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Genesis 22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Genesis 22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 22
The Testing of Abraham.[a] 1 Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test and said to him: Abraham! “Here I am!” he replied.(A) 2 Then God said: Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.(B) 3 Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac, and after cutting the wood for the burnt offering, set out for the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place from a distance. 5 Abraham said to his servants: “Stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over there. We will worship and then come back to you.” 6 So Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two walked on together, 7 Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father!” he said. “Here I am,” he replied. Isaac continued, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8 “My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” Then the two walked on together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he bound[b] his son Isaac, and put him on top of the wood on the altar.(C) 10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.(D) 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. 12 “Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the angel. “Do not do the least thing to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you did not withhold from me your son, your only one.”(E) 13 Abraham looked up and saw a single ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.[c] 14 Abraham named that place Yahweh-yireh;[d] hence people today say, “On the mountain the Lord will provide.”
15 [e]A second time the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven 16 (F)and said: “I swear by my very self—oracle of the Lord—that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your son, your only one, 17 I will bless you and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies,(G) 18 and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing, because you obeyed my command.”(H)
19 Abraham then returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer-sheba, where Abraham lived.
Nahor’s Descendants.[f] 20 Some time afterward, the news came to Abraham: “Milcah too has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz, his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore children: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Footnotes
- 22:1–19 The divine demand that Abraham sacrifice to God the son of promise is the greatest of his trials; after the successful completion of the test, he has only to buy a burial site for Sarah and find a wife for Isaac. The story is widely recognized as a literary masterpiece, depicting in a few lines God as the absolute Lord, inscrutable yet ultimately gracious, and Abraham, acting in moral grandeur as the great ancestor of Israel. Abraham speaks simply, with none of the wordy evasions of chaps. 13 and 21. The style is laconic; motivations and thoughts are not explained, and the reader cannot but wonder at the scene. In vv. 15–18, the angel repeats the seventh and climactic promise. Moriah: the mountain is not given a precise geographical location here, though 2 Chr 3:1 identifies Moriah as the mountain of Jerusalem where Solomon built the Temple; Abraham is thus the first to worship there. The word “Moriah” is a play on the verb “to see” (Heb. ra’ah); the wordplay is continued in v. 8, “God will provide (lit., “see”)” and in v. 14, Yahweh-yireh, meaning “the Lord will see/provide.”
- 22:9 Bound: the Hebrew verb is ‘aqad, from which is derived the noun Akedah, “the binding (of Isaac),” the traditional Jewish name for this incident.
- 22:13 While the Bible recognizes that firstborn males belong to God (Ex 13:11–16; 34:19–20), and provides an alternate sacrifice to redeem firstborn sons, the focus here is on Abraham’s being tested by God (v. 1). But the widely attested practice of child sacrifice underscores, for all its horror today, the realism of the test.
- 22:14 Yahweh-yireh: a Hebrew expression meaning “the Lord will see/provide.” See note on vv. 1–19.
- 22:15–19 The seventh and climactic statement of the blessings to Abraham. Unlike the other statements, which were purely promissory, this one is presented as a reward for Abraham’s extraordinary trust.
- 22:20–24 The descendants to the second generation of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, who married Milcah. Of Terah’s three sons (11:27), the oldest, Abraham, fathered Isaac (21:1–7), and the youngest, Haran (who died in Ur), fathered Lot. Abraham is now told that Nahor had eight children by Milcah and four by his concubine Reumah. Apart from the notice about the children born to Abraham by his second wife, Keturah (25:1–6), all the information about Terah’s family to the second generation is now complete. It is noteworthy that Jacob will, like Nahor, have eight children by his wives and four by his concubines.
Genesis 22
New International Version
Genesis 22
New International Version
Abraham Tested
22 Some time later God tested(A) Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,”(B) he replied.
2 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)”
3 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. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 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)”
6 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, 7 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?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide(L) the lamb(M) for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 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)”
15 The angel of the Lord(AE) called to Abraham from heaven(AF) a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself,(AG) declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,(AH) 17 I will surely bless you(AI) and make your descendants(AJ) as numerous as the stars in the sky(AK) and as the sand on the seashore.(AL) Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,(AM) 18 and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,[c](AN) because you have obeyed me.”(AO)
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba.(AP) And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahor’s Sons
20 Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:(AQ) 21 Uz(AR) the firstborn, Buz(AS) his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.(AT)” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.(AU) Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.(AV) 24 His concubine,(AW) whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 22:13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him
- Genesis 22:18 Or seed
- Genesis 22:18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
Genesis 22
King James Version
Genesis 22
King James Version
22 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, 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.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake 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?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;
21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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