Discovery BoxGenesis 22:2 
Context22:2 God 1 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 2 – and go to the land of Moriah! 3 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 4 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 5 you.”
Genesis 22:16
Context22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 6 decrees the Lord, 7 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only 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 “By myself I swear.”
7 tn Heb “the oracle of the
