Genesis 22:10-14

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. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ³  the angel said. ⁴  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ⁵  that you fear ⁶  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

22:13 Abraham looked up ⁷  and saw ⁸  behind him ⁹  a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he ¹⁰  went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” ¹¹  It is said to this day, ¹²  “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” ¹³ 

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 “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

⁴ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

⁶ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

⁴ tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”

⁵ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.

⁶ tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac, and Samaritan Pentateuch read “one” (אֶחָד, ’ekhad) instead of “behind him” (אַחַר, ’akhar).

⁷ tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ 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.

⁶ sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

⁷ 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.