about a well of wa ter that Abim e lek’ s ser vants had seized. 26 But Abim e lek said,“ I don’ t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only to day.”
27
So Abra ham brought sheep and cat tle and gave them to Abim e lek, and the two men made a trea ty. 28 Abra ham set apart sev en ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abim e lek asked Abra ham,“ What is the mean ing of these sev en ewe lambs you have set apart by them selves?”
30
He re plied,“ Ac cept these sev en lambs from my hand as a wit ness that I dug this well.”
31
So that place was called Be er she ba, a be cause the two men swore an oath there.
32
Af ter the trea ty had been made at Be er she ba, Abim e lek and Phi col the com mand er of his forc es re turned to the land of the Phi lis tines. 33 Abra ham plant ed a tam a risk tree in Be er she ba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eter nal God. 34 And Abra ham stayed in the land of the Phi lis tines for a long time.
Abraham Tested
22
Some time lat er God test ed Abra ham. He said to him,“ Abra ham!”
Genesis 22:9 | 45
whom you love— Isaac— and go to the re gion of Mo ri ah. Sac ri fice him there as a burnt of fer ing on a moun tain I will show you.”
3
Ear ly the next morn ing Abra ham got up and load ed his don key. He took with him two of his ser vants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt of fer ing, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abra ham looked up and saw the place in the dis tance. 5 He said to his ser vants,“ Stay here with the don key while I and the boy go over there. We will wor ship and then we will come back to you.”
6
Abra ham took the wood for the burnt of fering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he him self car ried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on to geth er, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his fa ther Abra ham,“ Fa ther?”“ Yes, my son?” Abra ham re plied.“ The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said,“ but where is the lamb for the burnt of fer ing?”
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 geth er.
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
“ Here I am,” he re plied.
2
Then God said,“ Take your son, your only son, a
31 Beersheba can mean well of seven and well of the oath.
21:28 seven ewe lambs These animals may have been sacrifices in a covenant ceremony( compare 15:9 – 17). However, they may have also been a reciprocation of Abimelek’ s previous gift to Abraham in 20:14. 21:31 Beersheba This place name means either“ well of the oath” or“ well of seven.” There are seven lambs mentioned in v. 30 and the two men swear an oath there, as this verse indicates. Either meaning involves wordplay( compare 21:24). 21:32 land of the Philistines Abimelek was king of Gerar( 20:2). Gerar is here identified as being in the land of the Philistines( peleset in Hebrew). In the parallel story about Isaac and Abimelek, Abimelek resides in Gerar and is specifically called king of the Philistines( 26:1)— however, Isaac may be encountering Abimelek’ s son. Genesis does not list the Philistines among the peoples inhabiting the land of Canaan. Archaeologically speaking, evidence of Philistine cities does not appear until centuries after the patriarchs( ca. 1200 BC). References to the Philistines appear in the books of Joshua( Jos 13:2 – 3) and Judges( e. g., Jdg 3:3,31; 10:6 – 11; 13:1,5), as well as in texts from the time of the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses III( twelfth century BC). All these references to Philistines are too late to align with the time of Abraham( ca. 2000 BC). Since Egyptian texts place the peleset people group( the Philistines) among the Sea Peoples— marauding people groups from the Aegean— it is possible that the term peleset may have been applied generally to peoples settling on the shores of Canaan. This would mean that the Philistines of the Abraham and Isaac stories are not of the same ethnicity as the Philistines of later Israelite history. 21:33 planted a tamarisk tree A practice consistent with earlier commemorations of divine communication. See Ge 12:6.
22:1 – 19 After waiting 25 years to have a son( see note on 21:5), Abraham faces a test of faith. God instructs him to take Isaac, his only son and the heir to God’ s promise( 17:21), to a mountain and sacrifice him( vv. 1 – 2). Abraham obeys without question, binding Isaac to the altar( vv. 3 – 10). God intervenes and provides a ram to offer instead( vv. 11 – 14). After this resolution, God reiterates his covenant with Abraham( vv. 15 – 19).
22:1 God tested Abraham God is not in favor of human sacrifice, and he later directly prohibits it( Lev 18:21; Dt 12:31)— Abraham is being tested. The text hints that Isaac will not die( v. 5). 22:2 your only son Since Isaac is not Abraham’ s only son( he had Ishmael by Hagar earlier; 16:11 – 16), the Hebrew text here is referring to value, not number. Isaac is Abraham’ s special son— through him the covenant promises with God will be passed on( 17:21). Hebrews 11:17 refers to Isaac with the Greek term monogenēs, which is the same word found in Jn 3:16 describing Jesus— above all, this term refers to uniqueness. Isaac See Ge 17:17 – 19. Moriah This term occurs only here and in 2Ch 3:1, where it is described as a mountain. Second Chronicles 3:1 notes that Mount Moriah is where Yahweh appeared to David on the threshing floor of Ornan( Araunah) the Jebusite— and in turn, where Solomon built the temple. See the infographic“ A Threshing Floor” on p. 497; see the infographic“ Ancient Altars” on p. 128. 22:5 I and the boy go over there Abraham tells his servants that not only would he and Isaac go and worship( to sacrifice Isaac, unbeknownst to all but Abraham), but both of them would return. This may mean Abraham was concealing the true purpose of the trip from Isaac. However, the NT book of Hebrews takes this as a statement of Abraham’ s faith— that God would raise Isaac from the dead( Heb 11:17 – 19).