Discovery BoxGenesis 22:9 
Context22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 1 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 2 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.
Genesis 23:17
Context23:17 So Abraham secured 3 Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border,
Genesis 32:16
Context32:16 He entrusted them to 4 his servants, who divided them into herds. 5 He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.”
1 sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?
2 sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.
3 tn Heb “And it was conveyed.” The recipient, Abraham (mentioned in the Hebrew text at the beginning of v. 18) has been placed here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “and he put them in the hand of.”
5 tn Heb “a herd, a herd, by itself,” or “each herd by itself.” The distributive sense is expressed by repetition.
