jehovah will provide.
• [e] The Hebrew word introduces an oracular discourse; cf. Num. 24.3,4,15,16. As 'He hath said,' Jer. 23.31.
• [f] Or 'shall be blessed:' so ch. 26.4.