22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, 6 and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 7 “My father?” “What is it, 8 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 9 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
22:13 Abraham looked up 10 and saw 11 behind him 12 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 13 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 sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.
7 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).
9 tn 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.
10 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
11 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.
12 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
13 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 tn Heb “and Jacob set up a sacred pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a sacred pillar of stone” (see the notes on the term “sacred stone” in Gen 28:18). This passage stands parallel to Gen 28:18-19, where Jacob set up a sacred stone, poured oil on it, and called the place Bethel. Some commentators see these as two traditions referring to the same event, but it is more likely that Jacob reconsecrated the place in fulfillment of the vow he had made here earlier. In support of this is the fact that the present narrative alludes to and is built on the previous one.
15 tn The verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “to pour out, to make libations,” and the noun נֶסֶךְ (nesekh) is a “drink-offering,” usually of wine or of blood. The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out,” often of anointing oil, but of other elements as well.