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 22:12

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.”

[22:1]  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.

[22:1]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:12]  ³ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  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.

[22:12]  ⁵ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ⁶ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.