22:1 Some time after these things God tested 1 Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham 2 replied.
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 3 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 4
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 18
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven
23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, 19
23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, 20 the sons of Heth.
25:5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac.
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.
3 tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”
4 tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “make it happen before me today.” Although a number of English translations understand this as a request for success in the task (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV) it is more likely that the servant is requesting an omen or sign from God (v. 14).
6 tn Heb “act in loyal love with” or “show kindness to.”
7 tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”
8 tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”
9 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
10 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.
11 tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”
12 tn Or “live with your blessing.”
13 tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
15 tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”
16 tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).
17 tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.
19 tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.
21 tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”
23 tn Heb “to the people of the land” (also in v. 12).