Genesis 22 commentary

We never are secure from trials In Hebrew, to tempt, and to try, or to prove, are expressed by the same word. Every trial is indeed a temptation, and tends to show the dispositions of the heart, whether holy or unholy. But God proved Abraham, not to draw him to sin, as Satan tempts. Strong faith is often exercised with strong trials, and put upon hard services. The command to offer up his son, is given in such language as makes the trial more grievous; every word here is a sword. Observe, 1. The person to be offered: Take thy son; not thy bullocks and thy lambs. How willingly would Abraham have parted with them all to redeem Isaac! Thy son; not thy servant. Thine only son; thine only son by Sarah. Take Isaac, that son whom thou lovest. 2. The place: three days' journey off; so that Abraham might have time to consider, and might deliberately obey. 3. The manner: Offer him for a burnt-offering; not only kill his son, his Isaac, but kill him as a sacrifice; kill him with all that solemn pomp and ceremony, with which he used to offer his burnt-offerings.

Never was any gold tried in so hot a fire. Who but Abraham would not have argued with God? Such would have been the thought of a weak heart; but Abraham knew that he had to do with a God, even Jehovah. Faith had taught him not to argue, but to obey. He is sure that what God commands is good; that what he promises cannot be broken. In matters of God, whoever consults with flesh and blood, will never offer up his Isaac to God. The good patriarch rises early, and begins his sad journey. And now he travels three days, and Isaac still is in his sight! Misery is made worse when long continued. The expression, We will come again to you, shows that Abraham expected that Isaac, being raised from the dead, would return with him. It was a very affecting question that Isaac asked him, as they were going together: “My father,” said Isaac; it was a melting word, which, one would think, should strike deeper in the heart of Abraham, than his knife could in the heart of Isaac. Yet he waits for his son's question. Then Abraham, where he meant not, prophesies: “My son, God will provide a lamb for a burnt-offering.” The Holy Spirit, by his mouth, seems to predict the Lamb of God, which he has provided, and which taketh away the sin of the world. Abraham lays the wood in order for his Isaac's funeral pile, and now tells him the amazing news: Isaac, thou art the lamb which God has provided! Abraham, no doubt, comforting him with the same hopes with which he himself by faith was comforted. Yet it is necessary that the sacrifice be bound. The great Sacrifice, which, in the fulness of time, was to be offered up, must be bound, and so must Isaac. This being done, Abraham takes the knife, and stretches out his hand to give the fatal blow. Here is an act of faith and obedience, which deserves to be a spectacle to God, angels, and men. God, by his providence, calls us to part with an Isaac sometimes, and we must do it with cheerful submission to his holy will, 1Sa 3:18.

It was not God's intention that Isaac should actually be sacrificed, yet nobler blood than that of animals, in due time, was to be shed for sin, even the blood of the only begotten Son of God. But in the mean while God would not in any case have human sacrifices used, another sacrifice is provided. Reference must be had to the promised Messiah, the blessed Seed. Christ was sacrificed in our stead, as this ram instead of Isaac, and his death was our discharge. And observe, that the temple, the place of sacrifice, was afterwards built upon this same mount Moriah; and Calvary, where Christ was crucified, was near. A new name was given to that place, for the encouragement of all believers, to the end of the world, cheerfully to trust in God, and obey him. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide; probably alluding to what Abraham had said, God will provide himself a lamb. The Lord will always have his eye upon his people, in their straits and distresses, that he may give them seasonable help.

There are high declarations of God's favour to Abraham in this confirmation of the covenant with him, exceeding any he had yet been blessed with. Those that are willing to part with any thing for God, shall have it made up to them with unspeakable advantage. The promise, verse 18, doubtless points at the Messiah, and the grace of the gospel. Hereby we know the loving-kindness of God our Saviour towards sinful man, in that he hath not withheld his Son, his only Son, from us. Hereby we perceive the love of Christ, in that he gave himself a sacrifice for our sins. Yet he lives, and calls to sinners to come to him, and partake of his blood-bought salvation. He calls to his redeemed people to rejoice in him, and to glorify him. What then shall we render for all his benefits? Let his love constrain us to live not to ourselves, but to Him who died for us, and rose again. Admiring and adoring His grace, let us devote our all to his service, who laid down his life for our salvation. Whatever is dearest to us upon earth is our Isaac. And the only way for us to find comfort in an earthly thing, is to give it by faith into the hands of God. Yet remember that Abraham was not justified by his readiness to obey, but by the infinitely more noble obedience of Jesus Christ; his faith receiving this, relying on this, rejoicing in this, disposed and made him able for such wonderful self-denial and duty. (Ge 22:20-24)

This chapter ends with some account of Nahor's family, who had settled at Haran. This seems to be given for the connexion which it had with the church of God. From thence Isaac and Jacob took wives; and before the account of those events this list is recorded. It shows that though Abraham saw his own family highly honoured with privileges, admitted into covenant, and blessed with the assurance of the promise, yet he did not look with disdain upon his relations, but was glad to hear of the increase and welfare of their families.

1. And it came to pass . This chapter contains a most memorable narrative. For although Abraham, through the whole course of his life, gave astonishing proofs of faith and obedience, yet none more excellent can be imagined than the immolation of his son. For other temptations with which the Lord had exercised him, tended, indeed, to his mortification; but this inflicted a wound far more grievous than death itself. Here, however, we must consider something greater and higher than the paternal grief rind anguish, which, being produced by the death of an only son, pierced through the breast of the holy man. It was sad for him to be deprived of his only son, sadder still that this eon should be torn away by a violent death, but by far the most grievous that he himself should be appointed as the executioner to slay him with his own hand. Other circumstances, which will be noted in their proper place, I now omit. But all these things, if we compare them with the spiritual conflict of conscience which he endured, will appear like the mere play, or shadows of conflicts. For the great source of grief to him was not his own bereavement, not that he was commanded to slay his only heir, the hope of future memorial and of name, the glory and support of his family; but that, in the person of this son, the whole salvation of the world seemed to be extinguished and to perish. His contest, too, was not with his carnal passions, but, seeing that he wished to devote himself wholly to God, his very piety and religion filled him with distracting thoughts. For God, as if engaging in personal contest with him, requires the death of the boy, to whose person He himself had annexed the hope of eternal salvation. So that this latter command was, in a certain sense, the destruction of faith. This foretaste of the story before us, it was deemed useful to give to the readers, that they may reflect how deserving it is of diligent and constant meditation.

After these things God did tempt Abraham . The expression, after these things, is not to be restricted to his last vision; Moses rather intended to comprise in one word the various events by which Abraham had been tossed up and down; and again, the somewhat more quiet state of life which, in his old age, he had lately begun to obtain. He had passed an unsettled life in continued exile up to his eightieth year; having been harassed with many contumelies and injuries, he had endured with difficulty a miserable and anxious existence, in continual trepidation; famine had driven him out of the land whither he had gone, by the command and under the auspices of God, into Egypt. Twice his wife had been torn from his bosom; he had been separated from his nephew; he had delivered this nephew, when captured in war, at the peril of his own life. He had lived childless with his wife, when yet all his hopes were suspended upon his having offspring. Having at length obtained a son, he was compelled to disinherit him, and to drive him far from home. Isaac alone remained, his special but only consolation; be was enjoying peace at home, but now God suddenly thundered out of heaven, denouncing the sentence of death upon this son. The meaning, therefore, of the passage is, that by this temptation, as if by the last act, the faith of Abraham was far more severely tried than before.

God did tempt Abraham . James, in denying that any one is tempted by God, (James 1:13,) refutes the profane calumnies of those who, to exonerate themselves from the blame of their sins, attempt to fix the charge of them upon God. Wherefore, James truly contends, that those sins, of which we have the root in our own concupiscence, ought not to be charged upon another. For though Satan instils his poison, and fans the flame of our corrupt desires within us, we are yet not carried by any external force to the commission of sin; but our own flesh entices us, and we willingly yield to its allurements. This, however is no reason why God may not be said to tempt us in his own way, just as he tempted Abraham, — that is, brought him to a severe test, — that he might make full trial of the faith of his servant.

And said unto him . Moses points out the kind of temptation; namely, that God would shake the faith which the holy man had placed in His word , by a counter assault of the word itself. He therefore addresses him by name, that there may be no doubt respecting the Author of the command. For unless Abraham had been fully persuaded that it was the voice of God which commanded him to slay his son Isaac, he would have been easily released from anxiety; for, relying on the certain promise of God, he would have rejected the suggestion as the fallacy of Satan; and thus, without any difficulty, the temptation would have been shaken off. But now all occasion of doubt is removed; so that, without controversy, he acknowledges the oracle, which he hears, to be from God. Meanwhile, God, in a certain sense, assumes a double character, that, by the appearance of disagreement and repugnance in which He presents Himself in his word, he may distract and wound the breast of the holy man. For the only method of cherishing constancy of faith, is to apply all our senses to the word of God. But so great was then the discrepancy of the word, that it would wound and lacerate the faith of Abraham. Wherefore, there is great emphasis in the word, “said,” “Quare magna subest emphasis verbo loquendi.” because God indeed made trial of Abraham’s faith, not in the usual manner, but by drawing him into a contest with his own word. God’s usual manner of trying the faith of his people is, by causing the dispensations of his providence apparently to contradict his word, and requiring them still to rely upon that word, notwithstanding the apparent inconsistency. But in Abraham’s trial, He proposed a test far more severe. For His own command, or word, was in direct contradiction to what he had before spoken; His injunction respecting the slaying of Isaac could, by no human method of reasoning, be reconciled to his promises respecting the future destinies of Abraham’s family, of the Church, and of the world. — Ed. Whatever temptations assail us, let us know that the victory is in our own hands, so long as we are endued with a firm faith; otherwise, we shall be, by no means, able to resist. If, when we are deprived of the sword of the Spirit, we are overcome, what would be our condition were God himself to attack us with the very sword, with which he had been wont to arm us? This, however, happened to Abraham. The manner in which Abraham, by faith, wrestled with this temptation, we shall afterwards see, in the proper place.

And he said, Behold, here I am . It hence appears that the holy man was, in no degree, afraid of the wiles of Satan. For the faithful are not in such haste to obey God, as to allow a foolish credulity to carry them away, in whatever direction the breath of a doubtful vision may blow. But when it was once clear to Abraham, that he was called by God, he testified, by this answer, his prompt desire to yield obedience. For the expression before us is as much as if he said, Whatever God may have been pleased to command, I am perfectly ready to carry into effect. And, truly, he does not wait till God should expressly enjoin this or the other thing, but promises that he will be simply, and without exception, obedient in all things. This, certainly, is true subjection, when we are prepared to act, before the will of God is known to us. We find, indeed, all men ready to boast that they will do as Abraham did; but when it comes to the trial, they shrink from the yoke of God. But the holy man, soon afterwards, proves, by his very act, how truly and seriously he had professed, that he, without delay, and without disputation, would subject himself to the hand of God.

2. Take now thy son . Abraham is commanded to immolate his son. If God had said nothing more than that his son should die, even this message would have most grievously wounded his mind; because, whatever favor he could hope for from God, was included in this single promise, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Whence he necessarily inferred, that his own salvation, and that of the whole human race, would perish, unless Isaac remained in safety. For he was taught, by that word, that God would not be propitious to man without a Mediator. For although the declaration of Paul, that ‘all the promises of God in Christ are yea and Amen,’ was not yet written, (2 Corinthians 1:20,) it was nevertheless engraven on the heart of Abraham. Whence, however, could he have had this hope, but from Isaac? The matter had come to this; that God would appear to have done nothing but mock him. Yet not only is the death of his son announced to him, but he is commanded with his own hand to slay him, as if he were required, not only to throw aside, but to cut in pieces, or cast into the fire, the charter of his salvation, and to have nothing left for himself, but death and hell. But it may be asked, how, under the guidance of faith, he could be brought to sacrifice his son, seeing that what was proposed to him, was in opposition to that word of God, on which it is necessary for faith to rely? To this question the Apostle answers, that his confidence in the word of God remained unshaken; because he hoped that God would be able to cause the promised benediction to spring up, even out of the dead ashes of his son. (Hebrews 11:19.) His mind, however, must of necessity have been severely crushed, and violently agitated, when the command and the promise of God were conflicting within him. But when he had come to the conclusion, that the God with whom he knew he had to do, could not be his adversary; although he did not immediately discover how the contradiction might be removed, he nevertheless, by hope, reconciled the command with the promise; because, being indubitably persuaded that God was faithful, he left the unknown issue to Divine Providence. Meanwhile, as with closed eyes, he goes whither he is directed. The truth of God deserves this honor; not only that it should far transcend all human means, or that it alone, even without means, should suffice us, but also that it should surmount all obstacles. Here, then, we perceive, more clearly, the nature of the temptation which Moses has pointed out. It was difficult and painful to Abraham to forget that he was a father and a husband; to cast off all human affections; and to endure, before the world, the disgrace of shameful cruelty, by becoming the executioner of his son. But the other was a far more severe and horrible thing; namely, that he conceives God to contradict Himself and His own word; and then, that he supposes the hope of the promised blessing to be cut off from him, when Isaac is torn away from his embrace. For what more could he have to do with God, when the only pledge of grace is taken away? But as before, when he expected seed from his own dead body, he, by hope, rose above what it seemed possible to hope for; so now, when, in the death of his son, he apprehends the quickening power of God, in such a manner, as to promise himself a blessing out of the ashes of his son, he emerges from the labyrinth of temptation; for, in order that he might obey God, it was necessary that he should tenaciously hold the promise, which, had it failed, faith must have perished. But with him the promise always flourished; because he both firmly retained the love with which God had once embraced him, and subjected to the power of God everything which Satan raised up to disturb his mind. But he was unwilling to measure, by his own understanding, the method of fulfilling the promise, which he knew depended on the incomprehensible power of God. It remains for every one of us to apply this example to himself. The Lord, indeed, is so indulgent to our infirmity, that he does not thus severely and sharply try our faith: yet he intended, in the father of all the faithful, to propose an example by which he might call us to a general trial of faith. For the faith, which is more precious than gold and silver, ought not to lie idle, without trial; and experience teaches, that each will be tried by God, according to the measure of his faith. At the same time, also, we may observe, that God tempts his servants, not only when he subdues the affections of the flesh, but when he reduces all their senses to nothing, that he may lead them to a complete renunciation of themselves.

Thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest . As if it were not enough to command in one word the sacrifice of his son, he pierces, as with fresh strokes, the mind of the holy man. By calling him his only son, he again irritates the wound recently indicted, by the banishment of the other son; he then looks forward into futurity, because no hope of offspring would remain. If the death of a firstborn son is wont to be grievous, what must the mourning of Abraham be? Each word which follows is emphatical, and serves to aggravate his grief. ‘Slay’ (he says) ‘him whom alone thou lowest.’ And he does not here refer merely to his paternal love, but to that which sprung from faith. Abraham loved his son, not only as nature dictates, and as parents commonly do, who take delight in their children, but as beholding the paternal love of God in him: lastly, Isaac was the mirror of eternal life, and the pledge of all good things. Wherefore God seems not so much to assail the paternal love of Abraham, as to trample upon His own benevolence. There is equal emphasis in the name Isaac by which Abraham was taught, that nowhere besides did any joy remain for him. Certainly, when he who had been given as the occasion of joy, was taken away, it was just as if God should condemn Abraham to eternal torment. We must always remember that Isaac was not a son of the common order, but one in whose person the Mediator was promised.

Get thee into the land of Moriah . The bitterness of grief is not a little increased by this circumstance. For God does not require him to put his son immediately to death, but compels him to revolve this execution in his mind during three whole days, that in preparing himself to sacrifice his son, he may still more severely torture all his own senses. Besides, he does not even name the place where he requires that dire sacrifice to be offered, Upon one of the mountains, (he says,) that I will tell thee of. So before, when he, commanded him to leave his country he held his mind in suspense. But in this affair, the delay which most cruelly tormented the holy man, as if he had been stretched upon the rack, was still less tolerable. There was, however, a twofold use of this suspense. For there is nothing to which we are more prone than to be wise beyond our measure. Therefore, in order that we may become docile and obedient to God, it is profitable for us that we should be deprived of our own wisdom, and that nothing should be left us, but to resign ourselves to be led according to his will. Secondly, this tended also to make him persevere, so that he should not obey God by a merely sudden impulse. For, as he does not turn back in his journey, nor revolve conflicting counsels; it hence appears, that his love to God was confirmed by such constancy, that it could not be affected by any change of circumstances. Jerome explains the land of Moriah to be ‘the land of vision,’ as if the name had been derived fromראה ( rahah .) But all who are skilled in the Hebrew language condemn this opinion. Nor am I better satisfied with those who interpret it the myrrh of God. This extraordinary interpretation is supposed to be sanctioned by Canticles 4:6, “I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.” — Vide Poli Syn. in loc. — Ed. It is certainly acknowledged by the consent of the greater part, that it is derived from the word ירה ( yarah ,) which signifies to teach or from ירא ( yarai ,) which signifies to fear . There is, however, even at this time, a difference among interpreters, some thinking that the doctrine of God is here specially inculcated. Let us follow the most probable opinion; namely, that it is called the land of divine worship, either because God had appointed it for the offering of the sacrifice, in order that Abraham might not dispute whether some other place should not rather be chosen; or because the place for the temple was already fixed there; and I rather adopt this second explanation; that God there required a present worship from his servant Abraham, because already in his secret counsel, he had determined in that place to fix his ordinary worship. And sacrifices properly receive their name from the word which signifies fear , because they give proof of reverence to God. Moreover, it is by no means doubtful that this is the place where the temple was. afterwards built. It may be doubted whether the interpretation of Jerome, which Calvin rejects, is not preferable to that which he adopts. From the subsequent explanation in verse 14, it seems highly probable, that ‘the land of vision’ is the true explanation of the term in question. But even this admits of a double construction. The Septuagint calls it ‘the high land,’ as if it were merely conspicuous on account of its elevation — the land that might be seen afar off. But a more suitable interpretation seems to be, that it was the land favored by the vision of divine glory, the spot on which the angel of Jehovah appeared to David, and on which the temple was built by Solomon. — Ed.

3. And Abraham rose up early in the morning. This promptitude shows the greatness of Abraham’s faith. Innumerable thoughts might come into the mind of the holy man; each of which would have overwhelmed his spirit, unless he had fortified it by faith. And there is no doubt that Satan, during the darkness of the night, would heap upon him a vast mass of cares. Gradually to overcome them, by contending with them, was the part of heroical courage. But when they were overcome, then immediately to gird himself to the fulfillment of the command of God, and even to rise early in the morning to do it, was a remarkable effort. Other men, prostrated by a message so dire and terrible, would have fainted, and have lain torpid, as if deprived of life; but the first dawn of morning was scarcely early enough for Abraham’s haste. Therefore, in a few words, Moses highly extols his faith, when he declares that it surmounted, in so short a space of time, the very temptation which was attended with many labyrinths.

4. And saw the place . He saw, indeed, with his eyes, the place which before had been shown him in secret vision. But when it is said, that he lifted up his eyes, Moses doubtless signifies, that he had been very anxious during the whole of the three days. In commanding his servants to remain behind, he does it that they may not lay their hands upon him, as upon a delirious and insane old man. And herein his magnanimity appears, that he ties his thoughts so well composed and tranquil, as to do nothing in an agitated manner. When, however, he says, that he will return with the boy, he seems not to be free from dissimulation and falsehood. Some think that he uttered this declaration prophetically; but since it is certain that he never lost sight of what had been promised concerning the raising up of seed in Isaac, it may be, that he, trusting in the providence of God, figured to himself his son as surviving even in death itself. And seeing that he went, as with closed eyes, to the slaughter of his son, there is nothing improbable in the supposition, that he spoke confusedly, in a matter so obscure.

7. My father . God produces here a new instrument of torture, by which he may, more and more, torment the breast of Abraham, already pierced with so many wounds. And it is not to be doubted, that God designedly both framed the tongue of Isaac to this tender appellation, and directed it to this question, in order that nothing might be wanting to the extreme severity of Abraham’s grief. Yet the holy man sustains even this attack with invincible courage; and is so far from being disturbed in his proposed course, that he shows himself to be entirely devoted to God, hearkening to nothing which should either shake his confidence, or hinder his obedience. But it is important to notice the manner in which he unties this inextricable knot; namely, by taking refuge in Divine Providence, God will provide himself a lamb. This example is proposed for our imitation. Whenever the Lord gives a command, many things are perpetually occurring to enfeeble our purpose: means fail, we are destitute of counsel, all avenues seem closed. In such straits, the only remedy against despondency is, to leave the event to God, in order that he may open a way for us where there is none. For as we act unjustly towards Gods when we hope for nothing from him but what our senses can perceive, so we pay Him the highest honor, when, in affairs of perplexity, we nevertheless entirely acquiesce in his providence.

8. So they went both of them together . Here we perceive both the constancy of Abraham, and the modesty of his son. For Abraham is not rendered more remiss by this obstacles and the son does not persist in replying to his father’s answer. For he might easily have objected, Wherefore have we brought wood and the knife without a lamb, if God has commanded sacrifices to be made to him? But because he supposes that the victim has been omitted, for some valid reason, and not through his father’s forgetfulness, he acquiesces, and is silent.

9. And they came to the place . Moses purposely passes over many things, which, nevertheless, the reader ought to consider. When he has mentioned the building of the altar, he immediately afterwards adds, that Isaac was bound. But we know that he was then of middle age, so that he might either be more powerful than his father, or, at least, equal to resist him, if they had to contend by force; wherefore, I do not think that force was employed against the youth, as against one struggling and unwilling to die: but rather, that he voluntarily surrendered himself. It was, however, scarcely possible that he would offer himself to death, unless he had been already made acquainted with the divine oracle: but Moses, passing by this, only recites that he was bound. Should any one object, that there was no necessity to bind one who willingly offered himself to death; I answer, that the holy man anticipated, in this way, a possible danger; lest any thing might happen in the midst of the act to interrupt it. The simplicity of the narrative of Moses is wonderful; but it has greater force than the most exaggerated tragical description. The sum of the whole turns on this point; that Abraham, when he had to slay his son, remained always like himself; and that the fortitude of his mind was such as to render his aged hand equal to the task of offering a sacrifice, the very sight of which was enough to dissolve and to destroy his whole body.

11. And the angel of the Lord called unto him . The inward temptation had been already overcome, when Abraham intrepidly raised his hand to slay his son; and it was by the special grace of God that he obtained so signal a victory. But now Moses subjoins, that suddenly beyond all hope, his sorrow was changed into joy. Poets, in their fables, when affairs are desperate, introduce some god who, unexpectedly, appears at the critical juncture. It is possible that Satan, by figments of this kind, has endeavored to obscure the wonderful and stupendous interpositions of God, when he has unexpectedly appeared for the purpose of bringing assistance to his servants. This history ought certainly to be known and celebrated among all people; yet, by the subtlety of Satan, not only has the truth of God been adulterated and turned into a lie, but also distorted into materials for fable, in order to render it the more ridiculous. But it is our business, with earnest minds to consider how wonderfully God, in the very article of death, both recalled Isaac from death to life, and restored to Abraham his son, as one who had risen from the tomb. Moses also describes the voice of the angel, as having sounded out of heaven, to give assurance to Abraham that he had come from God, in order that he might withdraw his hand, under the direction of the same faith by which he had stretched it out. For, in a cause of such magnitude, it was not lawful for him either to undertake or to relinquish anything, except under the authority of God. Let us, therefore, learn from his example, by no means, to pursue what our carnal sense may declare to be, probably, our right course; but let God, by his sole will, prescribe to us our manner of acting and of ceasing to act. And truly Abraham does not charge God with inconstancy, because he considers that there had been just cause for the exercising of his faith.

12. Now I know that thou fearest God . The exposition of Augustine, ‘I have caused thee to know,’ is forced. But how can any thing become known to God, to whom all things have always been present? Truly, by condescending to the manner of men, God here says that what he has proved by experiment, is now made known to himself. And he speaks thus with us, not according to his own infinite wisdom, but according to our infirmity. Moses, however, simply means that Abraham, by this very act, testified how reverently he feared God. It is however asked, whether he had not already, on former occasions, given many proofs of his piety? I answer that when God had willed him to proceed thus far, he had, at length, completed his true trial; in other persons a much lighter trial might have been sufficient. “Respondeo, quando hucusque eum progredi volebat Deus, tune vera demum probatione, quae in aliis multo levior sufficeret, defunctum esse.” — “Je respond que Dieu vouloit qu’il poursuyvist jusques la; et que lors finalement, il s’est acquitte de son espreuve, laquelle eust este beaucoup legere en d’auctres, et eust bien suffi.” — French Tr And as Abraham showed that he feared God, by not sparing his own, and only begotten son; so a common testimony of the same fear is required from all the pious, in acts of self-denial. Now since God enjoins upon us a continual warfare, we must take care that none desires his release before the time.

13. And, behold, behind him a ram . What the Jews feign respecting this ram, as having been created on the sixth day of the world, is like the rest of their fictions. We need not doubt that it was presented there by miracle, whether it was then first created, or whether it was brought from some other place; for God intended to give that to his servant which would enable him, with joy and cheerfulness, to offer up a pleasant sacrifice: and at the same time he admonishes him to return thanks. Moreover, since a ram is substituted in the place of Isaac, God shows us, as in a glass, what is the design of our mortification; namely, that by the Spirit of God dwelling within us, we, though dead, may yet be living sacrifices. I am not ignorant that more subtle allegories may be elicited; but I do not see on what foundation they rest.

14. And Abraham called the name of that place . He not only, by the act of thanksgiving, acknowledges, at the time, that God has, in a remarkable manner, provided for him; but also leaves a monument of his gratitude to posterity. In most extreme anxiety, he had fled for refuge to the providence of God; and he testifies that he had not done so in vain. He also acknowledges that not even the ram had wandered thither accidentally, but had been placed there by God. Whereas, in process of time, the name of the place was changed, this was done purposely, and not by mistake. For they who have translated the active verb, ‘He will see,’ passively, have wished, in this manner, to teach that God not only looks upon those who are his, but also makes his help manifest to them; so that, in turn, he may be seen by them. The former has precedence in order; namely, that God, by his secret providence, determines and ordains what is best for us; but on this, the latter is suspended; namely, that he stretches out his hand to us, and renders himself visible by true experimental tokens.

15. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham . What God had promised to Abraham before Isaac was born, he now again confirms and ratifies, after Isaac was restored to life, and arose from the altar, — as if it had been from the sepulcher, — to achieve a more complete triumph. The angel speaks in the person of God; in order that, as we have before said, the embassy of those who bear his name, may have the greater authority, by their being clothed with his majesty. These two things, however, are thought to be hardly consistent with each other; that what before was gratuitously promised, should here be deemed a reward. For we know that grace and reward are incompatible. Now, however, since the benediction which is promised in the seed, contains the hope of salvation, it may seem to follow that eternal life is given in return for good works. And the Papists boldly seize upon this, and similar passages, in order to prove that works are deserving of all the good things which God confers upon us. But I most readily retort this subtle argument upon those who bring it. For if that promise was before gratuitous, which is now ascribed to a reward; it appears that whatever God grants to good works, ought to be received as from grace. certainly, before Isaac was born, this same promise had been already given; and now it receives nothing more than confirmation. If Abraham deserved a compensation so great, on account of his own virtue, the grace of God, which anticipated him, will be of none effect. Therefore, in order that the truth of God, founded upon his gratuitous kindness, may stand firm, we must of necessity conclude, that what is freely given, is yet called the reward of works. Not that God would obscure the glory of his goodness, or in any way diminish it; but only that he may excite his own people to the love of well-doing, when they perceive that their acts of duty are so far pleasing to him, as to obtain a reward; while yet he pays nothing as a debt, but gives to his own benefits the title of a reward. And in this there is no inconsistency. For the Lord here shows himself doubly liberal; in that he, wishing to stimulate us to holy living, transfers to our works what properly belongs to his pure beneficence. The Papists, therefore, wrongfully distort those benignant invitations of God, by which he would correct our torpor, to a different purpose, in order that man may arrogate to his own merits, what is the mere gift of divine liberality.

17. Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. He means that the offspring of Abraham should be victorious over their enemies; for in the gates were their bulwarks, and in them they administered judgment. Now, although God often suffered the enemies of the Jews tyrannically to rule over them; yet he so moderated their revenge, that this promise always prevailed in the end. Moreover, we must remember what has before been stated from Paul, concerning the unity of the seed; for we hence infer, that the victory is promised, not to the sons of Abraham promiscuously, but to Christ, and to his members, so far as they adhere together under one Head. For unless we retain some mark which may distinguish between the legitimate and the degenerate sons of Abraham, this promise will indiscriminately comprehend, as well the Ishmaelites and Idumeans, as the people of Israel: but the unity of a people depends on its head. Therefore the prophets, whenever they wish to confirm this promise of God, assume the principle, that they who have hitherto been divided, shall be united, under David, in one body. What further pertains to this subject may be found in the twelfth chapter Genesis 12:1

19. And they rose up, and went together to Beer-sheba . Moses repeats, that Abraham, after having passed through this severe and incredible temptation, had a quiet abode in Beersheba. This narration is inserted, together with what follows concerning the increase of Abraham’s kindred, for the purpose of showing that the holy man, when he had been brought up again from the abyss of death, was made happy, in more ways than one. For God would so revive him, that he should be like a new man. Moses also records the progeny of Nahor, but for another reason; namely, because Isaac was to take his wife from it. For the mention of women in Scripture is rare; and it is credible that many daughters were born to Nahor, of whom one only, Rebekah, is here introduced. He distinguishes the sons of the concubine from the others; because they occupied a less honorable place. Not that the concubine was regarded as a harlot; but because she was an inferior wife, and not the mistress of the house, who had community of goods with her husband. The fact, however, that it entered into Nahor’s mind to take a second wife, does not render polygamy lawful; it only shows, that from the custom of other men, he supposed that to be lawful for him, which had really sprung from the worst corruption.

CHAPTER 23.

Genesis 23:1-20

1. And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

1. Fuit autem vita Sarah centum anni et viginti anni et septem anni: anni vitae Sarah.

2. And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

2. Et mortua Sarah in Cirjath — arbah: ipsa est Hebron in terra Chenaan. Et venit Abraham ad plangendum super Sarah, et ad lugendam eam.

3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

3. Deinde surrexit Abraham a facie mortui sui, et loquutus est ad filios Heth, dicendo,

4. I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

4. Peregrinus et advena sum vobiscum: date mihi haereditatem sepulchri vobiscum: et sepeliam mortuum meum a facie mea.

5. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

5. Et responderunt filii Heth ad Abraham, dicendo ei,

6. Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

6. Audi nos, domine mi, Princeps Dei es in medio nostri: in electis sepulchris nostris sepeli mortuum tuum: nemo e nobis sepulchrum suum prohibebit a to, ne sepelias mortuum tuum.

7. And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

7. Tunc surrexit Abraham, et incurvavit se populo terrae, filiis Heth.

8. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

8. Et loquutus est cum eis, dicendo, Si est in animis vestris, ut sepeliam mortuum meum a facie mae, audite me, et intercedite pro me apud Ephron filium Sohar:

9. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.

9. Ut det mihi speluncam duplicem quae est ei in fine agri sui: argento pleno det eam mihi in medio vestri in haereditatem sepulchri.

10. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

10. Et Ephron habitabat in medio filiorum Heth: et respondit Ephron Hitthaeus ad Abraham in auribus Heth, in auribus omnium ingredientum portam civitatis suae, dicendo,

11. Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

11. Non, domine mi, audi me, Agrum dedi tibi, et speluncam, quae est in eo, tibi dedi eam in oculis filiorum populi mei, dedi tibi: sepeli mortuum tuum.

12. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

12. Et incurvavit se Abraham coram populi terrae:

13. And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it , I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

13. Et loquutus est ad Ephron in auribus populi terrae, dicendo, Veruntamen si tu: utinam audias me: dabo argentum agri, cape a me, et sepliam mortuum meum ibi.

14. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

14. Et respondit Ephron and Abraham, dicendo ei,

15. My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

15. Domine mi, audi me, terra quadringentorum siclorum argenteorum est inter me et to, quid est? et mortuum tuum sepeli.

16. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

16. Et obedivit Abraham ipsi Ephron, et appendit Abraham ipsi Ephron argentum quod loquutus fuerat in auribus filiorum Heth, quadringentos siclos argenteos transeuntes per mercatores.

17. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

17. Et confirmatus est ager Ephron, qui erat in spelunca duplici, qui erat coram Mamre: ager et spelunca, quae erat in eo, et omnis arbor, quae erat in agro, quae erat in omni termino ejus per circuitum:

18. Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.

18. Ipsi Abraham in possessionem, in oculis filiorum Heth, omnium ingredientum portam civitatis ejus.

19. And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

19. Et postea sepelivit Abraham Sarah uxorem suam in spelunca agri duplici coram Mamre: haec est Hebron in terra Chenaan.

20. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

20. Et confirmatus est ager, et spelunca que erat in eo, ipsi Abraham in haereditatem sepulchri a filiis Heth.

CHAPTER 22

Ge 22:1-19. Offering Isaac.

1. God did tempt Abraham--not incite to sin (Jas 1:13), but try, prove--give occasion for the development of his faith (1Pe 1:7).

and he said, ... Here I am--ready at a moment's warning for God's service.

2. Take now thy son, &c.--Every circumstance mentioned was calculated to give a deeper stab to the parental bosom. To lose his only son, and by an act of his own hand, too!--what a host of conflicting feelings must the order have raised! But he heard and obeyed without a murmur (Ga 1:16; Lu 14:26).

3. Abraham rose ... early, &c.--That there might be no appearance of delay or reluctance on his part, he made every preparation for the sacrifice before setting out--the materials, the knife, and the servants to convey them. From Beer-sheba to Moriah, a journey of two days, he had the painful secret pent up in his bosom. So distant a place must have been chosen for some important reason. It is generally thought that this was one the hills of Jerusalem, on which the Great Sacrifice was afterwards offered.

4. on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, &c.--Leaving the servants at the foot [Ge 22:5], the father and son ascended the hill, the one bearing the knife, and the other the wood for consuming the sacrifice [Ge 22:6]. But there was no victim; and to the question so naturally put by Isaac [Ge 22:7], Abraham contented himself by replying, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." It has been supposed that the design of this extraordinary transaction was to show him, by action instead of words, the way in which all the families of the earth should be blessed; and that in his answer to Isaac, he anticipated some substitution. It is more likely that his words were spoken evasively to his son in ignorance of the issue, yet in unbounded confidence that that son, though sacrificed, would, in some miraculous way, be restored (He 11:19).

9. Abraham built an altar, &c.--Had not the patriarch been sustained by the full consciousness of acting in obedience to God's will, the effort would have been too great for human endurance; and had not Isaac, then upwards of twenty years of age displayed equal faith in submitting, this great trial could not have gone through.

11-12. 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 (He 11:17; Jas 2:21).

13-19. Abraham lifted up his eyes ... and behold ... a ram, &c.--No method was more admirably calculated to give the patriarch a distinct idea of the purpose of grace than this scenic representation: and hence our Lord's allusion to it (Joh 8:56).

God did tempt Abraham - The original here is very emphatic: והאלהים נסה את אברהם vehaelohim nissah eth Abraham, "And the Elohim he tried this Abraham;" God brought him into such circumstances as exercised and discovered his faith, love, and obedience. Though the word tempt, from tento, signifies no more than to prove or try, yet as it is now generally used to imply a solicitation to evil, in which way God never tempts any man, it would be well to avoid it here. The Septuagint used the word επειρασε, which signifies tried, pierced through; and Symmachus translates the Hebrew נסה nissah by εδοξαζεν, God glorified Abraham, or rendered him illustrious, supposing the word to be the same with נס nas, which signifies to glister with light, whence נס nes, an ensign or banner displayed. Thus then, according to him, the words should be understood: "God put great honor on Abraham by giving him this opportunity of showing to all successive ages the nature and efficacy of an unshaken faith in the power, goodness, and truth of God." The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the place thus: "And it happened that Isaac and Ishmael contended, and Ishmael said, I ought to be my father's heir, because I am his first-born; but Isaac said, It is more proper that I should be my father's heir, because I am the son of Sarah his wife, and thou art only the son of Hagar, my mother's slave. Then Ishmael answered, I am more righteous than thou, because I was circumcised when I was thirteen years of age, and if I had chosen, I could have prevented my circumcision; but thou wert circumcised when thou wert but eight days old, and if thou hadst had knowledge, thou wouldst probably not have suffered thyself to be circumcised. Then Isaac answered and said, Behold, I am now thirty-six years old, and if the holy and blessed God should require all my members, I would freely surrender them. These words were immediately heard before the Lord of the universe, and מימרא דיי meimera daiya, the Word of the Lord, did try Abraham." I wish once for all to remark, though the subject has been referred to before, that the Chaldee term מימרא meimera, which we translate word, is taken personally in some hundreds of places in the Targums. When the author, Jonathan, speaks of the Divine Being as doing or saying any thing, he generally represents him as performing the whole by his meimera, which he appears to consider, not as a speech or word spoken, but as a person quite distinct from the Most High. St. John uses the word λογος in precisely the same sense with the Targumists, Joh 1:1 (note); see the notes there, and see before on Gen 21:22 (note), and Gen 15:1 (note).

Take now thy son - Bishop Warburton's observations on this passage are weighty and important. "The order in which the words are placed in the original gradually increases the sense, and raises the passions higher and higher: Take now thy son, (rather, take I beseech thee נא na), thine only son whom thou lovest, even Isaac. Jarchi imagines this minuteness was to preclude any doubt in Abraham. Abraham desired earnestly to be let into the mystery of redemption; and God, to instruct him in the infinite extent of the Divine goodness to mankind, who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, let Abraham feel by experience what it was to lose a beloved son, the son born miraculously when Sarah was past child-bearing, as Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin. The duration, too, of the action, Gen 22:4, was the same as that between Christ's death and resurrection, both which are designed to be represented in it; and still farther not only the final archetypical sacrifice of the Son of God was figured in the command to offer Isaac, but the intermediate typical sacrifice in the Mosaic economy was represented by the permitted sacrifice of the ram offered up, Gen 22:13, instead of Isaac." See Dodd.

Only son - All that he had by Sarah his legal wife.

The land of Moriah - This is supposed to mean all the mountains of Jerusalem, comprehending Mount Gihon or Calvary, the mount of Sion and of Acra. As Mount Calvary is the highest ground to the west, and the mount of the temple is the lowest of the mounts, Mr. Mann conjectures that it was upon this mount Abraham offered up Isaac, which is well known to be the same mount on which our blessed Lord was crucified. Beer-sheba, where Abraham dwelt, is about forty-two miles distant from Jerusalem, and it is not to be wondered at that Abraham, Isaac, the two servants, and the ass laden with wood for the burnt-offering, did not reach this place till the third day; see Gen 22:4.

Two of his young men - Eliezer and Ishmael, according to the Targum.

Clave the wood - Small wood, fig and palm, proper for a burnt-offering - Targum.

The third day - "As the number Seven," says Mr. Ainsworth, "is of especial use in Scripture because of the Sabbath day, Gen 2:2, so Three is a mystical number because of Christ's rising from the dead the third day, Mat 17:23; 1Cor 15:4; as he was crucified the third hour after noon, Mar 15:25 : and Isaac, as he was a figure of Christ, in being the only son of his father, and not spared but offered for a sacrifice, Rom 8:32, so in sundry particulars he resembled our Lord: the third day Isaac was to be offered up, so it was the third day in which Christ also was to be perfected, Luk 13:32; Isaac carried the wood for the burnt-offering, Gen 22:6, so Christ carried the tree whereon he died, Joh 19:17; the binding of Isaac, Gen 21:9, was also typical, so Christ was bound, Mat 27:2. "In the following remarkable cases this number also occurs. Moses desired to go three days' journey in the wilderness to sacrifice, Exo 5:3; and they traveled three days in it before they found water, Exo 15:22; and three days' journey the ark of the covenant went before them, to search out a resting place, Num 10:33; by the third day the people were to be ready to receive God's law, Exo 19:11; and after three days to pass over Jordan into Canaan, Jos 1:14; the third day Esther put on the apparel of the kingdom, Est 5:1; on the third day Hezekiah, being recovered from his illness, went up to the house of the Lord, 2Kgs 20:5; on the third day, the prophet said, God will raise us up and we shall live before him, Hos 6:2; and on the third day, as well as on the seventh, the unclean person was to purify himself, Num 19:12 : with many other memorable things which the Scripture speaks concerning the third day, and not without mystery. See Gen 40:12, Gen 40:13; Gen 42:17, Gen 42:18; Jon 1:17; Jos 2:16; unto which we may add a Jew's testimony in Bereshith Rabba, in a comment on this place: There are many Three Days mentioned in the Holy Scripture, of which one is the resurrection of the Messiah." - Ainsworth.

Saw the place afar off - He knew the place by seeing the cloud of glory smoking on the top of the mountain - Targum.

I and the lad will go and come again - How could Abraham consistently with truth say this, when he knew he was going to make his son a burnt-offering? The apostle answers for him: By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac - accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure, Heb 11:17, Heb 11:19. He knew that previously to the birth of Isaac both he and his wife were dead to all the purposes of procreation; that his birth was a kind of life from the dead; that the promise of God was most positive, In Isaac shall thy seed be called, Gen 21:12; that this promise could not fail; that it was his duty to obey the command of his Maker; and that it was as easy for God to restore him to life after he had been a burnt-offering, as it was for him to give him life in the beginning. Therefore he went fully purposed to offer his son, and yet confidently expecting to have him restored to life again. We will go yonder and worship - perform a solemn act of devotion which God requires, and come again to you.

Took the wood - and laid it upon Isaac - Probably the mountain-top to which they were going was too difficult to be ascended by the ass; therefore either the father or the son must carry the wood, and it was most becoming in the latter.

Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb - Nothing can be conceived more tender, affectionate, and affecting, than the question of the son and the reply of the father on this occasion. A paraphrase would spoil it; nothing can be added without injuring those expressions of affectionate submission on the one hand, and dignified tenderness and simplicity on the other.

My son, God will provide himself a lamb - Here we find the same obedient unshaken faith for which this pattern of practical piety was ever remarkable. But we must not suppose that this was the language merely of faith and obedience; the patriarch spoke prophetically, and referred to that Lamb of God which He had provided for himself, who in the fullness of time should take away the sin of the world, and of whom Isaac was a most expressive type. All the other lambs which had been offered from the foundation of the world had been such as Men chose and Men offered; but This was the Lamb which God had provided - emphatically, The Lamb Of God.

And bound Isaac his son - If the patriarch had not been upheld by the conviction that he was doing the will of God, and had he not felt the most perfect confidence that his son should be restored even from the dead, what agony must his heart have felt at every step of the journey, and through all the circumstances of this extraordinary business? What must his affectionate heart have felt at the questions asked by his innocent and amiable son? What must he have suffered while building the altar, laying on the wood, binding his lovely son, placing him on the wood, taking the knife, and stretching out his hand to slay the child of his hopes? Every view we take of the subject interests the heart, and exalts the character of this father of the faithful. But has the character of Isaac been duly considered? Is not the consideration of his excellence lost in the supposition that he was too young to enter particularly into a sense of his danger, and too feeble to have made any resistance, had he been unwilling to submit? Josephus supposes that Isaac was now twenty-five, (see the chronology on Gen 22:1 (note)); some rabbins that he was thirty-six; but it is more probable that he was now about thirty-three, the age at which his great Antitype was offered up; and on this medium I have ventured to construct the chronology, of which I think it necessary to give this notice to the reader. Allowing him to be only twenty-five, he might have easily resisted; for can it be supposed that an old man of at least one hundred and twenty-five years of age could have bound, without his consent, a young man in the very prime and vigor of life? In this case we cannot say that the superior strength of the father prevailed, but the piety, filial affection, and obedience of the son yielded. All this was most illustriously typical of Christ. In both cases the father himself offers up his only-begotten son, and the father himself binds him on the wood or to the cross; in neither case is the son forced to yield, but yields of his own accord; in neither case is the life taken away by the hand of violence; Isaac yields himself to the knife, Jesus lays down his life for the sheep.

The angel of the Lord - The very person who was represented by this offering; the Lord Jesus, who calls himself Jehovah, Gen 22:16, and on his own authority renews the promises of the covenant. He was ever the great Mediator between God and man. See this point proved, Gen 15:7 (note).

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 Angel of the Covenant, Lo! I come to do thy will, O God." Lay not thy hand upon the lad; an irrational creature will serve for the purpose of a representative sacrifice, from this till the fullness of time. But without this most expressive representation of the father offering his beloved, only-begotten son, what reference can such sacrifices be considered to have to the great event of the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ? Abraham, the most dignified, the most immaculate of all the patriarchs; Isaac, the true pattern of piety to God and filial obedience, may well represent God the Father so loving the world as to give his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sin of man. But the grand circumstances necessary to prefigure these important points could not be exhibited through the means of any or of the whole brute creation. The whole sacrificial system of the Mosaic economy had a retrospective and prospective view, referring From the sacrifice of Isaac To the sacrifice of Christ; in the first the dawning of the Sun of righteousness was seen; in the latter, his meridian splendor and glory. Taken in this light (and this is the only light in which it should be viewed) Abraham offering his son Isaac is one of the most important facts and most instructive histories in the whole Old Testament. See farther on this subject, Gen 23:2 (note).

Jehovah - jireh - יהוה יראה Yehovah-yireh, literally interpreted in the margin, The Lord will see; that is, God will take care that every thing shall be done that is necessary for the comfort and support of them who trust in him: hence the words are usually translated, The Lord will provide; so our translators, Gen 22:8, אלהים יראה Elohim yireh, God will provide; because his eye ever affects his heart, and the wants he sees his hand is ever ready to supply. But all this seems to have been done under a Divine Impulse, and the words to have been spoken prophetically; hence Houbigant and some others render the words thus: Dominus videbitur, the Lord shall be seen; and this translation the following clause seems to require, As it is said to this day, בהר יהוה יראה behar Yehovah yeraeh, On This Mount The Lord Shall Be Seen. From this it appears that the sacrifice offered by Abraham was understood to be a representative one, and a tradition was kept up that Jehovah should be seen in a sacrificial way on this mount. And this renders the opinion stated on Gen 22:1 more than probable, viz., that Abraham offered Isaac on that very mountain on which, in the fullness of time, Jesus suffered. See Bishop Warburton.

By myself have I sworn - So we find that the person who was called the angel of the Lord is here called Jehovah; See note on Gen 22:2. An oath or an appeal to God is, among men, an end to strife; as God could swear by no greater, he sware by himself: being willing more abundantly, says the apostle, to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, he confirmed it by an oath, that two immutable things, (his Promise and his Oath), in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us. See Heb 6:13-18.

Shall possess the gate of his enemies - Instead of gate the Septuagint have πολεις, cities; but as there is a very near resemblance between πολεις, cities, and πυλας, gates, the latter might have been the original reading in the Septuagint, though none of the MSS. now acknowledge it. By the gates may be meant all the strength, whether troops, counsels, or fortified cities of their enemies. So Mat 16:18 : On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it - the counsels, stratagems, and powers of darkness shall not be able to prevail against or overthrow the true Church of Christ; and possibly our Lord had this promise to Abraham and his spiritual posterity in view, when he spoke these words.

And in thy seed, etc. - We have the authority of St. Paul, Gal 3:8, Gal 3:16, Gal 3:18, to restrain this to our blessed Lord, who was The Seed through whom alone all God's blessings of providence, mercy, grace, and glory, should be conveyed to the nations of the earth.

Behold, Milcah, she hath also borne children unto thy brother - This short history seems introduced solely for the purpose of preparing the reader for the transactions related Genesis 24, and to show that the providence of God was preparing, in one of the branches of the family of Abraham, a suitable spouse for his son Isaac.

Huz - He is supposed to have peopled the land of Uz or Ausitis, in Arabia Deserta, the country of Job.

Buz his brother - From this person Elihu the Buzite, one of the friends of Job, is thought to have descended.

Kemuel the father of Aram - Kamouel πατερα Συρων, the father of the Syrians, according to the Septuagint. Probably the Kamiletes, a Syrian tribe to the westward of the Euphrates are meant; they are mentioned by Strabo.

Bethuel begat Rebekah - Who afterward became the wife of Isaac.

His concubine - We borrow this word from the Latin compound concubina, from con, together, and cubo, to lie, and apply it solely to a woman cohabiting with a man without being legally married. The Hebrew word is פילגש pilegesh, which is also a compound term, contracted, according to Parkhurst, from פלג palag, to divide or share, and נגש nagash, to approach; because the husband, in the delicate phrase of the Hebrew tongue, approaches the concubine, and shares the bed, etc., of the real wife with her. The pilegesh or concubine, (from which comes the Greek παλλακη pallake, and also the Latin pellex), in Scripture, is a kind of secondary wife, not unlawful in the patriarchal times; though the progeny of such could not inherit. The word is not used in the Scriptures in that disagreeable sense in which we commonly understand it. Hagar was properly the concubine or pilegesh of Abraham, and thus annuente Deo, and with his wife's consent. Keturah, his second wife, is called a concubine, Gen 26:15; 1Chr 1:32; and Pilhah and Zilhah were concubines to Jacob, Gen 35:22. After the patriarchal times many eminent men had concubines, viz., Caleb, 1Chr 2:46, 1Chr 2:48; Manasses, 1Chr 7:14; Gideon, Jdg 8:31; Saul, 2Sam 3:7; David, 2Sam 5:13; Solomon,2Kgs 11:3; and Rehoboam, 2Chr 11:21. The pilegesh, therefore, differed widely from a prostitute; and however unlawful under the New Testament, was not so under the Old.

From this chapter a pious mind may collect much useful instruction. From the trial of Abraham we again see, 1. That God may bring his followers into severe straits and difficulties, that they may have the better opportunity of both knowing and showing their own faith and obedience; and that he may seize on those occasions to show them the abundance of his mercy, and thus confirm them in righteousness all their days. There is a foolish saying among some religious people, which cannot be too severely reprobated: Untried grace is no grace. On the contrary, there may be much grace, though God, for good reasons, does not think proper for a time to put it to any severe trial or proof. But grace is certainly not fully known but in being called to trials of severe and painful obedience. But as all the gifts of God should be used, (and they are increased and strengthened by exercise), it would be unjust to deny trials and exercises to grace, as this would be to preclude it from the opportunities of being strengthened and increased. 2. The offering up of Isaac is used by several religious people in a sort of metaphorical way, to signify their easily-besetting sins, beloved idols, etc. But this is a most reprehensible abuse of the Scripture. It is both insolent and wicked to compare some abominable lust or unholy affection to the amiable and pious youth who, for his purity and excellence, was deemed worthy to prefigure the sacrifice of the Son of God. To call our vile passions and unlawful attachments by the name of our Isaac is unpardonable; and to talk of sacrificing such to God is downright blasphemy. Such sayings as these appear to be legitimated by long use; but we should be deeply and scrupulously careful not to use any of the words of God in any sense in which he has not spoken them. If, in the course of God's providence, a parent is called to give up to death an amiable, only son, then there is a parallel in the case; and it may be justly said, if pious resignation fill the parent's mind, such a person, like Abraham, has been called to give his Isaac back to God.

Independently of the typical reference to this transaction, there are two points which seem to be recommended particularly to our notice. 1. The astonishing faith and prompt obedience of the father. 2. The innocence, filial respect, and passive submission of the son. Such a father and such a son were alone worthy of each other.

Here is the trial of Abraham's faith, whether it continued so strong, so vigorous, so victorious, after a long settlement in communion with God, as it was at first, when by it he left his country: then it appeared that he loved God better than his father; now, that he loved him better than his son. After these things - After all the other exercises he had had, all the difficulties he had gone through: now perhaps he was beginning to think the storms were blown over but after all, this encounter comes, which is stranger than any yet. God did tempt Abraham - Not to draw him to sin, so Satan tempts; but to discover his graces, how strong they were, that they might be found to praise and honour and glory. The trial itself: God appeared to him as he had formerly done, called him by name Abraham, that name which had been given him in ratification of the promise: Abraham, like a good servant, readily answered, Here am I; what saith my Lord unto his servant? Probably he expected some renewed promise, like those, Ge 15:1 17:1, but to his great amazement that which God hath to say to him is in short, Abraham, go kill thy son: and this command is given him in such aggravating language as makes the temptation abundantly more grievous. When God speaks, Abraham, no doubt, takes notice of every word, and listens attentively to it: and every word here is a sword in his bones; the trial is steel'd with trying phrases. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that he should afflict? No, it is not; yet when Abraham's faith is to be tried, God seems to take pleasure in the aggravation of the trial.

And he said, take thy son - Not thy bullocks and thy lambs; how willingly would Abraham have parted with them by thousands to redeem Isaac! Not thy servant, no, not the steward of thine house. Thine only son - Thine only son by Sarah. Ishmael was lately cast out, to the grief of Abraham, and now Isaac only was left and must he go too? Yes: take Isaac, him by name, thy laughter, that son indeed. Yea, that son whom thou lovest - The trial was of Abraham's love to God, and therefore it must be in a beloved son: in the Hebrew 'tis expressed more emphatically, and I think might very well be read thus, Take now that son of thine, that only son of thine, whom thou lovest, that Isaac. And get thee into the land of Moriah - Three days journey off: so that he might have time to consider it, and if he do it, must do it deliberately. And offer him for a burnt offering - He must not only kill his son, but kill him as a sacrifice, with all that sedateness and composedness of mind, with which he used to offer his burnt - offering.

The several steps of this obedience, all help to magnify it, and to shew that he was guided by prudence, and governed by faith, in the whole transaction. He rises early - Probably the command was given in the visions of the night, and early the next morning he sets himself about it, did not delay, did not demur. Those that do the will of God heartily will do it speedily. He gets things ready for a sacrifice, and it should seem, with his own hands, cleaves the wood for the burnt - offering. He left his servants at some distance off, left they should have created him some disturbance in his strange oblation. Thus when Christ was entering upon his agony in the garden, he took only three of his disciples with him.

Isaac's carrying the wood was a type of Christ, who carried his own cross, while Abraham, with a steady and undaunted resolution, carried the fatal knife and fire.

Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb? - This is, A trying question to Abraham; how could he endure to think that Isaac is himself the lamb? 'Tis a teaching question to us all, that when we are going to worship God, we should seriously consider whether we have every thing ready, especially the lamb for a burnt - offering. Behold, the fire is ready; that is, the Spirit's assistance, and God's acceptance: the wood is ready, the instituted ordinances designed to kindle our affections, which indeed, without the Spirit, are but like wood without fire, but the Spirit works by them. All things are now ready, but where is the lamb? Where is the heart? Is that ready to be offered up to God, to ascend to him as a burnt - offering?

My son, God will provide himself a lamb - This was the language either, Of his obedience; we must offer the lamb which God has appointed now to be offered; thus giving him this general rule of submission to the divine will to prepare him for the application of it to himself. Or, Of his faith; whether he meant it so or no, this proved to be the meaning of it; a sacrifice was provided instead of Isaac. Thus, Christ the great sacrifice of atonement was of God's providing: when none in heaven or earth could have found a lamb for that burnt - offering, God himself found the ransom. All our sacrifices of acknowledgement are of God's providing too; 'tis he that prepares the heart. The broken and contrite spirit is a sacrifice of God, of his providing.

With the same resolution and composedness of mind, he applies himself to the compleating of this sacrifice. After many a weary step, and with a heavy heart, he arrives at length at the fatal place; builds the altar, an altar of earth, we may suppose, the saddest that ever be built; lays the wood in order for Isaac's funeral pile; and now tells him the amazing news. Isaac, for ought appears, is as willing as Abraham; we do not find that he made any objection against it. God commands it to be done, and Isaac has learned to submit. Yet it is necessary that a sacrifice be bound; the great Sacrifice, which, in the fulness of time, was to be offered up, must be bound, and therefore so must Isaac. Having bound him he lays him upon the altar, and his hand upon the head of the sacrifice. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and wonder, O earth! here is an act of faith and obedience which deserves to be a spectacle to God, angels and men; Abraham's darling, the church's hope, the heir of promise, lies ready to bleed and die by his own father's hands! Now this obedience of Abraham in offering up Isaac is a lively representation, Of the love of God to us, in delivering up his only begotten Son to suffer and die for us, as a sacrifice. Abraham was obliged both in duty and gratitude to part with Isaac and parted with him to a friend, but God was under no obligations to us, for we were enemies. Of our duty to God in return of that love we must tread in the steps of this faith of Abraham. God, by his word, calls us to part with all for Christ, all our sins, tho' they have been as a right hand, or a right eye, or an Isaac; all those things that are rivals with Christ for the sovereignity of our heart; and we must chearfully let them all go. God, by his providence, which is truly the voice of God, calls us to part with an Isaac sometimes, and we must do it by a chearful resignation and submission to his holy will.

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.

Lay not thine hand upon the lad - God's time to help his people is, when they are brought to the greatest extremity: the more eminent the danger is, and the nearer to be put in execution, the more wonderful and the more welcome is the deliverance. Now know I that thou fearest God - God knew it before, but now Abraham had given a memorable evidence of it. He need do no more, what he had done was sufficient to prove the religious regard he had to God and his authority. The best evidence of our fearing God is our being willing to honour him with that which is dearest to us, and to part with all to him, or for him.

Behold a ram - Tho' that blessed Seed was now typified by Isaac, yet the offering of him up was suspended 'till the latter end of the world, and in the mean time the sacrifice of beasts was accepted, as a pledge of that expiation which should be made by that great sacrifice. And it is observable, that the temple, the place of sacrifice, was afterward built upon this mount Moriah, 2Ch 3:1, and mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified, was not far off.

And Abraham called the place Jehovah - jireh - The Lord will provide. Probably alluding to what he had said, Ge 22:8. God will provide himself a lamb - This was purely the Lord's doing: let it be recorded for the generations to come; that the Lord will see; he will always have his eyes upon his people in their straits, that he may come in with seasonable succour in the critical juncture. And that he will be seen, be seen in the mount, in he greatest perplexities of his people; he will not only manifest but magnify his wisdom, power and goodness in their deliverance. Where God sees and provides, he should be seen and praised. And perhaps it may refer to God manifest in the flesh.

And the Angel - Christ. Called unto Abraham - Probably while the ram was yet burning. Very high expressions are here of God's favour to Abraham, above any he had yet been blessed with.

Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with - held thy son, thine only son - He lays a mighty emphasis upon that, and Ge 22:18, praises it as an act of obedience, in it thou hast obeyed my voice. By myself have I sworn - For he could swear by no greater.

Multiplying I will multiply thee - Those that part with any thing for God, shall have it made up to them with unspeakable advantage. Abraham has but one son, and is willing to part with that one in obedience to God; well, saith God, thou shalt be recompensed with thousands and millions. Here is a promise, Of the Spirit, In blessing I will bless thee - The Gift of the Holy Ghost; the promise of the Spirit was that blessing of Abraham which was to come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, Gal 3:14. Of the increase of the church; that believers, his spiritual seed, should be many as the stars of heaven. Of spiritual victories; Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies - Believers by their faith overcome the world, and triumph over all the powers of darkness. Probably Zacharias refers to this part of the oath, Luke 1:74. That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear. But the crown of all is the last promise, Of the incarnation of Christ; In thy seed (one particular person that shall descend from thee, for he speaks not of many but of one, as the apostle observes, Gal 3:16.) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed - Christ is the great blessing of the world. Abraham was ready to give up his son for a sacrifice to the honour of God, and on that occasion God promised to give his son a sacrifice for the salvation of man.

This is recorded here, To show that tho' Abraham saw his own family highly dignified with peculiar privileges, yet he did not look with contempt upon his relations, but was glad to hear of the increase and prosperity of their families. To make way for the following story of the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah, a daughter of this family.

1 AND it came to pass after these things , that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: And he said, Behold, here I am .

After the accomplishment of Gods promises made to Abraham, and especially of that promise concerning the blessed seed; when now he seemed to be in a most prosperous and secure condition, he meets with a severe exercise from God.

The word Tempt is ambiguous, and signifies either 1. to intice to sin, in which sense Devils and wicked men are said to tempt others, but God tempts no man, Iam. 1. 13. Or 2. To prove or try, and in this sense God is said to tempt men. See Deut. 8. 2. and 13. 3. Iudg. 2▪ 22. Thus God tempted Abraham, (i. e.) he tryed the sincerity and strength of his Faith, the universality and constancy of his obedience, and this for Gods great honour and Abrahams great glory and comfort, and for the Churches benefit in all following ages.

An expression signifying a mans attentive hearing what is said to him, and his readiness to execute it, as v. 7. 11. and Gen. 27. 1. and 1 Sam. 3. 4, 6.

Marginal references: Heb. 11. 17.; Heb. behold me.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine onely son Isaac, whom thou lovest , and get thee into the land of Moriah : and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of .

Not a word here but might pierce an heart of stone, much more so tender a Father as Abraham was. Take now without demurring or delay, I allow thee no time for consideration; thy own proper Son, not a Beast, not an Enemy, a Stranger, though that had been very difficult to one so kind to all Strangers, not a dear Servant, not a Friend or Familiar; thine onely Son, not by birth for so he had another Ihmael, but this was his onely Son by Sarah his first and legitimate Wife, who onely had the right of succession both to his Inheritance and to his Covenant and Promises, and this onely was now left to him, for Ihmael was abandoned and gone from him, and this must be such a Son as Isaac, once matter of laughter and great joy, now cause of unexpressible sorrow, thy Benoni, a Son of the Promise, of so great hopes, and such pregnant Vertue and Piety as this story shews, whom thou lovest, peculiarly and superlatively, even as thy own Soul; and get thee into the Land of Moriah, a place at a great distance, and to which thou shalt go but leisurely, ver. 4. that thou mayst have thy mind all that while fixed upon that bloody act, which other mens minds can scarce once think of without horrour, and so thou mayst offer him in a sort ten thousand times over before thou givest the fatal blow: and offer him there with thine own hands, and cruelly take away the Life which thou hast in some sort given him: For a burnt-offering, wherein by the Law of the burnt-offering then known to Abraham, afterwards published to all Israel, his Throat was to be cat, his body dissected into quarters, his bowels taken out, as if he had been some notorious Traitor and vile Malefactor and Miscreant, and afterwards he was to be burnt to ashes, that if possible there might be nothing left of him: And th[illegible: 1+ letters] must be done upon one of the mountains, which I shall tell thee of, not secretly in a corner, as if it were a work of darkness and thou wert ashamed or afraid to own it, but in a publick and open place, in the view of Heaven, Earth, God, Angels and Men. Which horrid and stupendious act it may be easily conjectured what reproach and blasphemy it would have occasioned against the Name and Worship of God and the true Religion, and what shame and torment to Abraham, from his own selfaccusing mind, from the clamours of his Wife and all his Friends and Allies, and what a dangerous and mischievous example this would have been to all future Generations. That Faith that could surmount these and many more difficulties, and could readily and chearfully rest upon God in the discharge of such a duty, no wonder it is so honoured by God and celebrated by all men, yea even by the Heathens, who have translated this history into their Fables.

Which signifies the vision of God, the place where God would be seen and manifested: And so it is here called by way of anticipation, because it was so called afterwards, ver. 14. in regard of Gods eminent appearance there for Isaacs deliverance; though it may also have a further respect unto Christ, because in that place God was manifested in the Flesh.

For there were divers Mountains there, as is evident from Psal. 125. 2. and particularly there were two eminent Hills, or rather tops or parts of the same Mountain, Sion, where Davids Palace was, and Moriah, where the Temple was built, and whence the adjoyning Country afterwards received its name.

By some visible sign or secret admonition which I shall give thee.

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning , and sadled his ass , and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him.

That he might execute Gods command without doubt or delay.

For greater expedition, not waiting for his servant to do it.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lift up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

Probably on the beginning of the third day. It is true, Moriah was not three days journey from Beer-sheba. But it must be considered that the ass, upon which he rid, is a dull and slow Creature, and that Abraham went no faster than the rest of his Company, who, for ought appears, were on foot; and that the provisions which they carried along with them, both for their own and the asses subsistence and for sacrifice must needs retard them.

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 come again to you .

Lest they should hinder him in the execution of his design.

For he knew that God both could and would for his promise sake, either preserve Isaac from being sacrificed, or afterward raise him from the dead, as it is intimated Heb. 11. 19.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burntoffering, and laid it upon Isaac his son , and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Who though called a lad, ver. 5. was now a grown man, at least five and twenty years old, and therefore well able to bear that burden, and in this act he was an eminent Type of Christ, who carried that wood upon which he was Crucifyed.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, my father : and he said, Here am I, my son . And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?

A compellation which might both wound Abrahams Heart and admonish him how unbecoming to a Father that action was which he was going about.

Which expression shewed that he had not put off Fatherly Affection to him, and that his intention did not arise from any unnatural and barbarous disposition, nor from any decay of Love to him, but from an higher cause, even the declared Will of God.

Marginal references: Heb. behold me

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering; so they went both of them together.

Either 1. Literally, though I know not how; for his Wisdom and Power are infinite: Or 2. Mystically, as Christ, whose Type Isaac was, is called a Lamb. Thus Abraham prudently reveals the matter to him by degrees, not all at once.

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 bound Isaac his son , and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Made of Earth sleightly put together, as God afterwards prescribed, Exod. 20. 24.

Partly because Burnt-offerings were to be bound to the Altar; of which see on Psal. 118. 27. Partly to represent Christ who was bound to the cross. And that Isaac might be the more exact Type of Christ he was bound by his own consent, otherwise his age and strength seem sufficient to have made an effectual resistance. It is therefore highly reasonable to think that Abraham, having in the whole Journey prepared Isaac for such a work by general but pertinent discourses did upon the mount particularly instruct him concerning the plain and peremptory command of God; the absolute necessity of complying with it; the glorious reward of his obedience; and the dismal consequences of his disobedience; the power and faithfulness of God either to prevent the fatal blow, or to restore his life lost with infinite advantage. Upon these and such like reasons, doubtless he readily laid himself down at his Fathers feet, and yielded up himself to the Divine Will.

Marginal references: James 2. 21.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham . And he said, Behold, here am I.

(i. e.) Christ the Angel of the Covenant, as appears from ver. 12. 16.

He repeats his name to prevent Abraham, whom he knew to be most expeditious in Gods service, and just ready to give the deadly blow.

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 with-held thy son, thine onely son from me .

God knew the sincerity and resolvedness of Abrahams faith and obedience before and without this evidence, and from eternity foresaw this fact and all its circumstances; and therefore you must not think that God had now made any new discovery. But this is spoken here, as in many other places, of God after the manner of men, who is then said to know a thing, when it is notorious and evident to a mans self and others by some remarkable effect. Thus David prayeth that God would search and know his Heart, and his thoughts, Psal. 139. 23. Though he had before professed that God understood his thought afar off, ver. 2. This therefore is the sense, Now I know, i. e, Now I have what I designed and desired, now I have made thee and others to know: As the Spirit of God and of Christ is said to cry Abba, Father, Gal. 4. 6. when it makes us to cry so, Rom. 8. 15.

From my service and Sacrifice: Or for me. i. e. for my sake. i. e. thou hast preferred mine Authority and Honour before the Life of thy dear Son. By which word it appears that God himself speaks these words.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went, and took the ram, and offered him up for a burntoffering in the stead of his son.

Which way he looked either because the voice came that way: Or because he heard the noise made by the motion of the Ram in the thicket.

Which had gone astray from the rest of the Flock, and whose errours were directed hither by Gods wise and powerful Providence, and being young, though horned, it might be called either Lamb, as v. 7. or Ram, as it is here. There needs no curious enquiry, how he could offer up that to God which was not his own, both because it was found in a publick place, and in all probability utterly lost to his owner, and because he had no doubt a warrant and inspiration for it from the great Lord and supreme owner of all things.

14. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh , as it is said to this day , in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen .

The same Hebrew Letters differently pointed make the sense either active, the Lord will see, i. e. provide or take care of those that commit themselves and their affairs to him; or passive, the Lord will be seen, i. e. will appear and shew himself in the behalf of all those that love him.

Wherein Moses wrote this Book; this is still used as a Proverb.

(i. e.) In greatest extremities and distresses, as we say, at the pits brink.

Or, the Lord shall be seen or manifested. And although these words are used by way of remembrance of this great deliverance and by way of accommodation, to such like eminent preservations from great dangers; yet they may have a further respect, and may signifie, that this was but an earnest of further and greater blessings to be expected in this place, where the Temple was built, and the Lord Christ was manifested in the Flesh.

Marginal references: That is, the Lord will see or provide.

16 And said, By my self have I sworn , saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing , and hast not with-held thy son, thine onely son;

So the Lord swears by his name, Ier. 44. 26. By his soul, in the Hebrew text, Ier. 51. 14. By his Holiness, Amos 4. 2. Which is the same with by himself, here. Hence also it appears that the Angel who speaks here is Christ and God, because this is Gods prerogative to swear by himself, as appears from Heb. 6. 13.

Not that Abraham by this act did properly merit or purchase the following promises, as plainly appears because the same things for substance had been freely promised to Abraham long before this time and action, Gen. 12. 2. and 13. 16. onely what before was promised is now confirmed by an Oath as a Testimony of that singular respect which God had to Abraham and to this heroical instance of Faith and Obedience.

Marginal references: Psal. 105. 9. Luk. 1. 73. Heb. 6. 13.

17 That in blessing, I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed, as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies:

(i. e.) The City, by an usual Synecdoche, as Deut. 12. 15. and 18. 6. all the Cities and consequently the Country adjacent: gate for gates. The sense is, they shall subdue their Enemies. For the gates of Cities were the places both of jurisdiction or judicature, Deut. 21. 19. and 22. 15. Amos 5. 12, 15. Zech. 8. 16. and of fortification and chief strength in War, Iudg. 5. 8. Psal. 147. 13. Isa. 22. 7. Ezek. 21. 22. And this promise was fulfilled both literally in Israels conquest of Canaan, in David, Solomon, &c. and spiritually in Christ, Psal. 110. 1, 2, 3.

Marginal references: Heb. lip.

20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah she hath, also born children unto thy brother Nahor .

This narration and Genealogy is added for Rebekahs sake, and to make way for the following relation.

Marginal references: Chap. 11. 29.

21 Huz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram .

From whom descended, as some conceive, Elihu the Buzite, Iob 32. 2.

So called possibly because he dwelt amongst the Syrians, as Iacob for the same reason was called a Syrian, Deut. 26. 5. But there was another more antient Aram, from whom the Syrians descended, Gen. 10. 22.

23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah : these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor Abrahams brother.

Afterwards Isaac's Wife, Chap. 24.

Marginal references: Called Rom. 9. 10. Rebecca.

24 And his concubine , whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah .

Which was an inferior kind of Wife taken according to the common practise of those times, subject to the Authority of the principal Wife, and whose Children had no right of inheritance, but were endowed with gifts. See Gen. 21. 14. and 25. 6.

A name common both to Man, as 2 Sam. 10. 6. and Woman, as 1 King. 15. 13.

Gen 22:1-4

Offering Up of Isaac. - For many years had Abraham waited to be fulfilled. At length the Lord had given him the desired heir of his body by his wife Sarah, and directed him to send away the son of the maid. And now that this son had grown into a young man, the word of God came to Abraham to offer up this very son, who had been given to him as the heir of the promise, for a burnt-offering, upon one of the mountains which should be shown him. This word did not come from his own heart, - was not a thought suggested by the sight of the human sacrifices of the Canaanites, that he would offer a similar sacrifice to his God; nor did it originate with the tempter to evil. The word came from Ha-Elohim, the personal, true God, who tried him (נסּה), i.e., demanded the sacrifice of the only, beloved son, as a proof and attestation of his faith. The issue shows, that God did not desire the sacrifice of Isaac by slaying and burning him upon the altar, but his complete surrender, and a willingness to offer him up to God even by death.

Nevertheless the divine command was given in such a form, that Abraham could not understand it in any other way than as requiring an outward burnt-offering, because there was no other way in which Abraham could accomplish the complete surrender of Isaac, than by an actual preparation for really offering the desired sacrifice. This constituted the trial, which necessarily produced a severe internal conflict in his mind. Ratio humana simpliciter concluderet aut mentiri promissionem aut mandatum non esse Dei sed Diaboli; est enim contradictio manifesta. Si enim debet occidi Isaac, irrita est promissio; sin rata est promissio, impossibile est hoc esse Dei mandatum (Luther). But Abraham brought his reason into captivity to the obedience of faith. He did not question the truth of the word of God, which had been addressed to him in a mode that was to his mind perfectly infallible (not in a vision of the night, however, of which there is not a syllable in the text), but he stood firm in his faith, “accounting that god was able to raise him up, even from the dead” Heb 11:19). Without taking counsel with flesh and blood, Abraham started early in the morning (Gen 22:3, Gen 22:4), with his son Isaac and two servants, to obey the divine command; and on the third day (for the distance from Beersheba to Jerusalem is about 20 1/2 hours; Rob. Pal. iii. App. 66, 67) he saw in the distance the place mentioned by God, the land of Moriah, i.e., the mountainous country round about Jerusalem. The name מריּה, composed of the Hophal partic. of ראה and the divine name יה, an abbreviation of יהוה (lit., “the shown of Jehovah,” equivalent to the manifestation of Jehovah), is no doubt used proleptically in Gen 22:2, and given to the mountain upon which the sacrifice was to be made, with direct reference to this event and the appearance of Jehovah to Abraham there. This is confirmed by Gen 22:14, where the name is connected with the event, and explained in the fuller expression Jehovah-jireh. On the ground of this passage the mountain upon which Solomon built the temple is called המּריּה with reference to the appearance of the angel of the Lord to David on that mountain at the threshing-floor of Araunah (2Sa 24:16-17), the old name being revived by this appearance.

Gen 22:5-8

When in sight of the distant mountain, Abraham left the servants behind with the ass, that he might perform the last and hardest part of the journey alone with Isaac, and, as he said to the servants, “worship yonder and then return.” The servants were not to see what would take place there; for they could not understand this “worship,” and the issue even to him, notwithstanding his saying “we will come again to you,” was still involved in the deepest obscurity. This last part of the journey is circumstantially described in Gen 22:6-8, to show how strong a conflict every step produced in the paternal heart of the patriarch. They go both together, he with the fire and the knife in his hand, and his son with the wood for the sacrifice upon his shoulder. Isaac asks his father, where is the lamb for the burnt-offering; and the father replies, not “Thou wilt be it, my son,” but “God (Elohim without the article - God as the all-pervading supreme power) will provide it;” for he will not and cannot yet communicate the divine command to his son. Non vult filium macerare longa cruce et tentatione (Luther).

Gen 22:9-10

Having arrived at the appointed place, Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood upon it, bound his son and laid him upon the wood of the altar, and then stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Gen 22:11-13

In this eventful moment, when Isaac lay bound like a lamb upon the altar, about to receive the fatal stroke, the angel of the Lord called down from heaven to Abraham to stop, and do his son no harm. For the Lord now knew that Abraham was אלהים ירא God-fearing, and that his obedience of faith did extend even to the sacrifice of his own beloved son. The sacrifice was already accomplished in his heart, and he had fully satisfied the requirements of God. He was not to slay his son: therefore God prevented the outward fulfilment of the sacrifice by an immediate interposition, and showed him a ram, which he saw, probably being led to look round through a rustling behind him, with its horns fast in a thicket (אחר adv. behind, in the background); and as an offering provided by God Himself, he sacrificed it instead of his son.

Gen 22:14

From this interposition of God, Abraham called the place Jehovah-jireh, “Jehovah sees,” i.e., according to Gen 22:8, provides, providet; so that (אשׁר, as in Gen 13:16, is equivalent to כּן על, Gen 10:9) men are still accustomed to say, “On the mountain where Jehovah appears” (יראה), from which the name Moriah arose. The rendering “on the mount of Jehovah it is provided” is not allowable, for the Niphal of the verb does not mean provideri, but “appear.” Moreover, in this case the medium of God’s seeing or interposition was His appearing.

Gen 22:15-19

After Abraham had offered the ram, the angel of the Lord called to him a second time from heaven, and with a solemn oath renewed the former promises, as a reward for this proof of his obedience of faith (cf. Gen 12:2-3). To confirm their unchangeableness, Jehovah swore by Himself (cf. Heb 6:13.), a thing which never occurs again in His intercourse with the patriarchs; so that subsequently not only do we find repeated references to this oath (Gen 24:7; Gen 26:3; Gen 50:24; Exo 13:5, Exo 13:11; Exo 33:1, etc.), but, as Luther observes, all that is said in Psa 89:36; Psa 132:11; Psa 110:4 respecting the oath given to David, is founded upon this. Sicut enim promissio seminis Abrahae derivata est in semen Davidis, ita Scriptura S. jusjurandum Abrahae datum in personam Davidis transfert. For in the promise upon which these psalms are based nothing is said about an oath (cf. 2 Sam 7; 1Ch 17:1). The declaration on oath is still further confirmed by the addition of יהוה נאם “edict (Ausspruch) of Jehovah,” which, frequently as it occurs in the prophets, is met with in the Pentateuch only in Num 14:28, and (without Jehovah) in the oracles of Balaam, Num 24:3, Num 24:15-16. As the promise was intensified in form, so was it also in substance. To express the innumerable multiplication of the seed in the strongest possible way, a comparison with the sand of the sea-shore is added to the previous simile of the stars. And this seed is also promised the possession of the gate of its enemies, i.e., the conquest of the enemy and the capture of his cities (cf. Gen 24:60).

This glorious result of the test so victoriously stood by Abraham, not only sustains the historical character of the event itself, but shows in the clearest manner that the trial was necessary to the patriarch’s life of faith, and of fundamental importance to his position in relation to the history of salvation. The question, whether the true God could demand a human sacrifice, was settled by the fact that God Himself prevented the completion of the sacrifice; and the difficulty, that at any rate God contradicted Himself, if He first of all demanded a sacrifice and then prevented it from being offered, is met by the significant interchange of the names of God, since God, who commanded Abraham to offer up Isaac, is called Ha-Elohim, whilst the actual completion of the sacrifice is prevented by “the angel of Jehovah,” who is identical with Jehovah Himself. The sacrifice of the heir, who had been both promised and bestowed, was demanded neither by Jehovah, the God of salvation or covenant God, who had given Abraham this only son as the heir of the promise, nor by Elohim, God as creator, who has the power to give life and take it away, but by He-Elohim, the true God, whom Abraham had acknowledged and adored as his personal God, and with whom he had entered into a personal relation. Coming from the true God whom Abraham served, the demand could have no other object than to purify and sanctify the feelings of the patriarch’s heart towards his son and towards his God, in accordance with the great purpose of his call. It was designed to purify his love to the son of his body from all the dross of carnal self-love and natural selfishness which might still adhere to it, and so to transform it into love to God, from whom he had received him, that he should no longer love the beloved son as his flesh and blood, but simply and solely as a gift of grace, as belonging to his God-a trust committed to him, which he should be ready at any moment to give back to God. As he had left his country, kindred, and father’s house at the call of God (Gen 12:1), so was he in his walk with God cheerfully to offer up even his only son, the object of all his longing, the hope of his life, the joy of his old age. And still more than this, not only did he possess and love in Isaac the heir of his possessions (Gen 15:2), but it was upon him that all the promises of God rested: in Isaac should his seed be called (Gen 21:12). By the demand that he should sacrifice to God this only son of his wife Sarah, in whom his seed was to grow into a multitude of nations (Gen 17:4, Gen 17:6, Gen 17:16), the divine promise itself seemed to be cancelled, and the fulfilment not only of the desires of his heart, but also of the repeated promises of his God, to be frustrated. And by this demand his faith was to be perfected into unconditional trust in God, into the firm assurance that God could even raise him up from the dead. - But this trial was not only one of significance to Abraham, by perfecting him, through the conquest of flesh and blood, to be the father of the faithful, the progenitor of the Church of God; Isaac also was to be prepared and sanctified by it for his vocation in connection with the history of salvation. In permitting himself to be bound and laid upon the altar without resistance, he gave up his natural life to death, to rise to a new life through the grace of God. On the altar he was sanctified to God, dedicated as the first beginning of the holy Church of God, and thus “the dedication of the first-born, which was afterwards enjoined in the law, was perfectly fulfilled in him.” If therefore the divine command exhibits in the most impressive way the earnestness of the demand of God upon His people to sacrifice all to Him, not excepting the dearest of their possessions (cf. Mat 10:37, and Luk 14:26); the issue of the trial teaches that the true God does not demand a literal human sacrifice from His worshippers, but the spiritual sacrifice of an unconditional denial of the natural life, even to submission to death itself. By the sacrifice of a ram as a burnt-offering in the place of his son, under divine direction, not only was animal sacrifice substituted for human, and sanctioned as an acceptable symbol of spiritual self-sacrifice, but the offering of human sacrifices by the heathen was condemned and rejected as an ungodly ἐθελοθρησεία. And this was done by Jehovah, the God of salvation, who prevented the outward completion of the sacrifice. By this the event acquires prophetic importance for the Church of the Lord, to which the place of sacrifice points with peculiar clearness, viz., Mount Moriah, upon which under the legal economy all the typical sacrifices were offered to Jehovah; upon which also, in the fulness of time, God the Father gave up His only-begotten Son as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, that by this one true sacrifice the shadows of the typical sacrifices might be rendered both real and true. If therefore the appointment of Moriah as the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac, and the offering of a ram in his stead, were primarily only typical in relation to the significance and intent of the Old Testament institution of sacrifice; this type already pointed to the antitype to appear in the future, when the eternal love of the heavenly Father would perform what it had demanded of Abraham; that is to say, when God would not spare His only Son, but give Him up to the real death, which Isaac suffered only in spirit, that we also might die with Christ spiritually, and rise with Him to everlasting life (Rom 8:32; Rom 6:5, etc.).

Gen 22:20-24

Descendants of Nahor. - With the sacrifice of Isaac the test of Abraham’s faith was now complete, and the purpose of his divine calling answered: the history of his life, therefore, now hastens to its termination. But first of all there is introduced quite appropriately an account of the family of his brother Nahor, which is so far in place immediately after the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, that it prepares the way for the history of the marriage of the heir of the promise. The connection is pointed out in Gen 22:20, as compared with Gen 11:29, in the expression, “she also.” Nahor, like Ishmael and Jacob, had twelve sons, eight by his wife Milcah and four by his concubine; whereas Jacob had his by two wives and two maids, and Ishmael apparently all by one wife. This difference with regard to the mothers proves that the agreement as to the number twelve rests upon a good historical tradition, and is no product of a later myth, which traced to Nahor the same number of tribes as to Ishmael and Jacob. For it is a perfectly groundless assertion or assumption, that Nahor’s twelve sons were the fathers of as many tribes. There are only a few names, of which it is probable that their bearers were the founders of tribes of the same name. On Uz, see Gen 10:23. Buz is mentioned in Jer 25:23 along with Dedan and Tema as an Arabian tribe; and Elihu was a Buzite of the family of Ram (Job 32:2). Kemuel, the father of Aram, was not the founder of the Aramaeans, but the forefather of the family of Ram, to which the Buzite Elihu belonged, - Aram being written for Ram, like Arammim in 2Ki 8:29 for Rammim in 2Ch 22:5. Chesed again was not the father of the Chasdim (Chaldeans), for they were older than Chesed; at the most he was only the founder of one branch of the Chasdim, possibly those who stole Job’s camels (Knobel; vid., Job 1:17). Of the remaining names, Bethuel was not the founder of a tribe, but the father of Laban and Rebekah (Gen 25:20). The others are never met with again, with the exception of Maachach, from whom probably the Maachites (Deu 3:14; Jos 12:5) in the land of Maacah, a small Arabian kingdom in the time of David (2Sa 10:6, 2Sa 10:8; 1Ch 19:6), derived their origin and name; though Maachah frequently occurs as the name of a person (1Ki 2:39; 1Ch 11:43; 1Ch 27:16).

Abraham Commanded to Offer Isaac. (b. c. 1872.)

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 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 offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Here is the trial of Abraham's faith, whether it continued so strong, so vigorous, so victorious, after a long settlement in communion with God, as it was at first, when by it he left his country: then it was made to appear that he loved God better than his father; now that he loved him better than his son. Observe here,

I. The time when Abraham was thus tried (v. 1): After these things, after all the other exercises he had had, all the hardships and difficulties he had gone through. Now, perhaps, he was beginning to think the storms had all blown over; but, after all, this encounter comes, which is sharper than any yet. Note, Many former trials will not supersede nor secure us from further trials; we have not yet put off the harness, 1 Kings xx. 11. See Ps. xxx. 6, 7.

II. The author of the trial: God tempted him, not to draw him to sin, so Satan tempts (if Abraham had sacrificed Isaac, he would not have sinned, his orders would have justified him, and borne him out), but to discover his graces, how strong they were, that they might be found to praise, and honour, and glory, 1 Pet. i. 7. Thus God tempted Job, that he might appear not only a good man, but a great man. God did tempt Abraham; he did lift up Abraham, so some read it; as a scholar that improves well is lifted up, when he is put into a higher form. Note, Strong faith is often exercised with strong trials and put upon hard services.

III. The trial itself. God appeared to him as he had formerly done, called him by name, Abraham, that name which had been given him in ratification of the promise. Abraham, like a good servant, readily answered, "Here am I; what says my Lord unto his servant?" Probably he expected some renewed promise like those, ch. xv. 1, and ch. xvii. 1. But, to his great amazement, that which God has to say to him is, in short, Abraham, Go kill thy son; and this command is given him in such aggravating language as makes the temptation abundantly more grievous. When God speaks, Abraham, no doubt, takes notice of every word, and listens attentively to it; and every word here is a sword in his bones: the trial is steeled with trying phrases. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that he should afflict? No, it is not; yet, when Abraham's faith is to be tried, God seems to take pleasure in the aggravation of the trial, v. 2. Observe,

1. The person to be offered. (1.) "Take thy son, not thy bullocks and thy lambs;" how willingly would Abraham have parted with them by thousands to redeem Isaac! "No, I will take no bullock out of thy house, Ps. l. 9. I must have thy son: not thy servant, no, not the steward of thy house, that shall not serve the turn; I must have thy son." Jephthah, in pursuance of a vow, offered a daughter; but Abraham must offer his son, in whom the family was to be built up. "Lord, let it be an adopted son;" "No, (2.) Thy only son; thy only son by Sarah." Ishmael was lately cast out, to the grief of Abraham; and now Isaac only was left, and must he go too? Yes, (3.) "Take Isaac, him, by name, thy laughter, that son indeed," ch. xvii. 19. Not "Send for Ishmael back, and offer him;" no, it must be Isaac. "But, Lord, I love Isaac, he is to me as my own soul. Ishmael is not, and wilt thou take Isaac also? All this is against me:" Yea, (4.) That son whom thou lovest. It was a trial of Abraham's love to God, and therefore it must be in a beloved son, and that string must be touched most upon: in the Hebrew it is expressed more emphatically, and, I think, might very well be read thus: Take now that son of thine, that only one of thine, whom thou lovest, that Isaac. God's command must overrule all these considerations.

2. The place: In the land of Moriah, three days' journey off; so that he might have time to consider it, and, if he did it, must do it deliberately, that it might be a service the more reasonable and the more honourable.

3. The manner: Offer him for a burnt-offering. He must not only kill his son, but kill him as a sacrifice, kill him devoutly, kill him by rule, kill him with all that pomp and ceremony, with all that sedateness and composure of mind, with which he used to offer his burnt-offerings.

Abraham's Obedience. (b. c. 1872.)

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 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 come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 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 bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

We have here Abraham's obedience to this severe command. Being tried, he offered up Isaac, Heb. xi. 17. Observe,

I. The difficulties which he broke through in this act of obedience. Much might have been objected against it; as, 1. It seemed directly against an antecedent law of God, which forbids murder, under a severe penalty, ch. ix. 5, 6. Now can the unchangeable God contradict himself? He that hates robbery for burnt-offering (Isa. lxi. 8) cannot delight in murder for it. 2. How would it consist with natural affection to his own son? It would be not only murder, but the worst of murders. Cannot Abraham be obedient but he must be unnatural? If God insist upon a human sacrifice, is there none but Isaac to be the offering, and none but Abraham to be the offerer? Must the father of the faithful be the monster of all fathers? 3. God gave him no reason for it. When Ishmael was to be cast out, a just cause was assigned, which satisfied Abraham; but here Isaac must die, and Abraham must kill him, and neither the one nor the other must know why or wherefore. If Isaac had been to die a martyr for the truth, or his life had been the ransom of some other life more precious, it would have been another matter; of if he had died as a criminal, a rebel against God or his parents, as in the case of the idolater (Deut. xiii. 8, 9), or the stubborn son (Deut. xxi. 18, 19), it might have passed as a sacrifice to justice. But the case is not so: he is dutiful, obedient, hopeful, son. "Lord, what profit is there in his blood?" 4. How would this consist with the promise? Was it not said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called? But what comes of that seed, if this pregnant bud be broken off so soon? 5. How should he ever look Sarah in the face again? With what face can he return to her and his family with the blood of Isaac sprinkled on his garments and staining all his raiment? "Surely a bloody husband hast thou been to me" would Sarah say (as Exod. iv. 25, 26), and it would be likely to alienate her affections for ever both from him and from his God. 6. What would the Egyptians say, and the Canaanites and the Perizzites who dwelt then in the land? It would be an eternal reproach to Abraham, and to his altars. "Welcome nature, if this be grace." These and many similar objection might have been made; but he was infallibly assured that it was indeed a command of God and not a delusion, and this was sufficient to answer them all. Note, God's commands must not be disputed, but obeyed; we must not consult with flesh and blood about them (Gal. i. 15, 16), but with a gracious obstinacy persist in our obedience to them.

II. The several steps of obedience, all which help to magnify it, and to show that he was guided by prudence, and governed by faith, in the whole transaction.

1. He rises early, v. 3. Probably the command was given in the visions of the night, and early the next morning he set himself about the execution of it—did not delay, did not demur, did not take time to deliberate; for the command was peremptory, and would not admit a debate. Note, those that do the will of God heartily will do it speedily; while we delay, time is lost and the heart hardened.

2. He gets things ready for a sacrifice, and, as if he himself had been a Gibeonite, it should seem, with his own hands he cleaves the wood for the burnt-offering, that it might not be to seek when the sacrifice was to be offered. Spiritual sacrifices must thus be prepared for.

3. It is very probable that he said nothing about it to Sarah. This is a journey which she must know nothing of, lest she prevent it. There is so much in our own hearts to hinder our progress in duty that we have need, as much as may be, to keep out of the way of other hindrances.

4. He carefully looked about him, to discover the place appointed for this sacrifice, to which God had promised by some sign to direct him. Probably the direction was given by an appearance of the divine glory in the place, some pillar of fire reaching from heaven to earth, visible at a distance, and to which he pointed when he said (v. 5), "We will go yonder, where you see the light, and worship."

5. He left his servants at some distance off (v. 5), lest they should interpose, and create him some disturbance in his strange oblation; for Isaac was, no doubt, the darling of the whole family. Thus, when Christ was entering upon his agony in the garden, he took only three of his disciples with him, and left the rest at the garden door. Note, It is our wisdom and duty, when we are going to worship God, to lay aside all those thoughts and cares which may divert us from the service, leave them at the bottom of the hill, that we may attend on the Lord without distraction.

6. He obliged Isaac to carry the wood (both to try his obedience in a smaller matter first, and that he might typify Christ, who carried his own cross, John xix. 17), while he himself, though he knew what he did, with a steady and undaunted resolution carried the fatal knife and fire, v. 6. Note, Those that through grace are resolved upon the substance of any service or suffering for God must overlook the little circumstances which make it doubly difficult to flesh and blood.

7. Without any ruffle or disorder, he talks it over with Isaac, as if it had been but a common sacrifice that he was going to offer, v. 7, 8.

(1.) It was a very affecting question that Isaac asked him, as they were going together: My father, said Isaac; it was a melting word, which, one would think, would strike deeper into the breast of Abraham than his knife could into the breast of Isaac. He might have said, or thought, at least, "Call me not thy father who am now to be thy murderer; can a father be so barbarous, so perfectly lost to all the tenderness of a father?" Yet he keeps his temper, and keeps his countenance, to admiration; he calmly waits for his son's question, and this is it: Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb? See how expert Isaac was in the law and custom of sacrifices. This it is to be well-catechised: this is, [1.] A trying question to Abraham. How could he endure to think that Isaac was himself the lamb? So it is, but Abraham, as yet, dares not tell him so. Where God knows the faith to be armour of proof, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent, Job ix. 23. [2.] It is a teaching question to us all, that, when we are going to worship God, we should seriously consider whether we have every thing ready, especially the lamb for a burnt-offering. Behold, the fire is ready, the Spirit's assistance and God's acceptance; the wood is ready, the instituted ordinances designed to kindle our affections (which indeed, without the Spirit, are but like wood without fire, but the Spirit works by them); all things are now ready, but where is the lamb? Where is the heart? Is that ready to be offered up to God, to ascend to him as a burnt-offering?

(2.) It was a very prudent answer which Abraham gave him: My son, God will provide himself a lamb. This was the language, either, [1.] Of his obedience. "We must offer the lamb which God has appointed now to be offered;" thus giving him this general rule of submission to the divine will, to prepare him for the application of it to himself very quickly. Or, [2.] Of his faith. Whether he meant it so or not, this proved to be the meaning of it; a sacrifice was provided instead of Isaac. Thus, First, Christ, the great sacrifice of atonement, was of God's providing; when none in heaven or earth could have found a lamb for that burnt-offering, God himself found the ransom, Ps. lxxxix. 20. Secondly, All our sacrifices of acknowledgment are of God's providing too. It is he that prepares the heart, Ps. x. 17. The broken and contrite spirit is a sacrifice of God (Ps. li. 17), of his providing.

8. With the same resolution and composedness of mind, after many thoughts of heart, he applies himself to the completing of this sacrifice, v. 9, 10. He goes on with a holy wilfulness, after many a weary step, and with a heavy heart he arrives at length at the fatal place, builds the altar (an altar of earth, we may suppose, the saddest that ever he built, and he had built many a one), lays the wood in order for his Isaac's funeral pile, and now tells him the amazing news: "Isaac, thou art the lamb which God has provided." Isaac, for aught that appears, is as willing as Abraham; we do not find that he raised any objection against it, that he petitioned for his life, that he attempted to make his escape, much less that he struggled with his aged father, or made any resistance: Abraham does it, God will have it done, and Isaac has learnt to submit to both, Abraham no doubt comforting him with the same hopes with which he himself by faith was comforted. Yet it is necessary that a sacrifice be bound. The great sacrifice, which in the fullness of time was to be offered up, must be bound, and therefore so must Isaac. But with what heart could tender Abraham tie those guiltless hands, which perhaps had often been lifted up to ask his blessing, and stretched out to embrace him, and were now the more straitly bound with the cords of love and duty! However, it must be done. Having bound him, he lays him upon the altar, and his hand upon the head of his sacrifice; and now, we may suppose, with floods of tears, he gives, and takes, the final farewell of a parting kiss: perhaps he takes another for Sarah from her dying son. This being done, he resolutely forgets the bowels of a father, and puts on the awful gravity of a sacrificer. With a fixed heart, and an eye lifted up to heaven, he takes the knife, and stretches out his hand to give a fatal cut to Isaac's throat. Be astonished, O heavens! at this; and wonder, O earth! Here is an act of faith and obedience, which deserves to be a spectacle to God, angels, and men. Abraham's darling, Sarah's laughter, the church's hope, the heir of promise, lies ready to bleed and die by his own father's hand, who never shrinks at the doing of it. Now this obedience of Abraham in offering up Isaac is a lively representation, (1.) Of the love of God to us, in delivering up his only-begotten Son to suffer and die for us, as a sacrifice. It pleased the Lord himself to bruise him. See Isa. liii. 10; Zech. xiii. 7. Abraham was obliged, both in duty and gratitude, to part with Isaac, and parted with him to a friend; but God was under no obligations to us, for we were enemies. (2.) Of our duty to God, in return for that love. We must tread in the steps of this faith of Abraham. God, by his word, calls us to part with all for Christ,—all our sins, though they have been as a right hand, or a right eye, or an Isaac—all those things that are competitors and rivals with Christ for the sovereignty of the heart (Luke xiv. 26); and we must cheerfully let them all go. God, by his providence, which is truly the voice of God, calls us to part with an Isaac sometimes, and we must do it with a cheerful resignation and submission to his holy will, 1 Sam. iii. 18.

Isaac Rescued. (b. c. 1872.)

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 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. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

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, v. 11, 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 end of the command was answered; and therefore the order is countermanded, without any reflection at all upon the unchangeableness of the divine counsels: Lay not thy hand upon the lad. Note, 1. Our creature-comforts are most likely to be continued to us when we are most willing to resign them up to God's will. 2. God's time to help and relieve his people is when they are brought to the greatest extremity. The more imminent the danger is, and the nearer to be put in execution, the more wonderful and the more welcome is the deliverance.

II. Abraham is not only approved, but applauded. He obtains an honourable testimony that he is righteous: Now know I that thou fearest God. God knew it before, but now Abraham had given a most memorable evidence of it. He needed do no more; what he had done was sufficient to prove the religious regard he had to God and his authority. Note, 1. When God, by his providence, hinders the performance of our sincere intentions in his services, he graciously accepts the will for the deed, and the honest endeavour, though it come short of finishing. 2. The best evidence of our fearing God is our being willing of serve and honour him with that which is dearest to us, and to part with all to him or for him.

III. Another sacrifice is provided instead of Isaac, v. 13. Now that the altar was built, and the wood laid in order, it was necessary that something should be offered. For, 1. God must be acknowledged with thankfulness for the deliverance of Isaac; and the sooner the better, when here is an altar ready. 2. Abraham's words must be made good: God will provide himself a lamb. God will not disappoint those expectations of his people which are of his own raising; but according to their faith it is to them. Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established. 3. Reference must be had to the promised Messiah, the blessed seed. (1.) Christ was sacrificed in our stead, as this ram instead of Isaac, and his death was our discharge. "Here am I (said he,) let these go their way." (2.) Though that blessed seed was lately promised, and now typified by Isaac, yet the offering of him up should be suspended till the latter end of the world: and in the meantime the sacrifice of beasts should be accepted, as this ram was, as a pledge of that expiation which should one day be made by that great sacrifice. And it is observable that the temple, the place of sacrifice, was afterwards built upon this Mount Moriah (2 Chron. iii. 1); and mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified, was not far off.

IV. A new name is given to the place, to the honour of God, and for the encouragement of all believers, to the end of the world, cheerfully to trust in God in the way of obedience: Jehovah-jireh, The Lord will provide (v. 14), probably alluding to what he had said (v. 8), God will provide himself a lamb. It was not owing to any contrivance of Abraham, nor was it in answer to his prayer, though he was a distinguished intercessor; but it was purely the Lord's doing. Let it be recorded for the generations to come, 1. That the Lord will see; he will always have his eye upon his people in their straits and distresses, that he may come in with seasonable succour in the critical juncture. 2. That he will be seen, be seen in the mount, in the greatest perplexities of his people. He will not only manifest, but magnify, his wisdom, power, and goodness, in their deliverance. Where God sees and provides, he should be seen and praised. And, perhaps, it may refer to God manifest in the flesh.

Abraham's Blessing Confirmed. (b. c. 1872.)

15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord , for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

Abraham's obedience was graciously accepted; but this was not all: here we have it recompensed, abundantly recompensed, before he stirred from the place; probably while the ram he had sacrificed was yet burning God sent him this gracious message, renewed and ratified his covenant with him. All covenants were made by sacrifice, so was this by the typical sacrifices of Isaac and the ram. Very high expressions of God's favour to Abraham are employed in this confirmation of the covenant with him, expressions exceeding any he had yet been blessed with. Note, Extraordinary services shall be crowned with extraordinary honours and comforts; and favours in the promise, though not yet performed, ought to be accounted real and valuable recompences. Observe, 1. God is pleased to make mention of Abraham's obedience as the consideration of the covenant; and he speaks of it with an encomium: Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, v. 16. He lays a strong emphasis on this, and (v. 18) praises it as an act of obedience: in it thou hast obeyed my voice, and to obey is better than sacrifice. Not that this was a proportionable consideration, but God graciously put this honour upon that by which Abraham had honoured him. 2. God now confirmed the promise with an oath. It was said and sealed before; but now it is sworn: By myself have I sworn; for he could swear by no greater, Heb. vi. 13. Thus he interposed himself by an oath, as the apostle expresses it, Heb. vi. 17. He did (to speak with reverence) even pawn his own life and being upon it (As I live,) that by all those immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, he and his might have strong consolation. Note, If we exercise faith, God will encourage it. Improve the promises, and God will ratify them. 3. The particular promise here renewed is that of a numerous offspring: Multiplying, I will multiply thee, v. 17. Note, Those that are willing to part with any thing for God shall have it made up to them with unspeakable advantage. Abraham has but one son, and is willing to part with that one, in obedience to God. "Well," said God, "thou shalt be recompensed with thousands and millions." What a figure does the seed of Abraham make in history! How numerous, how illustrious, were his known descendants, who, to this day, triumph in this, that they have Abraham to their father! Thus he received a thousand-fold in this life, Matt. xix. 29. 4. The promise, doubtless, points at the Messiah, and the grace of the gospel. This is the oath sworn to our father Abraham, which Zacharias refers to, Luke i. 73, &c. And so here is a promise, (1.) Of the great blessing of the Spirit: In blessing, I will bless thee, namely, with that best of blessings the gift of the Holy Ghost; the promise of the Spirit was that blessing of Abraham which was to come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, Gal. iii. 14. (2.) Of the increase of the church, that believers, his spiritual seed, should be numerous as the stars of heaven. (3.) Of spiritual victories: Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Believers, by their faith, overcome the world, and triumph over all the powers of darkness, and are more than conquerors. Probably Zacharias refers to this part of the oath (Luke i. 74), That we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear. But the crown of all is the last promise. (4.) Of the incarnation of Christ: In thy seed, one particular person that shall descend from thee (for he speaks not of many, but of one, as the apostle observes, Gal. iii. 16), shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, or shall bless themselves, as the phrase is, Isa. lxv. 16. In him all may be happy if they will, and all that belong to him shall be so, and shall think themselves so. Christ is the great blessing of the world. Abraham was ready to give up his son for a sacrifice to the honour of God, and, on that occasion, God promised to give his Son a sacrifice for the salvation of man.

20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; 21 Huz his first born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

This is recorded here, 1. To show that though Abraham saw his own family highly dignified with peculiar privileges, admitted into covenant, and blessed with the entail of the promise, yet he did not look with contempt and disdain upon his relations, but was glad to hear of the increase and prosperity of their families. 2. To make way for the following story of the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah, a daughter of this family.

CHAP. XXII.

ANd it was, after these things; that God, did tempt Abraham: and said unto him, Abraham, and hee said, Behold here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thy onely (son,) whom thou lovest, even Isaak; and goe thou, into the land of Morijah: and offer him there for a burnt-offering, upon one of the mountaines, which I shall say unto thee. And Abraham rose-earely in the morning, and sadled his asse; and tooke two of his yongmen with him, and Isaak his sonne: and clave the wood of the burnt-offring, and rose-up and went, unto the place which God had said unto him. In the third day, then Abraham lifted vp his eyes; and saw the place, afarre-off. And Abraham said unto his yongmen; abide you here with the asse, and I and the yong-man will goe yonder: and we will bow-downe our-selves, and we will returne unto you. And Abraham tooke the wood of the burnt-offring, and put it upon Isaak his son; and he took in his hand, the fire, and the knife: and they went both of them together. And Isaak said unto Abraham his father, & said my father; and he said, Behold I am here my son: and he said, Behold (here is) the fire, and the wood; but where is the lambe, for a burnt-offring? And Abraham said, God will provide himselfe a lamb, for a burnt-offring, my son: and they went both of them, together. And they came, to the place which God had said unto him; and Abraham builded there an altar, and layd the wood in order: and bound Isaak his son, and put him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham thrust forth his hand, and tooke the knife, to kill his son. And the Angell of Iehovah called unto him, out of the heavens; and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, loe here I am. And he said, Put not forth thy hand, unto the yong-man; neither doe thou any-thing to him: for now I know, that thou fearest God; and thou hast not with-held, thy sonne thy onely son, from me. And Abraham lifted-up his eyes, and saw and behold a ramme; behind, holden in a thicket by his hornes: and Abraham went, and tooke the ram, and offred him for a burnt-offring, in stead of his son. And Abraham called, the name of that place, Iehovah Iireh: of which it is said to this day, in the mountaine of Iehovah, it shal be seene. And the Angel of Iehovah, called unto Abraham; the second time, out of the heauens. And hee said; By my selfe have I sworne, assuredly saith Iehovah that, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with-held thy son thy onely son. Surely blessing I will blesse thee, and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the starres of the heavens; and as the sand, which is upon the sea shore: and thy seed shall possesse the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed, shall all nations of the earth blesse themselves: because that thou hast obeyed my voyce. And Abraham returned, unto his yong men; and they rose up, and went together, to Beersheba: and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba.

And it was, after these things; that it was told Abraham, saying: Behold Milcah, she also hath borne sonnes, unto thy brother Nachor. Vz his first borne, and Buz his brother: and Kemuel, the father of Aram. And Kesed, and Chazo; and Pildash, and Iidlaph: and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight did Milcah beare; to Nachor, Abrahams brother. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah: even she also did beare, Tebach, and Gacham; and Tachash, and Maacah.

Annotations. THings] Hebr. words: that is, things spoken of: so in vers. 20. See the notes on Gen. 15. 1. tempt] that is, try or prove. The originall word hath the signification of lifting up as for a signe, or essaying of some high thing. And God tempteth men, when he requireth some great or high experiment of their faith, love, and obedience; as here and in Exod. 15. 25. 26. Deut. 8. 2. and 13. 3. But tentation often signifieth a soliciting and provoking to evill, which Satan doth, Mat. 4. 1. 3. and mans owne corruption, Iam. 1. 14. In which sense God tempteth no man, Iam. 1. 13. for it alwayes tendeth to evill; but God tempteth us, to doe us good at the end, Deut. 8. 26. 1 Cor. 10. 13. And this is spoken of God after the manner of men: for hee both knoweth long before what is in man, and what himselfe will doe, Psal. 139. 2 Iohn 2. 25. and 6. 6. Vers. 2. onely son] Paul calleth him onely begotten son, Heb. 11. 17. for he had no other of Sarah the freewoman: also Ismael of Hagar, was cast out of his house, Gen. 21. 14. Isaak] who was particularly designed for the hope of all Abrahams seed to be called in him, Gen. 21. 12. which speciall point the Apostle observeth in this tentation, Heb. 11. 18. So Abrahams obedience was tryed in offering his son; and his faith, in offring him concerning whom he had received the promise. Morijah] the Greeke calleth it the high land: for it was a mountainy country, and this high mount was seene far off, vers. 4. The Chaldee nameth it of the service of God, there now performed, and after increased: for upon this mount Morijah, did Solomon build the Temple, for Gods worship, 2 Chron. 3. 1. And by the Iewes tradition, here Adam, and Noe sacrificed, and served God: see the notes on Gen. 8. 20. and 4. 3. burnt offering] Hebr. an ascension: so called, because it went all up in fire, burned upon the Altar. See Gen. 8. 20. Levit. 1. Vers. 3. rose early] so it seemeth this was spoken to Abraham in the night: and here his ready obedience is commended; as on the contrary, the like hast is noted of Balaam for evill, hastning to curse Abrahams children, which God forbad, Numbers 22. 21. Vers. 4. the third day] As the number seven is of speciall use in Scripture, because of the Sabbath day, Gen. 2. 2. so three is a mysticall number, because of Christs rising from the dead the third day Mat. 17. 23. 1 Cor. 15. 4. as he was crucified at the third houre of the day, Marke 15. 25, and Isaak as he was a figure of Christ, in being the onely son of his father, and not spared, but offered for a sacrifice, Rom. 8. 32. so in sundry particulars, as this third day, in which Christ also was to be perfected, Luke 13. 32. and the carying of the wood, vers. 6. as Christ did the tree whereon he dyed, Ioh. 19. 17 the binding of Isaak, vers. 9. as Christ was bound, Mat. 27. 2. and in other like, he was a figure of the Lambe of God, sacrificed for the sinnes of the world. So Moses craved leave for three dayes journey into the wildernesse, for to sacrifice, Exod. 5. 3. and three dayes they went therein, ere they found water to drinke, Exod. 15. 22. and three dayes iourney the Arke of the Lords covenant went before them, to search out a resting place for them, Num. 10. 33. Against the third day, the people were to be ready to receive Gods Law, Exod. 19. 11. and after three dayes, to passe over Iordan into Canaan, Ios. 1. 11. The third day Ester put on the (apparell of the) kingdome, Est. 5. 1. and in that day Ezekiah went up to the Lords house, recovered as from death, 2 King. 20. 5. and that day, is it wherin the Prophet saith, God will raise us up, and wee shall live in his sight, Hos. 6. 2. And in the third day (as well as in the seventh) the uncleane person was to purifie himselfe, Num. 19. 12. with many other the like memorable things, which the Scriptures speak of the third day, not without mystery. See Gen. 40. 12. 13. and 42. 17. 18. Ion. 1. 17. Ios. 2. 16. Vnto which we may adde a Iewes testimony (in Breshith rabba, commenting upon this place) that there are many a three dayes, in the holy Scripture, of which one is the resurrection of the Messias. Vers. 5. bow downe] or, worship, to weet, God: for in praying unto (or serving) God, they used to bow their bodies, in signe of reverence and honor; and sometime to kneele, sometime to bend downe the head, sometime to prostrate themselves, or fall on their faces. See these gestures distinguished, in the annotations on Exod. 4. 31. we will returne] Abraham in faith obeying God, did account that God was able to raise up Isaak even from the dead, Heb. 11. 19. therefore he thus spake, and prophesied of his returne with himselfe, when he went to kill him. Vers. 6. upon Isaak] so Christ bare the wood whereon himselfe dyed, Iohn 19. 17. and all good Christians, are to beare their crosse, and follow him, Luke 14. 27. And the sacrifice being to be burned to ashes, it was no small quantity of wood that would suffice hereunto: by which also appeareth that Isaak was not now a child but a man growne: Iosephus maketh him 25. yeere old: others 33. Vers. 7. the lambe] or kid, The Hebrew word signifieth either yong sheepe or goat, Exod. 12. 5. Deut. 14. 4. the Greeke translateth it sheepe. Vers. 8. provide him] or, see for himselfe. So Abraham imparted not the whole matter to Isaak, till he came to the place of execution: but stayed him upon the prouidence of God. Vnto this faith and promise of Abraham, God answered in performance, verse 13. and upon this divine providence, the place had the name, verse 14. Vers. 9. altar,] to sanctifie the sacrifice Mat. 23. 19. See Gen. 8. 20. bound Isaak:] whose faith and obedience herein was also admirable, that hee neither in deed nor word resisted his father Abraham, (there being none but they two) but meekly suffred himselfe to bee bound and layd on the altar, as a lambe to bee slaine: being also herein a type of Christ, in his meeke and patient sufferings, Mark. 15. 1. Act. 8. 32. Phil. 2. 8. and of all Christians, the children of promise, who are to present their bodies a living sacrifice; holy, acceptable to God, which is their reasonable service, Rom. 12. 1. The Iewes yearely feast upon the first of Tizri (or Septēber) called the memoriall of blowing of trumpets, Levit. 23. 24. they named also The binding of Isaak, in remembrance of this action. Vers. 10. to kill his sonne] By faith Abraham, when he was tempted, offred up Isaak and he that had received the promises, offred up his onely begotten sonne, of whom it was said, that in Isaak, shall seed be called to thee: Heb. 11. 17. 18. Abraham our father, was hee not justified by works; having offred Isaak his sonne upon thee altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his workes, and by workes, was faith perfected? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham beleeved God, and it was imputed unto him for justice, and hee was called the friend of God, Iam. 2. 21. 22. 33. Vers. 11. the Angell] who speaketh as God, ver. 12. sweareth by himselfe, and is called Iehovah, verse 16. wherefore this was Christ himselfe: see before on Gen. 16. 7. and 18. 2. V. 12. put not forth] or send not forth, that is, lay no violent hands upon him. Thus God spared Isaak from death; and Abraham, who beleeved that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; did from thence also receive him, in a parable: Heb. 11. 19. I know] that is, I have experience: God speaketh after the manner of men, as in Gen. 18. 21. and often. and thou hast,] or for that thou hast, see Gen. 12. 19. Vers. 13. the ram,] Thus Abrahams word [illegible: 1 span]s fulfilled, that God would provide himselfe a lambe, verse 8. and hereby the redemption of the Church by Christ, (the lambe without blemish, 1 Pet. 1. 19.) was signified according to that in Iob 33. 24. Deliver him from going-downe to the pit; I have found a ransome. Vers. 14. Iehovah Iireth] that is, Iehovah will see, or provide, as verse 8. the Greeke interpreteth it, The Lord hath seene: for hee answering to Abrahams prophesie, verse 8. the perpetuall memory of his mercy, was kept in the name of the place. Mori-Iah, the usuall name of the mountaine, is of like interpretation: Iehovah being shortned into Iah, whereof see Exod. 15. 2. The Chaldee paraphraseth thus. And Abraham prayed and served, (God) there, in that place; and said before the Lord, here shall the generations (to come) serve (God) Therefore was it sayd in this day, In this mount Abram served before the Lord. Hee hath reference to the Temple built after in this mount, wherein God was served, 2 Chron. 3. 1. Abraham calling this place Iehovah Iireh, speaketh figuratively, as the Scripture useth in all Sacramentall things: because it was a signe of Gods providence. So Moses called his altar, Iehovah Nish, Exod. 17. 15. Ierusalem is called Iehovah Shammah, Ezek. 48. 35. it shall be seene,] or, it shall be provided, of God. So this speciall providence of God towards Abraham, is become a generall proverbe, for the comfort of his children, in all their distresses. The Greeke translateth it, In the mountaine the Lord was seene. Vers. 16. By my selfe,] the Chaldee turneth it By my word. Elsewhere the scripture saith, God sweareth by his soule, Ier. 51. 14. by his holinesse, Amos 4. 2. by his name, Ier. 44. 26. Of this the Apostle saith, when God made promise to Abraham, because he could sweare by no greater, he sware by himselfe saying, surely &c. And, God willing more-abundantly to shew unto the heyres of promise, the immutability of his counsell, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lye, wee might have a strong consolation: Heb. 6. 13. 14. 17. 18. where also the Apostle teacheth that this is written for our comfort, as al other scriptures, Rom. 15. 4. And by this it is plaine, that the Angell who spake to Abraham was God himselfe: and this oath had the accomplishment in Christ, Luk. 1. 73. &c. assuredly-saith] or, the faithfull-saying. The originall word Neum, is peculiar to Gods oracles, which all are faithfull sayings, as Paul speaketh, 1 Tim. 1. 15. and 3. 1. and 4. 9. Of the same Hebrew letters transplaced commeth also Amen. Vers. 17. Surely] so the Apostle (following the common Greeke version) translateth the Hebrew Ki (which also signifieth Because, or That:) Heb. 6. 14. And here under the name blessing, is meant the promise of eternall salvation, as the Apostle there sheweth. thy seed] for which, the Apostle saith thee: Heb. 6. 14. Againe, where Moses saith thee, in Gen. 12. 3. the Apostle saith, thy seed, Act. 3. 25. By such interpretations, the holy Ghost teacheth us how to understand the Scriptures: and by Abrahams seed, Christ the principall, and author of salvation, is implyed: and all the faithfull by him saved, Gal. 3. 16. 29. shore] Hebrew lip. Here they are compared to the sand of the sea, which before in Gen. 13. 16. were to be like the dust of the earth: see also Gen. 15. 5. This promise through the faith of Abraham and Sarah beleeving it, was fulfilled, as the Apostle observeth, Heb. 11. 11. 12. thy seed] Isaaks posterity, Gen. 21. 12. the gate] for, gates, (as tree for trees, see Gen. 3. 2.) and by gates, he meaneth cities, and all strong defensed places: as the doore (or entring) of the gate, 2 Sam. 10. 8. is explained to be, the doore of the citie, 1 Chron. 19. 9. And at the gates of cities, were publike places of judgement, Deut. 22. 15. Iob 31. 21. So the strength and dominion of the enemies is meant here, by the gate & dominion over them, by inheritance, Levit. 25. 45. Psal. 82. 8. The Greeke also translateth it cities: and so in Gen. 24. 60. his] or, their enemies, meaning enemies of the seed, which word being put for children, (at the Chaldee translateth it) may have with it a word, singular or plurall, and so the Scripture speaketh indifferently: as saying of the people, it went, 2 Chr. 10. 5. or they went, 1 King. 12. 5. it rejoyced, 2 King. 11. 20. which another Prophet writing saith, they rejoyced, 2 Chron. 23. 21. So 2 King. 21. 24. with 2 Chron. 33. 25. and 2 King. 23. 30. with 2 Chr. 36. 1. The reason hereof is, because a multitude is many, and yet as one: therefore, that which in Mat. 20. 31. is (ochlos) a multitude, in Mar. 10. 48. is (polloi) many. Vers. 18. in thy seed] here the word seed, is in speciall meant of one, that is, Christ, Gal. 3. 16. 18. who was both of the seed of David, and sonne of Abraham according to the flesh, Rom. 1. 3. and also God over all blessed for ever, Rom. 9. 5. in whom the nations doe blesse themselves, and glory, Ier. 4. 2. Ps. 72. 17. blesse themselves] that is, apply thy faith the blessing of Christ to themselves, and so profess it: or, shall be blessed, as the Greeke translateth it, and as the promise was before made in that forme, in the Hebrew, Gen. 12. 3. and after in Genesis 28. 14. Vers. 19. Beersheba] which the Greeke interpreteth, the well of the oath: See before in Gen. 21. 31. Vers. 20. Milcah] called in Greeke Melcha: shee was Abrahams brothers wife, Gen. 11. 29. Of whose off-spring, Abraham now heareth glad tidings, unto whom he after sendeth for a wife, for his sonne Isaak, Gen. 24. Vers. 21. Uz] or Urs: in Greeke Oox. In this land Iob the patient dwelled, Iob. 1. 1. There was also another Vz of Aram, Gen. 10. 23. and againe Vz of Seir, in Edoms country, Gen. 36. 28. Buz] in Greeke Baux: of him came that learned yong man Elihu, Iob 32. 2. Buz dwelt by his elder brother Vz, in Arabia, Ier. 25. 20. 23. 24. Kimuel] in Greeke Kamouel. of Aram] the Greeke saith, of the Syrians. There was an Aram before of Sem, Gen. 10. 22. Aram throughout the Bible is turned in Greeke Syria, and Syrians: as Mizraim is Aegypt, and Cush Ethiopia. Vers. 22. Kesed] or Cesed: in Greeke Chazad. Chazo] in Greeke Nazais. Pildash] in Greek Phaldese Iidlaph] in Greeke Iledaph. Vers. 23. Bethuel] in Greeke Bathouel, of whom see after, Gen. 24. 15. Rebekah] or Rebekka; in Hebrew Ribkah: she became wife to Isaak, Abrahams sonne, Gen. 24. 15. 67. And for that cause chiefly, is this genealogy here set downe. Vers. 24. his concubine] to weet, Nachors concubine. The Hebrew Pilegesh, (whereof the Greeke Pallakis, and Latine Pellex is borrowed, which we call a Concubine) signifieth: an halfe wife, or a divided and secondary wife: which was a wife for the bed, (and thereby differing from an whore,) but not for honour, and government of the family, (as King Solomons wives were Princesses, but his concubines not so, 1 King. 11. 3.) neither had their children ordinarily any right of inheritance, but had gifts of their father, as Gen. 25. 5. 6. Such a concubine was Hagar to Abraham, yea and Keturah his second wife, is called a concubine, Gen. 25. 1. 6. 1 Chr. 1. 32. And Bilha and Zilpha were concubines to Iaakob, Gen. 35. 22. And many other men of note had also concubines: as Caleb, 1 Chron. 2. 46. 48. Manasses, 1 Chron. 7. 14. Gedeon, Iudg. 8. 31. David, 2 Sam. 5. 13. Solomon, 1 King. 11. 3. Roboam, 2 Chron. 11. 21. and among the heathens, as Est. 2. 14. Dan. 5. 3. The Hebrew Doctors say, wives were taken in Israel, by bils of Dowry, and solemne espousals; but concubines, without either of both: Maimony treat. of Kings, ch. 4. S. 4. So among the Gentiles, as appeareth by that saying in the Poet, lest this report goe of mee, that I have given thee mine owne sister, rather for a concubine, then in way of matrimony, if I should give her without a dowrie: Plautus in Trinumm. Likewise among the Greekes, the Oratour saith, wee have concubines, for daily concubineship, (or use of the bed;) and wives for to bring us forth children legitimate, and faithfully to keepe the things in the family, Demosthenes in Orat. against Neaera. Tebach] in Greeke, Tabec: of him and his brethren wee find no mention in other Scripture. Tachash] in Greeke Tochos. Maacah] in Greeke Mocha.