22:13 Abraham looked up 6 and saw 7 behind him 8 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 9 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.
3 sn 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.
4 sn 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.
5 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
6 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
7 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.
8 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
9 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.