Genesis 22:2
He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.
Open Genesis 22:2 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Ait illi : Tolle filium tuum unigenitum, quem diligis, Isaac, et vade in terram visionis, atque ibi offeres eum in holocaustum super unum montium quem monstravero tibi.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ εἶπεν Λάβε τὸν υἱόν σου τὸν ἀγαπητὸν ὃν ἠγάπησας, τὸν Ἰσαάκ, καὶ πορεύθητι εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ὑψηλήν, καὶ ἀνένεγκον αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν ἐφ᾽ ἓν τῶν ὀρέων ὧν ἄν σοι εἴπω.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וַיֹּ֡אמֶר קַח נָ֠א אֶת בִּנְךָ֨ אֶת יְחִֽידְךָ֤ אֲשֶׁר אָהַ֨בְתָּ֙ אֶת יִצְחָ֔ק וְלֶךְ לְךָ֔ אֶל אֶ֖רֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּ֑ה וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה עַ֚ל אַחַ֣ד הֶֽהָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֹמַ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ
Haydock's commentary
Thy only begotten, or thy most beloved, as if he had been an only child; in which sense the word is often taken, 1 Paralipomenon xxix. 1. Ismael was still living; but Isaac was the only son of Sara, the most dignified wife.
Lovest. Hebrew, "hast loved" hitherto; now thou must consider him as dead. He has been to thee a source of joy, but now he will be one of tears and mourning.
Of vision. Septuagint, "high," being situated on Mount Moria, by which name it was afterwards distinguished, ver. 14. (Menochius)
Every word in this astonishing command, tended to cut Abraham to the heart; and hence we may the more admire his strength and disinterestedness of his faith. He could hope, in a manner, against hope, knowing in whom he had trusted, and convinced that God would not deceive him, though he was at a loss to explain in what manner Isaac should have children after he was sacrificed. (Haydock)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Tertullian An Answer to the Jews, Argument from the Destruction of Jerusalem and Desolation of Judea
This “wood,” again, Isaac the son of Abraham personally carried for his own sacrifice, when God had enjoined that he should be made a victim to Himself. But, because these had been mysteries which were being kept for perfect fulfilment in the times of Christ, Isaac, on the one hand, with his “wood,” was reserved, the ram being of fered which was caught by the horns in the bramble; Christ, on the other hand, in His times, carried His “wood” on His own shoulders, adhering to the horns of the cross, with a thorny crown encircling His head. …
St Cyprian Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, Testimony XV
In Genesis: “And God, tempted Abraham, and said to him, Take thy only son whom thou lovest, Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell thee.” Of this same thing in Deuteronomy: “The Lord your God proveth you, that He may know if ye love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.” Of this same thing in the Wisdom of Solomon: “Although in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality; and having been in few things distressed, yet in many things they shall be happily ordered, because God tried them, and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace He proved them, and as a burnt-offering He received them. …
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John, John 6.1,4
[2.] What meaneth, “to prove him”? Did not He know what would be said by him? We cannot assert that. What then is the meaning of the expression? We may discover it from the Old [Testament]. For there too it is said, “And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Take thy beloved son whom thou lovest” ( Gen. xxii. 1, 2 ); yet it doth not appear in that place either, that when He saith this He waited to see the end of the trial, whether Abraham would obey or not, (how could He, who knoweth all things before they come into existence? but the words in both cases are spoken after the manner of men. For as when (the Psalmist) saith that He “searcheth the hearts of men,” he meaneth not a search of ignorance but of exact knowledge, just so when the Evangelist saith that He proved (Philip), he meaneth only that He knew exactly. …
St Athanasius Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.), Since the Word is from God, He must be Son. Since the Son is from everlasting, He must be the Word; else either He is superior to the Word, or the Word is the Father. Texts of the New Testament which state the unity of the Son with the Father; therefore the Son is the Word. Three hypotheses refuted--1. That the Man is the Son; 2. That the Word and Man together are the Son; 3. That the Word became Son on His incarnation. Texts of the Old Testament which speak of the Son. If they are merely prophetical, then those concerning the Word may be such also
24. But it is not so; for in truth much is said in the Old also about the Son, as in the second Psalm, ‘Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee;’ and in the ninth the title, Unto the ‘end concerning the hidden things of the Son, a Psalm of David;’ and in the forty-fourth, ‘Unto the end, concerning the things that shall be changed to the Sons of Korah for understanding, a song about the Well-beloved;’ and in Isaiah, ‘I will sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Well-beloved touching my vineyard. My Well-beloved hath a vineyard;’ Who is this ‘Well-beloved’ but the Only-begotten Son? as also in the hundred and ninth, ‘From the womb I begat Thee before the morning star,’ concerning which I shall speak afterwards; and in the Proverbs, ‘Before the hills He begat me;’ and in Daniel, ‘And the form of the Fourth is like the Son of God;’ and many others. …
St Cyril of Jerusalem Of Faith
5. There is much to tell of faith, and the whole day would not be time sufficient for us to describe it fully. At present let us be content with Abraham only, as one of the examples from the Old Testament, seeing that we have been made his sons through faith. He was justified not only by works, but also by faith: for though he did many things well, yet he was never called the friend of God, except when he believed. Moreover, his every work was performed in faith. Through faith he left his parents; left country, and place, and home through faith. In like manner, therefore, as he was justified be thou justified also. In his body he was already dead in regard to offspring, and Sarah his wife was now old, and there was no hope left of having children. …