Genesis 22:11-12
22:11 But the Lord’s angel 1 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered.
22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 2 the angel said. 3 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 4 that you fear 5 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
1 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.
2 tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
3 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.
4 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
5 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.