Genesis 22:10-11

22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter ¹  his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel ²  called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered.

Genesis 22:14

22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” ³  It is said to this day, ⁴  “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”

² sn Heb “the messenger of the Lord” (also in v. 15). Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, see the note on the phrase “the Lord’s angel” in Gen 16:7.

³ tn Heb “the Lord sees” (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, yÿhvah yir’eh, traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.

⁴ sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

⁵ sn The saying connected with these events has some ambiguity, which was probably intended. The Niphal verb could be translated (1) “in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen/provided” or (2) “in the mountain the Lord will appear.” If the temple later stood here (see the note on “Moriah” in Gen 22:2), the latter interpretation might find support, for the people went to the temple to appear before the Lord, who “appeared” to them by providing for them his power and blessings. See S. R. Driver, Genesis, 219.