Although Isaac was not Abraham's only son, he was the son who was to inherit Abraham's promised blessings. It is possible this parallels God's actual sacrifice of his son, Jesus, for the sins of man. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tw?section=kt#inherit and /WA-Catalog/en_tw?section=kt#promise and /WA-Catalog/en_tw?section=kt#sin)
After important events, it is common for Scripture to affirm the tenets of a covenant. This serves as a reminder of the covenant and affirms it. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tw?section=kt#covenant)
Extra care should be taken when translating "testing." It is best to avoid using the same word used for "tempting" even though they overlap in meaning. This is because Scripture also says God does not tempt anyone. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tw?section=kt#test and /WA-Catalog/en_tw?section=kt#tempt and James 2:13)
This phrase is used here to mark the beginning of a new part of the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#writing-newevent)
This phrase refers to the events in chapter 21.
It is implied that God tests Abraham to learn if Abraham will be faithful to him. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. Alternate translation: God tested Abraham's faithfulness" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-explicit)
"Yes, I am listening" or "Yes, what is it?"
It is implied that God knows that Abraham has another son, Ishmael. This emphasizes that Isaac is the son that God promised to give Abraham. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. Alternate translation: "your only son whom I have promised" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-explicit)
This emphasizes Abraham's love for his son, Isaac.
"the land called Moriah" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-names)
"loaded his donkey" or "put on his donkey what he needed for the journey"
"servants"
"started his journey" or "started traveling"
The word "third" is the ordinal number for three. Alternate translation: "After traveling for three days" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-ordinal)
"saw far away the place that God had spoken of"
"servants"
The word "we" refers only to Abraham and Isaac, but not to the young men. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-exclusive)
"return to you"
"had Isaac, his son, carry it"
Here "his own hand" emphasizes that Abraham himself carried these things. Alternate translation: "Abraham himself carried" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-synecdoche)
Here "fire" stands for a pan containing burning coals or a torch or lamp. Alternate translation: "something for starting a fire" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-synecdoche)
"they left together" or "the two of them went together"
This is a loving way for a son to speak to his father.
"Yes, I am listening" or "Yes, what is it?" See how you translated this in Genesis 22:1.
This is a loving way for a father to speak to his son.
Here "fire" stands for a pan containing burning coals or a torch or lamp. See how you translated this in Genesis 22:6. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-synecdoche)
"the lamb that you will give as a burnt offering"
Here "himself" emphasizes that it is God who will provide the lamb. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-rpronouns)
"will give us"
"When Abraham and Isaac arrived at the place"
"he tied up"
"on top of the wood that was on the altar"
"picked up the knife"
Possible meanings are 1) Yahweh made himself look like an angel or 2) this was one of Yahweh's angels or 3) this was a special messenger from God (some scholars think it was Jesus). Since the phrase is not well understood, it is best to simply translate it as "the angel of Yahweh" using the normal word that you use for "angel." See the note about this phrase in Genesis 16:7.
This refers to the place where God lives.
"Yes, I am listening" or "Yes, what is it?" See how you translated this in Genesis 22:1.
The phrase "Do not lay your hand upon" is a way of saying "do not harm." God said basically the same thing twice to emphasize that Abraham should not hurt Isaac. Alternate translation: "Do not hurt the boy in any way" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-idiom and /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-parallelism)
The words "I" and "me" refer to Yahweh. When translating what is in the quote, do it as the angel of Yahweh did and use the words "I" and "me" when referring to Yahweh.
This refers to deeply respecting God and showing that respect by obeying him.
"because I see that"
"you have not held back your son ... from me." or "you were willing to offer your son ... to me"
It is implied that God knows that Abraham has another son, Ishmael. This emphasizes that Isaac is the son that God promised to give Abraham. See how you translated a similar phrase in Genesis 22:2. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-explicit)
The word "behold" here alerts us to pay attention to the surprising information that follows.
This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "was a ram whose horns were stuck in the bushes" or "was a ram stuck in the bushes" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-activepassive)
"Abraham went over to the ram and took it"
Use the same word for "provide" as you used in Genesis 22:8.
"even now." This means even to the time that the author was writing this book.
This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "he will provide" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-activepassive)
Possible meanings are 1) Yahweh made himself look like an angel or 2) this was one of Yahweh's angels or 3) this was a special messenger from God (some scholars think it was Jesus). Since the phrase is not well understood, it is best to simply translate it as "The angel of Yahweh" using the normal word that you use for "angel." See the note about this phrase in Genesis 16:7.
The word "second" is the ordinal number for two. Alternate translation: "again" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-ordinal)
Here the word "heaven" refers to the place where God lives.
"spoke this message from Yahweh" or "declared these words of Yahweh." This is a formal way of saying that the words that follow come directly from Yahweh.
"I have promised and I am my witness." To swear means to use the name of something or someone as the basis or power on which the oath is made. There is nothing more powerful for Yahweh to swear by than himself.
"you obeyed me"
"have not kept back your son" or "were willing to offer your son to me"
It is implied that God knows that Abraham has another son, Ishmael. This emphasizes that Isaac is the son that God promised to give Abraham. See how you translated a similar phrase in Genesis 22:2. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-explicit)
"certainly bless"
"I will cause your descendants to increase again and again" or "I will cause your descendants to be very many"
God compared Abraham's descendants to the stars and the sand. Just as people cannot count the huge number of stars or the grains of sand, so there would be so many of Abraham's descendants that people would not be able to count them. Alternate translation: "beyond what you can count" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-simile)
Here the word "heavens" refers to everything we see above the earth, including the sun, moon, and stars.
Here "gate" represents the whole city. To "possess the gate of their enemies" means destroying their enemies. Alternate translation: "will completely triumph over their enemies" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-synecdoche and /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-metonymy)
The angel of Yahweh continues speaking to Abraham.
This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "I, the Lord, will bless all the people living everywhere" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-activepassive)
Here "nations" stands for the people of the nations. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-metonymy)
Here "voice" stands for what God said. Alternate translation: "you have obeyed what I said" or "you have obeyed me" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-metonymy)
Only Abraham was named because he was the father, but it was implied that his son went with him. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. Alternate translation: "Abraham and his son went back" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-explicit)
"servants"
"they left that place"
Only Abraham was mentioned because he was the leader of his family and servants, but it was implied that they were with him. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. Alternate translation: "Abraham and his people stayed in Beersheba" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-explicit)
"After these events." The phrase "these things" refers to the events of Genesis 22:1-19. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#writing-newevent)
This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "someone told Abraham" (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#figs-activepassive)
"Milkah has also borne children"
This is the name of a woman. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-names)
"The name of his firstborn was Uz, and the names of the rest of his children were Buz his brother"
These are all names of men. Translate this so that it is clear that all of these except Aram are the sons of Nahor and Milkah. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-names)
These are all names of men. Translate this so that it is clear that all of these are the sons of Nahor and Milkah. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-names)
"Later Bethel became the father of Rebekah"
"These were the eight children of Milkah and Nahor, Abraham's brother." This refers to the children that were listed in Genesis 22:21-22.
"Nahor's concubine"
This is the name of a woman. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-names)
"also gave birth to"
These are all names of men. (See: /WA-Catalog/en_tm?section=jit#translate-names)