Discovery BoxGenesis 22:9-19
Context22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 1 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 2 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 3 his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel 4 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 5 the angel said. 6 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 7 that you fear 8 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 9 and saw 10 behind him 11 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 12 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.” 13 It is said to this day, 14 “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” 15
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 16 decrees the Lord, 17 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, 18 and I will greatly multiply 19 your descendants 20 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 21 of the strongholds 22 of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 23 all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 24 using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 25 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 26
[22:9] 1 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] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”
[22:11] 4 sn Heb “the messenger of the
[22:12] 5 tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
[22:12] 6 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] 7 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
[22:12] 8 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.
[22:13] 9 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
[22:13] 10 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.
[22:13] 11 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
[22:13] 12 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:14] 13 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.
[22:14] 14 sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.
[22:14] 15 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.
[22:16] 16 tn Heb “By myself I swear.”
[22:16] 17 tn Heb “the oracle of the
[22:17] 18 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.
[22:17] 19 tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).
[22:17] 20 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[22:17] 22 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).
[22:18] 23 tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.
[22:18] 24 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
[22:19] 25 tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”
[22:19] 26 tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.
