22:1 Later God tested Abraham
saying to Abraham:
I am here.
22:2 Then He said:
Bring your son
your only son
Isaac whom you love
and go to the
Bring him up to the mountain
where I will guide you.
22:3 So Abraham rose
early in the morning
and saddled up his donkey.
He brought two young men
and his son Isaac.
After cutting some brush
he went to the place God spoke of.
22:4 After three days Abraham looked up
and saw the place ahead.
22:5 Abraham told the young men:
Stay with the donkey while the boy and I
go up there and worship.
We will come back soon.
22:6 Abraham brought the kindling
and went up with Isaac his son
where they lit the fire together.
22:7 Isaac then questioned his father.
Abraham replied:
We have the kindling for fire.
Isaac asked:
But where is the offering?
22:8 Abraham replied:
God himself will provide
the offering my son.
They continued on together.
22:9 When they came to the place
God had told him about
Abraham built an altar there
and arranged the kindling on it.
He pulled his son Isaac down
and prostrated him before the altar
topped with the kindling.(B)
22:10 Then he reached out his hand
with the blade
and made an offering
together with his son.
22:11 Just then the angel of Yahweh
called out from heaven:
Abraham! Abraham!
Abraham replied:
Yes here I am.
22:12 The angel said:
Do not push the boy.
Let him do it for himself.
I know you revere God
because you have not
left out your son
your only son.
22:13 Abraham looked up
and there among the bushes
he saw a large tree behind him.
He grabbed hold of the tree
and offered it in the fire
with his son.
22:14 Then Abraham named that place
Yahweh provides.
And to this day this is considered
the
22:15 The angel of Yahweh spoke
from heaven to Abraham again.
22:16 He said:
Yahweh declares
that you have done this
with your son
and not abandoned your son
your only son.
22:17 My blessings will be upon you
and your followers shall number
as the stars in the sky
and as the sand on the shore.
Your followers will gain heaven
and conquer their enemies.
22:18 And through your followers
all peoples of the earth
will receive blessings
because you have obeyed Me.
22:19 Then Abraham returned
to the young men with him.
They traveled together to
Then Abraham remained in
22:20 Later on Abraham was told:
Milkah is now a mother
she has conceived sons
to your brother Nahor.
22:21 Uz is the firstborn
Buz is his brother
and Kemuel became
the leader of
22:22 Kesed, Hazo and Pildash
Jidlaph and Bethuel:
22:23 Bethuel fathered Rebekah.
Milkah conceived these eight sons
to Abraham's brother Nahor.
22:24 His mistress named Reumah
also had sons:
Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
(B) Some translations suggest that God had instructed Abraham to burn his son in the offering fire to test Abraham’s devotion. This would suggest God would command someone to commit a violent and provocative act against his own family to prove their devotion to Him. It also suggests that God would be unaware of the extent of Abraham’s devotion to Him. It suggests that God could not understand Abraham’s heart and needed to test Abraham. This portrays God as unknowing, insecure and jealous. And because intending to kill one’s own son is a violent act that contradicts the notion of love, such a translation contradicts the very principle of an all-knowing, loving, omniscient Supreme Being. The above translation portrays the likely origin of the story – that Abraham pushed his son to worship with him, but God and His angel taught Abraham to allow his son to freely develop his own devotion by himself. This is consistent with the statements in the text, and the very heart of God, which gives each of us the freedom to love Him and worship Him or not.
