Genesis 22:2

Context
22:2 God¹ said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac² – and go to the land of Moriah!³ Offer him up there as a burnt offering⁴ on one of the mountains which I will indicate to⁵ you.”

Genesis 22:7

Context
22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham,⁶ “My father?” “What is it,⁷ my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said,⁸ “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Genesis 22:13

Context

22:13 Abraham looked up⁹ and saw¹⁰ behind him¹¹ a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he¹² went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

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

[22:2] ²sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

[22:2] ³sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

[22:2] ⁴sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

[22:2] ⁵tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[22:7] ⁶tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[22:7] ⁷tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).

[22:7] ⁸tn 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.

[22:13] ⁹tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”

[22:13] ¹⁰tn 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.

[22:13] ¹¹tc 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).

[22:13] ¹²tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.