Kejadian 22:2

22:2 God ¹  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ²  – and go to the land of Moriah! ³  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ⁴  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ⁵  you.”

Kejadian 42:21

42:21 They said to one other, ⁶  “Surely we’re being punished ⁷  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ⁸  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁹  has come on us!”

[22:2]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ² sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

[22:2]  ³ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

[22:2]  ⁴ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

[22:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[42:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ⁷ tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ⁹ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.