Bible Commentaries
Genesis 22

Verse 2

22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of {a} Moriah; and {b} offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

(a) Signifying the fear of God, in which place he was also honoured, Solomon later building the temple there.

(b) This was the main point of his temptation, seeing that he was commanded to offer up him in whom God had promised to bless all the nations of the world.

Verse 5

22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and {e} come again to you.

(e) He did not doubt that God would accomplish his promise, even if he should sacrifice his son.

Verse 8

22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a {d} burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

(d) The only way to overcome all temptation is to rest on God’s providence.

Verse 9

22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and {e} bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

(e) For it is likely that his father had told him God’s commandment, to which he showed himself obedient.

Verse 12

22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I {f} know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.

(f) That is, by your true obedience you have declared your living faith.

Verse 14

22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said [to] this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall {g} be seen.

(g) The name is changed to show that God both sees and provides secretly for his and also evidently is seen, and felt in the right time.

Verse 16

22:16 And said, By {h} myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son]:

(h) Signifying, that there is none greater then he.

Verse 24

22:24 And his {i} concubine, whose name [was] Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

(i) Concubine is often used to refer to those women who were inferior to the wives.