about a well of wa ter that Abim e lek ’ s ser vants had seized . 26 But Abim e lek said , “ I don ’ t know who has done this . You did not tell me , and I heard about it only to day .”
27
So Abra ham brought sheep and cat tle and gave them to Abim e lek , and the two men made a trea ty . 28 Abra ham set apart sev en ewe lambs from the flock , 29 and Abim e lek asked Abra ham , “ What is the mean ing of these sev en ewe lambs you have set apart by them selves ?”
30
He re plied , “ Ac cept these sev en lambs from my hand as a wit ness that I dug this well .”
31
So that place was called Be er she ba , a be cause the two men swore an oath there .
32
Af ter the trea ty had been made at Be er she ba , Abim e lek and Phi col the com mand er of his forc es re turned to the land of the Phi lis tines . 33 Abra ham plant ed a tam a risk tree in Be er she ba , and there he called on the name of the Lord , the Eter nal God . 34 And Abra ham stayed in the land of the Phi lis tines for a long time .
Abraham Tested
22
Some time lat er God test ed Abra ham . He said to him , “ Abra ham !”
Genesis 22:9 | 45
whom you love — Isaac — and go to the re gion of Mo ri ah . Sac ri fice him there as a burnt of fer ing on a moun tain I will show you .”
3
Ear ly the next morn ing Abra ham got up and load ed his don key . He took with him two of his ser vants and his son Isaac . When he had cut enough wood for the burnt of fer ing , he set out for the place God had told him about . 4 On the third day Abra ham looked up and saw the place in the dis tance . 5 He said to his ser vants , “ Stay here with the don key while I and the boy go over there . We will wor ship and then we will come back to you .”
6
Abra ham took the wood for the burnt of fering and placed it on his son Isaac , and he him self car ried the fire and the knife . As the two of them went on to geth er , 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his fa ther Abra ham , “ Fa ther ?” “ Yes , my son ?” Abra ham re plied . “ The fire and wood are here ,” Isaac said , “ but where is the lamb for the burnt of fer ing ?”
8
Abra ham an swered , “ God him self will pro vide the lamb for the burnt of fer ing , my son .” And the two of them went on to geth er .
9
When they reached the place God had told him about , Abra ham built an al tar there and ar ranged the wood on it . He bound his son Isaac and laid
“ Here I am ,” he re plied .
2
Then God said , “ Take your son , your only son , a
31 Beersheba can mean well of seven and well of the oath .
21:28 seven ewe lambs These animals may have been sacrifices in a covenant ceremony ( compare 15:9 – 17 ). However , they may have also been a reciprocation of Abimelek ’ s previous gift to Abraham in 20:14 . 21:31 Beersheba This place name means either “ well of the oath ” or “ well of seven .” There are seven lambs mentioned in v . 30 and the two men swear an oath there , as this verse indicates . Either meaning involves wordplay ( compare 21:24 ). 21:32 land of the Philistines Abimelek was king of Gerar ( 20:2 ). Gerar is here identified as being in the land of the Philistines ( peleset in Hebrew ). In the parallel story about Isaac and Abimelek , Abimelek resides in Gerar and is specifically called king of the Philistines ( 26:1 ) — however , Isaac may be encountering Abimelek ’ s son . Genesis does not list the Philistines among the peoples inhabiting the land of Canaan . Archaeologically speaking , evidence of Philistine cities does not appear until centuries after the patriarchs ( ca . 1200 BC ). References to the Philistines appear in the books of Joshua ( Jos 13:2 – 3 ) and Judges ( e . g ., Jdg 3:3,31 ; 10:6 – 11 ; 13:1,5 ), as well as in texts from the time of the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses III ( twelfth century BC ). All these references to Philistines are too late to align with the time of Abraham ( ca . 2000 BC ). Since Egyptian texts place the peleset people group ( the Philistines ) among the Sea Peoples — marauding people groups from the Aegean — it is possible that the term peleset may have been applied generally to peoples settling on the shores of Canaan . This would mean that the Philistines of the Abraham and Isaac stories are not of the same ethnicity as the Philistines of later Israelite history . 21:33 planted a tamarisk tree A practice consistent with earlier commemorations of divine communication . See Ge 12:6 .
22:1 – 19 After waiting 25 years to have a son ( see note on 21:5 ), Abraham faces a test of faith . God instructs him to take Isaac , his only son and the heir to God ’ s promise ( 17:21 ), to a mountain and sacrifice him ( vv . 1 – 2 ). Abraham obeys without question , binding Isaac to the altar ( vv . 3 – 10 ). God intervenes and provides a ram to offer instead ( vv . 11 – 14 ). After this resolution , God reiterates his covenant with Abraham ( vv . 15 – 19 ).
22:1 God tested Abraham God is not in favor of human sacrifice , and he later directly prohibits it ( Lev 18:21 ; Dt 12:31 ) — Abraham is being tested . The text hints that Isaac will not die ( v . 5 ). 22:2 your only son Since Isaac is not Abraham ’ s only son ( he had Ishmael by Hagar earlier ; 16:11 – 16 ), the Hebrew text here is referring to value , not number . Isaac is Abraham ’ s special son — through him the covenant promises with God will be passed on ( 17:21 ). Hebrews 11:17 refers to Isaac with the Greek term monogenēs , which is the same word found in Jn 3:16 describing Jesus — above all , this term refers to uniqueness . Isaac See Ge 17:17 – 19 . Moriah This term occurs only here and in 2Ch 3:1 , where it is described as a mountain . Second Chronicles 3:1 notes that Mount Moriah is where Yahweh appeared to David on the threshing floor of Ornan ( Araunah ) the Jebusite — and in turn , where Solomon built the temple . See the infographic “ A Threshing Floor ” on p . 497 ; see the infographic “ Ancient Altars ” on p . 128 . 22:5 I and the boy go over there Abraham tells his servants that not only would he and Isaac go and worship ( to sacrifice Isaac , unbeknownst to all but Abraham ), but both of them would return . This may mean Abraham was concealing the true purpose of the trip from Isaac . However , the NT book of Hebrews takes this as a statement of Abraham ’ s faith — that God would raise Isaac from the dead ( Heb 11:17 – 19 ).