Add parallel Print Page Options

22 After these events, God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am.

[God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you.

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then began the trip to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

And Abraham said to his servants, Settle down and stay here with the donkey, and I and the young man will go yonder and worship and [a]come again to you.

Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (the firepot) in his own hand, and a knife; and the two of them went on together.

And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. [Isaac] said, See, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt sacrifice?

Abraham said, My son, [b]God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering. So the two went on together.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and [c]bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood.(A)

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took hold of the knife to slay his son.(B)

11 But the [d]Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He answered, Here I am.

12 And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son.

13 Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering and an ascending sacrifice instead of his son!

14 So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 22:5 Abraham was not lying to his servants or trying to deceive them. He believed God, Who had promised him that this young man’s posterity was to inherit the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:2, 3).
  2. Genesis 22:8 We must not suppose that this was the language merely of faith and obedience. Abraham spoke prophetically, and referred to that Lamb of God which He had provided for Himself, Who in the fullness of time would take away the sin of the world, and of Whom Isaac was a most expressive type (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with A Commentary). For Abraham was a prophet (Gen. 20:7). Jesus said Abraham hoped for “My day [My incarnation]; and he did see it and was delighted” (John 8:56).
  3. Genesis 22:9 Isaac, who was perhaps twenty-five years old (according to the ancient historian Josephus), shared his father’s confidence in God’s promise. Was not his very existence the result of God keeping His word? (Gen. 17:15-17.)
  4. Genesis 22:11 See footnote on Gen. 16:7.

Abraham Tested

22 Some time later God tested(A) Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,”(B) he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son(C), your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah.(D) Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering(E) on a mountain I will show you.(F)

Early the next morning(G) Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.(H)

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac,(I) and he himself carried the fire and the knife.(J) As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb(K) for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide(L) the lamb(M) for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about,(N) Abraham built an altar(O) there and arranged the wood(P) on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar,(Q) on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife(R) to slay his son.(S) 11 But the angel of the Lord(T) called out to him from heaven,(U) “Abraham! Abraham!”(V)

“Here I am,”(W) he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God,(X) because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.(Y)

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns.(Z) He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.(AA) 14 So Abraham called(AB) that place The Lord(AC) Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.(AD)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 22:13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him