Genesis 22:12

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

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וַיֹּ֗אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lay	תִּשְׁלַ֤ח tish.Lach	H7971	to send away · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
hand	יָֽדְךָ֙ ya.de.Kha	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
upon	אֶל 'el-	H413	near · preposition
lad	הַנַּ֔עַר ha.Na.'ar	H5288	(concretely) a boy (as active) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
thou	תַּ֥עַשׂ Ta.'as	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
thing	מְא֑וּמָּה me.'U.mah	H3972	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
now	עַתָּ֣ה 'a.Tah	H6258	at this time · adverb
know	יָדַ֗עְתִּי ya.Da'.ti	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
fearest	יְרֵ֤א ye.Re'	H3373	fearing · adjective, masculine singular construct
God	אֱלֹהִים֙ 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
not	וְלֹ֥א ve.Lo'	H3808	not (the simple or abs. negation) · conjunction + negative particle
withheld	חָשַׂ֛כְתָּ cha.Sakh.ta	H2820	to restrain or (reflex.) refrain · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
son	בִּנְךָ֥ bin.Kha	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
only	יְחִידְךָ֖ ye.chi.de.Kha	H3173	properly · adjective, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

James 2:21-22 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is b…
Matthew 10:37-38 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt…
Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake,…
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye ar…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 22:11-14

Hitherto this story has been very melancholy, and seemed to hasten towards a most tragical period; but here the sky suddenly clears up, the sun breaks out, and a bright and pleasant scene opens. The same hand that had wounded and cast down here heals and lifts up; for, though he cause grief, he will have compassion. The angel of the Lord, that is, God himself, the eternal Word, the angel of the covenant, who was to be the great Redeemer and comforter, he interposed, and gave a happy issue to this trial. I. Isaac is rescued, Gen 22:11, Gen 22:12. The command to offer him was intended only for trial, and it appearing, upon trial, that Abraham did indeed love God better than he loved Isaac, the…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 22:11

the angel . . . called, &c.--The sacrifice was virtually offered--the intention, the purpose to do it, was shown in all sincerity and fulness. The Omniscient witness likewise declared His acceptance in the highest terms of approval; and the apostle speaks of it as actually made (Heb 11:17; Jam 2:21).

Adam Clarke on Genesis 22:12

Lay not thine hand upon the lad - As Isaac was to be the representative of Jesus Christ's real sacrifice, it was sufficient for this purpose that in his own will, and the will of his father, the purpose of the immolation was complete. Isaac was now fully offered both by his father and by himself. The father yields up the son, the son gives up his life; on both sides, as far as will and purpose could go, the sacrifice was complete. God simply spares the father the torture of putting the knife to his son's throat. Now was the time when it might properly be said, "Sacrifice, and offering, and burnt-offering, and sacrifice for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure in them: then said the…

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John Gill on Genesis 22:12

And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad,.... Which he was just going to stretch out, with his knife in it, to slay him; and though the Lord had bid him take his son, and offer him for a burnt offering, to try his faith, fear, love, and obedience, yet he meant not that he should actually slay him, but would prevent it when it came to the crisis; for he approves not of, nor delights in human sacrifices; and that this might not be dawn into an example, it was prevented; though the Gentiles, under the influence of Satan, in imitation of this, have practised it: neither do thou anything unto him; by lacerating his flesh, letting out any of his blood, or wounding him ever so slightly in any…

The Church Fathers

In the same way he said to Abraham, "Now I know that you fear God," wherein he was saying, "Now I have made people (who up to now did not know) recognize what I, in my own mind, always held to be certain, [namely], that you fear God."
— Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2.13

He also said, 'The beginning and the end is the fear of the Lord. For it is written, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10) and, when Abraham built an altar the Lord said to him, "Now I know that you fear God" (Gen. 22:12).'
— Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Determined by motives of high devotion, Abraham, obeying the oracle of God, offered his son for a whole burnt sacrifice; and, as if destitute of natural affection, drew his sword, that no delay might obscure the brightness of the offering. But when he was commanded to spare his son he willingly sheathed his sword, and he who with this faithful intention was hastening to offer up his only son with still more zealous piety hastened to substitute a ram as a sacrifice.
— Ambrose of Milan, Letters, Letter 83, Section 5

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Angels — By the word “angels” (i.e. “messengers” of God) we ordinarily understand a race of spiritual beings of a nature exalted far above that of man, although infinitely removed from that of God—whose…
Gerizim — A mountain of Samaria, about 3,000 feet above the Mediterranean. It was on the left of the valley containing the ancient town of Shechem (q.v.), on the way to Jerusalem. It stood over against Mount…
Isaac — Laughter. (1) Israel, or the kingdom of the ten tribes (Amos 7:9, 16). (2.) The only son of Abraham by Sarah. He was the longest lived of the three patriarchs (Gen. 21:1-3). He was circumcised when…
Sacrifice — The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine institution. It did not originate with man. God himself appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be offered to him by…
Temple, Solomon’s — Before his death David had “with all his might” provided materials in great abundance for the building of the temple on the summit of Mount Moriah (1 Chr. 22:14; 29:4; 2 Chr. 3:1), on the east of the…
Temptation — (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their…
Anthropomorphisms · MISCELLANEOUS FIGURES — MISCELLANEOUS FIGURES
Burnt Offering, The · Abraham tried by the command to offer Isaac as — Abraham tried by the command to offer Isaac as
Communion · .Abraham — .Abraham
Consecration · .Abraham, of — .Abraham, of
Courage · .In offering — .In offering

Genesis 22:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 22:11-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 22:11

Adam Clarke on Genesis 22:12

John Gill on Genesis 22:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 22:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 22:11-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 22:11

Adam Clarke on Genesis 22:12

John Gill on Genesis 22:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 22:12

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 22:11-13

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 22:12

Rashi on Genesis 22:12