Study guide
בְּרֵאשִׁית כ״ב
The binding of Isaac
Genesis 22, read in eight verses. Work down the passage on the left, keep the apparatus on the right beside you.
The passage
And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him: ‘Abraham’; and he said: ‘Here am I.’
And He said: ‘Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.’
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together.
And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said: ‘My father.’ And he said: ‘Here am I, my son.’ And he said: ‘Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’
And Abraham said: ‘God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said: ‘Abraham, Abraham.’ And he said: ‘Here am I.’
And he said: ‘Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou art a God-fearing man, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.’
Genesis 22, JPS 1917
What to watch for
Verse 1 tells you outright that this is a test, before Abraham has heard a single word of it. The narrator gives you information Abraham does not have, and the whole chapter has to be read with that gap in view.
Verse 2 piles up description before it names the son: thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac. Four ways of saying the same person, each one raising what is being asked for.
Twice the chapter says they went both of them together — once in verse 6, before Isaac has asked anything, and again in verse 8, after Abraham has answered him. The phrase does not change, though everything between it has.
Then verse 12 stops the whole machine for one word: now. Whatever the test was for, the text says plainly that it produced knowledge that had not existed before.
Lines worth keeping
“And Abraham said: ‘God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together.”
“And he said: ‘Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou art a God-fearing man, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me.’”
“And Abraham called the name of that place Adonai-jireh; as it is said to this day: ‘In the mount where the LORD is seen.’”