Genesis 22:8-11

22:8 “God will provide ¹  for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there ²  and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up ³  his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter ⁴  his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel ⁵  called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered.

[22:8]  ¹ tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”

[22:9]  ² sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?

[22:9]  ³ sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.

[22:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”

[22:11]  ⁵ 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.