Genesis 22:8

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.

Genesis 22:12

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.”

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¹ tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”

sn God will provide is the central theme of the passage and the turning point in the story. Note Paul’s allusion to the story in Rom 8:32 (“how shall he not freely give us all things?”) as well as H. J. Schoeps, “The Sacrifice of Isaac in Paul’s Theology,” JBL 65 (1946): 385-92.

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.