Genesis 22:11-19

The LORD Provides the Sacrifice

Berean Standard Bible

11 Just then the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”
13 Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16 saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. 18 And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
19 Abraham went back to his servants, and they got up and set out together for Beersheba. And Abraham settled in Beersheba.

Context

In Genesis 22, this section should be read within the flow of the chapter and the larger movement of Genesis.

Common Interpretations

A common reading of The LORD Provides the Sacrifice is that it should be interpreted in light of the chapter's full narrative movement rather than as an isolated proof text. Where interpreters differ on details, the immediate setting in Genesis 22 remains the first control on meaning.

Current Position

This site's current position is that the speaker in this passage is not a mere created messenger reporting God's words. The Angel of the LORD speaks in the first person as the one to whom Isaac would have been offered, and then says, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD." The passage therefore fits the larger pattern argued in the Angel of the LORD study: the Angel appears, speaks as God, and is treated by the text as identical with the LORD rather than separate from Him.

Deeper Study

Who is The Angel of the Lord?

A Living Study And Exchange

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