Genesis 22, Abraham is Tested

Abraham has finally had his promised son through Sarah, and is now living in Beersheba.  The long running story of the promised son is not over.

Genesis 22:1-2, Go to Moriah
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

God suddenly tells Abraham to sacrifice his son. We have no idea of Abraham's internal response to this but child sacrifice was a common practice in the ANE. In the fertility culture of the ancient Near East, Canaanites sometimes sacrificed a child to Molech in hopes of having more children. That practice will be in the ANE background throughout our Old Testament history, forbidden to the Israelites in many places (eg. Leviticus 18:21.)

Abraham will go to a mountain in "the region of Moriah." If this is the same mountain where Solomon's temple will be built (2 Chronicles 3:1) then it is a 55 mile walk from Beersheba. 

Genesis 22:3-8, Abraham travels to Moriah

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled 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. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 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."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 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 for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." 

And the two of them went on together.

Moriah is a three day walk, giving Abraham significant time to question God's plan and grieve about the upcoming task. But Abraham tells the servants that he will return with Isaac.  Does he mean that?  Does he mean what he says in response to Isaac's basic question? Does Abraham really believe that God will provide the lamb?  In the New Testament, the author of the letter to the Hebrews argues that Abraham believed that his son could be resurrected (Hebrews 11:17-19.)

Genesis 22:9-10, Abraham obeys

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Abraham goes through the sacrificial steps required, including binding Isaac.  (What did Isaac think?)

Genesis 22:11-14, God intervenes

But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "

Here I am," he replied.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

This is such a strange story, yet all turns out as Abraham had implied.  (Does Abraham have a clue to any of this?  Or is he merely obedient and hopeful.)

The NIV footnotes says that most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text" say Abraham saw a ram "behind him", apparently adding that phrase. Other ancient texts do not include it.

Genesis 22:15-19, Covenant repeated
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

God reaffirms his commitment to Abraham and his descendants.

Genesis 22:20-24, Children of Nahor
Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel."

Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.

We are updated on the descendants of Abraham's brother Nahor.  His wife, Milcah, has borne eight sons. One is the father of Aram. (We will run into Arameans later in the TaNaKh.) Another son, Bethuel, is the father of Rebekah. This will be important in Genesis 24 when we look for a wife for Isaac.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is nasah, "to prove", or "to tempt."

נָסָה

The word can have a positive use in that one "tests" something to reveal a certain quality. It can also be used in a negative manner, as one "tests" God or tempts one to do evil.

Some Random Thoughts

Abraham faced a very strange test. We can place the test within the fertility culture of the ANE but that coes not absolve it of its difficulties. Up until this chapter, Abraham has received gifts and blessings from YHWH and has had to do little in return, other than worship through sacrifices. Is Abraham's devotion to God purely self-centered? Does that devotion need to be tested? Abraham's test has some similarities to that of Job. In Job 1:8-11 the Adversary accuses Job of worshiping God because it is convenient, practical. There is no cost to that worship. And so Job is tested. That issue seems to appear here.

When I was very young, my mother would read to my brother and me at night. One of the books she read was Hurlbut's Story of the Bible, a giant book of beautiful engravings representing Bible events.  (My mother's copy was old even then and so was probably the 1932 edition.) I remember an image of an angel grabbing Abraham's arm to stop him from killing Isaac. That image was similar to the one below.

I found all the Bible stories fascinating, but I particularly recall the images of powerful creature with giant wings....

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First published Jan 26, 2023; updated Jan 26, 2026