Text -- Genesis 22:1-3 (NET)

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. 22:2 God said, “Take your son– your only son, whom you love, Isaac– and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” 22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 22:1

¹ sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Gen 22:2

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

³ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

⁴ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

⁵ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

NET Notes: Gen 22:3

¹ tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”

² tn Heb “he arose and he went.”