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†. Gen 22:1a . . Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test.
This particular section of Scripture deals with an ancient incident known in
sacred Jewish literature as The Akedah (the binding of Isaac). The Akedah
portrays the very first human sacrifice ever performed in the Bible by
someone who is extremely important to the people of Israel.
The test coming up wasn't meant to measure Abraham's loyalty; rather, to
ascertain the quality of his trust in the promise that God made to him
concerning Isaac's future.
"Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name
Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him." (Gen 17:19)
†. Gen 22:1b-2a . . He said to him: Abraham. And he answered: Here
I am. And He said: Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom
you love,
The Hebrew word for "favored one" is yachiyd (yaw-kheed') which means
sole. So then, Isaac wasn't just Abraham's favored son; he was also
Abraham's only son because when the old gentleman emancipated Ishmael's
mom Hagar, he relinquished legal kinship with her children. Relative to
nature; Ishmael is Abraham's son, but relative to the covenant; he's no son
at all.
"Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received
the promises was offering up his only begotten son" (Heb 11:17)
The koiné Greek word for "only begotten" is monogenes (mon-og-en-ace')
which always, and without exception, indicates a parent's sole biological
child. Examples are located at Luke 7:12, Luke 8:42, Luke 9:38, John 1:14,
John 1:18, John 3:16, John 3:18, and 1John 4:9.
Monogenes never identifies children with biological siblings; only children
with zero biological siblings. This may all seem like semantic hocus pocus
but since it's in the Bible we sort of have to go with it because faith accepts
what's revealed to it rather than only what makes sense to it.
Isaac was about three to five years old when Hagar and Ishmael moved
out. Some time has gone by; and in this chapter, Isaac is now old enough to
shoulder a load of wood, and to ask an intelligent question based on
experience and observation; so he wasn't a little kid in this incident.
Why did God say; whom you love? I think it's so we'd know how Abraham
felt about Isaac. There can be no doubt that he would sorely miss this boy if
ever something should happen to him.
When people truly love their kids, they will die protecting them. They'll quite
literally run into a burning building if need be and/or step in front of a bus.
Normal parents are very protective like that when they truly love their kids.
People who love their kids don't drown them to please a boy friend, don't
leave them unattended in the car and go inside a bar for a drink; don't let
them go off with strangers, and don't let them go to the mall or to the
playground all by themselves when they're little.
†. Gen 22:2b . . and go to the land of Moriah,
There are only two places in the entire Old Testament where the word
Moriah appears. One is here in Genesis and the other in 2Chrn 3:1.
According to tradition, Genesis' land of Moriah is the same as the mount
Moriah in 2Chron-- the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem --which is
bordered by the world famous Wailing Wall. Some justification for the
tradition is found in verse 14, where Abraham named the location Adonai
yireh, from which came the expression; "On the mount of the Lord there is
vision".
However, Jerusalem's temple site isn't a three day trek on foot from Beer
sheba; nor would it have been necessary for Abraham to pack in his own
wood since Jerusalem's locale was well-forested in his day.
In reality; the precise geographic location of the land of Moriah remains to
this day a total mystery; which is probably for the best because by now
there'd likely be an Islamic mosque polluting the site if its location were
known.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 22:1a . . Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test.
This particular section of Scripture deals with an ancient incident known in
sacred Jewish literature as The Akedah (the binding of Isaac). The Akedah
portrays the very first human sacrifice ever performed in the Bible by
someone who is extremely important to the people of Israel.
The test coming up wasn't meant to measure Abraham's loyalty; rather, to
ascertain the quality of his trust in the promise that God made to him
concerning Isaac's future.
"Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name
Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him." (Gen 17:19)
†. Gen 22:1b-2a . . He said to him: Abraham. And he answered: Here
I am. And He said: Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom
you love,
The Hebrew word for "favored one" is yachiyd (yaw-kheed') which means
sole. So then, Isaac wasn't just Abraham's favored son; he was also
Abraham's only son because when the old gentleman emancipated Ishmael's
mom Hagar, he relinquished legal kinship with her children. Relative to
nature; Ishmael is Abraham's son, but relative to the covenant; he's no son
at all.
"Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received
the promises was offering up his only begotten son" (Heb 11:17)
The koiné Greek word for "only begotten" is monogenes (mon-og-en-ace')
which always, and without exception, indicates a parent's sole biological
child. Examples are located at Luke 7:12, Luke 8:42, Luke 9:38, John 1:14,
John 1:18, John 3:16, John 3:18, and 1John 4:9.
Monogenes never identifies children with biological siblings; only children
with zero biological siblings. This may all seem like semantic hocus pocus
but since it's in the Bible we sort of have to go with it because faith accepts
what's revealed to it rather than only what makes sense to it.
Isaac was about three to five years old when Hagar and Ishmael moved
out. Some time has gone by; and in this chapter, Isaac is now old enough to
shoulder a load of wood, and to ask an intelligent question based on
experience and observation; so he wasn't a little kid in this incident.
Why did God say; whom you love? I think it's so we'd know how Abraham
felt about Isaac. There can be no doubt that he would sorely miss this boy if
ever something should happen to him.
When people truly love their kids, they will die protecting them. They'll quite
literally run into a burning building if need be and/or step in front of a bus.
Normal parents are very protective like that when they truly love their kids.
People who love their kids don't drown them to please a boy friend, don't
leave them unattended in the car and go inside a bar for a drink; don't let
them go off with strangers, and don't let them go to the mall or to the
playground all by themselves when they're little.
†. Gen 22:2b . . and go to the land of Moriah,
There are only two places in the entire Old Testament where the word
Moriah appears. One is here in Genesis and the other in 2Chrn 3:1.
According to tradition, Genesis' land of Moriah is the same as the mount
Moriah in 2Chron-- the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem --which is
bordered by the world famous Wailing Wall. Some justification for the
tradition is found in verse 14, where Abraham named the location Adonai
yireh, from which came the expression; "On the mount of the Lord there is
vision".
However, Jerusalem's temple site isn't a three day trek on foot from Beer
sheba; nor would it have been necessary for Abraham to pack in his own
wood since Jerusalem's locale was well-forested in his day.
In reality; the precise geographic location of the land of Moriah remains to
this day a total mystery; which is probably for the best because by now
there'd likely be an Islamic mosque polluting the site if its location were
known.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=