58 | Genesis 22:8
8 Abra ham an swered,“ God him self will pro vide the lamb for the burnt of fer ing, my son.” And the two of them went on to gether.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abra ham built an al tar there and ar ranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the al tar, k on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the an gel of the Lord called out to him from heaven,“ Abra ham! Abra ham!”“ Here I am,” he re plied. 12“ Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said.“ Do not do any thing to him. Now I know that you fear God, l be cause you have not with held from me your son, your only son. m”
13 Abra ham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram a caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sac ri ficed it as a burnt of fer ing in stead of his son. n 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Pro vide. And to this day it is said,“ On the moun tain of the Lord it will be pro vided. o”
15 The an gel of the Lord called to Abra ham from heaven a sec ond time 16 and said,“ I swear by myself, p de clares the Lord, that be cause you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your de scen dants q as nu mer ous as the stars in the sky r and as the sand on the sea shore. s Your descendants will take pos ses sion of the cit ies of their en e mies, t 18 and through your offspring b all na tions on earth will be blessed, c u be cause you have obeyed me.” v 19 Then Abra ham re turned to his ser vants, and they set off to gether for Be er sheba. And
Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
22:9 k Heb 11:17-19; Jas 2:21
22:12 l 1Sa 15:22; Jas 2:21-22 m ver 2; Jn 3:16
22:13 n Ro 8:32 22:14 o ver 8
22:16 p Lk 1:73; Heb 6:13
22:17 q Heb 6:14 * r Ge 15:5 s Ge 26:24;
32:12 t Ge 24:60
22:18 u Ge 12:2, 3; Ac 3:25 *; Gal 3:8 * v ver 10
22:20 w Ge 11:29 22:23 x Ge 24:15
23:2 y Jos 14:15 z ver 19; Ge 13:18
Nahor’ s Sons
20 Some time later Abra ham was told,“ Mil kah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Na hor: w 21 Uz the first born, Buz his brother, Kem uel( the fa ther of Aram), 22 Ke sed, Hazo, Pil dash, Jid laph and Be thuel.” 23 Be thuel be came the fa ther of Re bekah. x Mil kah bore these eight sons to Abra ham’ s brother Na hor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
The Death of Sarah Sarah lived to be a hun dred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kir i ath Arba y
23( that is, He bron) z in the land of Ca naan, and Abra ham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
a 13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the |
Masoretic Text a ram behind him |
b 18 Or seed |
c 18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in |
blessings( see 48:20) |
|
|
22:8 God himself will provide the lamb. Up to this point, Abraham has apparently not disclosed to Isaac the full details of God’ s instructions. Abraham’ s reply to Isaac reflects either a profound trust in God that he will intervene or an attempt to conceal from Isaac the fate that awaits him. 22:11 angel of the Lord. See note on 16:7. 22:12 God intervenes because Abraham has shown through his obedience how much he reverences God. Previously, God reckoned Abraham righteous on the basis of his faith( 15:6). That same faith is now made evident by what Abraham does( Jas 2:21 – 23). 22:13 ram. God not only intervenes to prevent Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, but he also provides an alternative sacrifice. Burnt offerings atone for human wrongdoing and are a reminder that obedience alone is insufficient to restore humanity’ s broken relationship with God. In this instance, the burnt offering precedes and prepares for a divine oath that confirms Abraham’ s unique place in God’ s plan for the redemption of humanity. The provision of the ram as a substitutionary offering in place of Isaac reflects a wider biblical understanding of sacrificial offerings. Animal sacrifice was commonly viewed as being substitutionary, i. e., the animal dies in the place of the worshiper. Jesus Christ is the ultimate, divinely provided substitute( Mark 10:45; John 1:29; Heb 7:27; 10:14; 1 Pet 3:18).
22:14 The Lord Will Provide. Echoing v. 8, this name reflects God’ s provision of a sacrifice. God later sends his Son to redeem humanity by dying sacrificially near the same location. to this day. Introduces a comment that probably comes from the time of the monarchy when the temple was functioning in Jerusalem. See Introduction to the Pentateuch, p. 9. the mountain of the Lord. Alludes to the temple in Jerusalem( Isa 2:3). 22:15 – 18 The oath God swears links back to the call of Abraham in 12:1 – 3. The fulfillment of all that God promised Abraham in 12:1 – 3 was conditional upon the patriarch’ s obedience. Having passed the ultimate test of submission to God, Abraham now receives a solemn guarantee confirming that God will bring to completion everything that he promised Abraham( Heb 6:13 – 18). Whereas the first part of the divine oath affirms that Abraham will have many descendants, the final part indicates that through one of Abraham’ s offspring all nations on earth will be blessed. While some interpret the second half of the oath as referring to all of Abraham descendants, the book of Genesis as a whole associates blessing with a unique lineage that it traces from Abraham via Isaac and Jacob to Joseph. This family line anticipates the coming of a divinely chosen king who will mediate God’ s blessing to the nations. This divine oath to Abraham finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ( Acts 3:25 – 26; Gal 3:16).
22:17 descendants. In the NIV, the final part of v. 17 refers to Abraham’ s many descendants. But it is possible that the Hebrew word denotes a single individual who will be victorious over his enemies. This singular reading could help explain the apostle Paul’ s claim that Jesus Christ is the ultimate descendant of Abraham( Gal 3:16). 22:20 – 24 Nahor’ s Sons. This short section lists the sons of Abraham’ s brother Nahor. This information is placed here to separate the main account of Abraham’ s life( chs. 12 – 22) from three episodes that bring closure to what has been recorded: reports of the death and burial of Sarah( 23:1 – 20) and of Abraham( 25:1 – 11) frame the lengthy report of how Rebekah becomes Isaac’ s wife( 24:1 – 67). 22:23 Rebekah. A granddaughter of Nahor. This reference to her anticipates the events of ch. 24.
23:1 – 20 The Death of Sarah. The account of Sarah’ s death is significant because it results in Abraham buying a plot of land near the town of Hebron. As a burial site, the cave of Machpelah becomes the permanent property of Abraham’ s descendants, a reminder that their future will be closely tied to the land of Canaan, in fulfillment of God’ s promises( 12:7; 13:14 – 17; 15:18 – 21; 17:8). 23:2 Kiriath Arba. This town was later renamed Hebron( Josh 14:15; Judg 1:10).