Genesis 22:1

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things God tested ¹  Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham ²  replied.

Genesis 22:7

22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, ³  “My father?” “What is it, ⁴  my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, ⁵  “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Genesis 27:1

Jacob Cheats Esau out of the Blessing

27:1 When ⁶  Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, ⁷  he called his older ⁸  son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau ⁹  replied.

Genesis 37:13

37:13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers ¹⁰  are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” ¹¹  Joseph replied. ¹² 

Genesis 48:4

48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful ¹³  and will multiply you. ¹⁴  I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants ¹⁵  as an everlasting possession.’ ¹⁶ 

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 The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).

⁵ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.

⁶ tn Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”

⁷ tn Heb “greater” (in terms of age).

⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn The text uses an interrogative clause: “Are not your brothers,” which means “your brothers are.”

⁸ sn With these words Joseph is depicted here as an obedient son who is ready to do what his father commands.

⁹ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here I am.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following הִנֵּה (hinneh) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.

¹⁰ tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.

¹¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹² tn The Hebrew word אֲחֻזָּה (’akhuzzah), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (אָחַז, ’akhaz) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).