The Binding of Isaac
God tells Abraham to take Isaac — named as his son, his only son, whom he loves — to a mountain in Moriah and offer him there. Abraham rises early, cuts the wood and sets out on a three-day journey, and the narrative records almost nothing of what he thinks.
The silence breaks once. Isaac, carrying the wood, asks where the lamb is; his father answers that God will provide one. At the altar Abraham binds his son and takes the knife, and is stopped. A ram is caught in a thicket by its horns and offered instead, and Abraham names the place The Lord Will Provide.
The episode has troubled readers for as long as it has been read, and scripture itself returns to it repeatedly — as the supreme test of faith, and as the moment the covenant promise was reaffirmed with an oath.
Where in scripture
[1] After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.” [2] He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” [3] Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. [4] On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. [5] Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.” …
Genesis 22:1–19 — opening verses
[17] By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son, [18] to whom it was said, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac”; [19] concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
Hebrews 11:17–19
[21] Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? [22] You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. [24] You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.
James 2:21–24
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
