Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 22

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 22 Abraham commanded to sacrifice Isaac, his son—Both father and son yield to the will of God—Abraham's seed shall be as the stars and the sand in number—In his seed all nations shall be blessed—Rebekah is born to Bethuel.
A K E D A H (The Binding)
1 AND it came to pass after these things, that God did ^atempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, ^aTake now thy son, thine ^bonly son Isaac, whom thou ^clovest, and get thee into the land of ^dMoriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering^a upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Questions of Akedah The world of Jewish and Christian traditions have various thoughts of comtemplation with some controversy the story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Neither have the added prospective of revealed LDS understanding that Abraham himself had laid upon an alter of sacrifice in UR before the false gods of the land as supplied by the book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. One Jewish tradition has Abraham completing the sacrifice and God restoring Isaac. Though that might have been Abraham's vain hopes, God does not work after such manner. The whole of the matter was a test of not only Abraham's faith but also Isaac's faith as Isaac was the one to be sacrificed. God also used it as a teaching moment to Abraham and Isaac relative to the parallel sacrifice which God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son would perform for the benefit of all mankind. Though the 'binding' commonly refers to the binding of Isaac, it was more to the binding of the hearts of the father and son, Abraham and Isaac, to the Father and Son who would perform in relationship to the atonement for the fall of man that man might receive salvation and live again.	2^a offer him there for a burnt offering This would have been a startling as well as challenging commandment the Lord gave unto Abraham. Remember that Abraham's own father had taken Abraham to be offered upon the altar before the false pagan Gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash and Pharaoh. Abraham would have known well the evil of human sacrifice, especially that of the inocent before the pagan Gods of the evil religions and taught against such evil practice. That Abraham was now called upon by his God to offer his son as a burnt offering must have raised a mental conflict in his mind which would have fully tested his own faith in God.	1^a HEB test, or prove.; D&C 136:31; TG Test, Try, Prove 2^a D&C 132:36; ^b John 3:16-21; Jacob 4:5 ^c TG Love; John 3:16 ^d 2 Sam. 24:18; 2 Chr. 3:1; Abr. 2:18-20; Gen. 12:6-9; Commentary Gen. 12:6 TG Moriah; BD Moriah; HRWM ~ HYRWM The two original words which Moreh and Moriah are taken from are significantly similar. When one takes the meaning of Moriah and apply it to the name of Moreh and the events which occured to Abraham at that site, there is a further significant relationship. Moriah translates to mean 'chosen by Jehovah' and this is exactly that which occured to Abraham at Moreh. He was Chosen by Jehovah to be the one through whom the blessings of the fathers, the covenant promises of God, would be fulfilled through.
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 ^awood 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 ^aworship, and come again to you.		1^a Gen. 30:22 (22-23); 1 Sam. 2:21 ^b Gen. 17:19; Gen. 18:10 (10, 14) 2^a Gen. 24:36 ^b TG Old Age ^c Gen. 17:21
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and ^alaid it upon Isaac his son^a; 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, ^aHere 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 ^alamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.	6^aAbraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son God the Father in parallel had figuratively laid upon His Son, Jesus Christ, the wook of the offering in the cross which Jesus bore on his walk to Calvery. Here it is Isaac who has the strong back of a man to carry the wood required for a burnt offering which would indicate that Isaac is no mere child but a young man. And it is Abraham, at age a 120 or so who only carries the fire torch in his hand and a knife with him as they hiked up the mount of sacrifice. The point being that Isaac was of an age and of the strength to resist his aged father if he was so inclined to do so to avoid being sacrificed.	1^a Gen. 30:22 (22-23); 1 Sam. 2:21 ^b Gen. 17:19; Gen. 18:10 (10, 14) 2^a Gen. 24:36 ^b TG Old Age ^c Gen. 17:21
THE BINDING OF ISAAC [A K E D A H]
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and ^alaid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the ^baltar 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, ^aLay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou ^bfearest God, seeing thou hast not ^cwithheld 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 ^aJehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, ^bIn 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 ^asworn, 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 ^aseed as the stars of the heaven, and as the ^bsand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the ^cgate of his enemies; 18 And in thy ^aseed shall all the nations of the earth be ^bblessed; because thou hast ^cobeyed my voice.
19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
20 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham^a, saying, Behold, ^aMilcah, 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 ^aBethuel begat ^bRebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's ^cbrother. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.	20^a it was told Abraham While the age of Isaac at the event of the sacrifice can be argued, it seems significant that in the same chapter it is told to Abraham of the family of his brother Nahor, his children including Bethuel one of the sons of Nahor and even of Nehor's granddaguthter, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel. Sarah, who was 90 at Isaac's birth, die at the beginning of the next chapter at age 127 (Genesis 24:1) when Isaac would have been about age 37. Isaac marries Rebekah at age 40 (Genesis 25:20) at which time it is commented that it did comfort him after his mother's death (Genesis 24:67). Thus it seems that these events are close in time together which would imply that Isaac was a young man, not a mere child at the time of Akedah.