Genesis 17:19
New English Translation
19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.[a] I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual[b] covenant for his descendants after him.
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- Genesis 17:19 tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).
- Genesis 17:19 tn Or “as an eternal.”
Genesis 17:21
New English Translation
21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
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Genesis 21:3-12
New English Translation
3 Abraham named his son—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.[a] 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old,[b] Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do.[c] 5 (Now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.)[d]
6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh.[e] Everyone who hears about this[f] will laugh[g] with me.” 7 She went on to say,[h] “Who would[i] have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared[j] a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.[k] 9 But Sarah noticed[l] the son of Hagar the Egyptian—the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham—mocking.[m] 10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish[n] that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son.[o] 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset[p] about the boy or your slave wife. Do[q] all that Sarah is telling[r] you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.[s]
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- Genesis 21:3 tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.
- Genesis 21:4 tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.”
- Genesis 21:4 sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).
- Genesis 21:5 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).
- Genesis 21:6 tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”
- Genesis 21:6 tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Genesis 21:6 sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, tsekhoq) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).
- Genesis 21:7 tn Heb “said.”
- Genesis 21:7 tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.
- Genesis 21:8 tn Heb “made.”
- Genesis 21:8 sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.
- Genesis 21:9 tn Heb “saw.”
- Genesis 21:9 tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them. sn Mocking. Here Sarah interprets Ishmael’s actions as being sinister. Ishmael probably did not take the younger child seriously and Sarah saw this as a threat to Isaac. Paul in Gal 4:29 says that Ishmael persecuted Isaac. He uses a Greek word that can mean “to put to flight; to chase away; to pursue” and may be drawing on a rabbinic interpretation of the passage. In Paul’s analogical application of the passage, he points out that once the promised child Isaac (symbolizing Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promise) has come, there is no room left for the slave woman and her son (who symbolize the Mosaic law).
- Genesis 21:10 tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.
- Genesis 21:11 tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (raʿaʿ) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.
- Genesis 21:12 tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”
- Genesis 21:12 tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.
- Genesis 21:12 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.
- Genesis 21:12 tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.
Genesis 22:2-9
New English Translation
2 God[a] said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac[b]—and go to the land of Moriah![c] Offer him up there as a burnt offering[d] on one of the mountains which I will indicate to[e] you.”
3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey.[f] He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out[g] for the place God had spoken to him about.
4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of[h] the place in the distance. 5 So he[i] said to his servants, “You two stay[j] here with the donkey while[k] the boy and I go up there. We will worship[l] and then return to you.”[m]
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand,[n] and the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham,[o] “My father?” “What is it,[p] my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said,[q] “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 “God will provide[r] for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there[s] and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up[t] his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.
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- Genesis 22:2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 22:2 sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.
- Genesis 22:2 sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.
- Genesis 22:2 sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.
- Genesis 22:2 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
- Genesis 22:3 tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”
- Genesis 22:3 tn Heb “he arose and he went.”
- Genesis 22:4 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”
- Genesis 22:5 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 22:5 tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.
- Genesis 22:5 tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.
- Genesis 22:5 tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”
- Genesis 22:5 sn It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will…return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17-19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.
- Genesis 22:6 sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.
- Genesis 22:7 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 22:7 tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).
- Genesis 22:7 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 22:8 tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”sn God will provide is the central theme of the passage and the turning point in the story. Note Paul’s allusion to the story in Rom 8:32 (“how shall he not freely give us all things?”) as well as H. J. Schoeps, “The Sacrifice of Isaac in Paul’s Theology,” JBL 65 (1946): 385-92.
- Genesis 22:9 sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?
- Genesis 22:9 sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.
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