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 22:12
Context22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 6 the angel said. 7 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 8 that you fear 9 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
Genesis 27:1
Context27:1 When 10 Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, 11 he called his older 12 son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau 13 replied.
Genesis 27:42
Context27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 14 she quickly summoned 15 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 16
Genesis 43:29
Context43:29 When Joseph looked up 17 and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 18
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 “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
7 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.
8 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
9 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.
10 tn The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.
11 tn Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”
12 tn Heb “greater” (in terms of age).
13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
15 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
16 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
17 tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.
