And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.
12. for now I know ] Abraham has stood the test. Actual experience has justified Divine foreknowledge. The Angel of the Lord is here identified with the Almighty. By the words “lay not thine hand, &c.,” Jehovah proclaims to Abraham and to his descendants His abhorrence of the cruelty of child sacrifice.
hast not withheld ] The recollection of these words possibly underlies the phrase of St Paul in Rom 8:32, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 12. Lay not thine hand upon the lad] As Isaac was to be the representative of Jesus Christ’s real sacrifice, it was sufficient for this purpose that in his own will, and the will of his father, the purpose of the immolation was complete. Isaac was now fully offered both by his father and by himself. The father yields up the son, the son gives up his life; on both sides, as far as will and purpose could go, the sacrifice was complete. God simply spares the father the torture of putting the knife to his son’s throat. Now was the time when it might properly be said, “Sacrifice, and offering, and burnt-offering, and sacrifice for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure in them: then said the Angel of the Covenant, Lo! I come to do thy will, O God.” Lay not thy hand upon the lad; an irrational creature will serve for the purpose of a representative sacrifice, from this till the fulness of time. But without this most expressive representation of the father offering his beloved, only-begotten son, what reference can such sacrifices be considered to have to the great event of the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ? Abraham, the most dignified, the most immaculate of all the patriarchs; Isaac, the true pattern of piety to God and filial obedience, may well represent God the Father so loving the world as to give his only-begotten Son, JESUS CHRIST, to die for the sin of man. But the grand circumstances necessary to prefigure these important points could not be exhibited through the means of any or of the whole brute creation. The whole sacrificial system of the Mosaic economy had a retrospective and prospective view, referring FROM the sacrifice of Isaac TO the sacrifice of Christ; in the first the dawning of the Sun of righteousness was seen; in the latter, his meridian splendour and glory. Taken in this light (and this is the only light in which it should be viewed) Abraham offering his son Isaac is one of the most important facts and most instructive histories in the whole Old Testament. See farther on this subject, Ge 23:2.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God knew the sincerity and resolvedness of Abrahams faith and obedience before and without this evidence, and from eternity foresaw this fact and all its circumstances; and therefore you must not think that God had now made any new discovery: but this is spoken here, as in many other places, of God after the manner of men, who is then said to know a thing, when it is notorious and evident to a mans self and others by some remarkable effect. Thus David prayed that God would search and know his heart, and his thoughts, Psa 139:23, though he had before professed that God understood his thought afar off, Gen 22:2. This therefore is the sense:
Now I know, i.e. Now I have what I designed and desired; now I have made thee and others to know. As the Spirit of God and of Christ is said to cry Abba, Father, Gal 4:6, when it makes us to cry so, Rom 8:15.
Thou hast not withheld thy son from me, for my service and sacrifice; or for me, i.e. for my sake; i.e. thou hast preferred mine authority and honour before the life of thy dear son. By which words it appears that God himself speaks these words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad,…. Which he was just going to stretch out, with his knife in it, to slay him; and though the Lord had bid him take his son, and offer him for a burnt offering, to try his faith, fear, love, and obedience, yet he meant not that he should actually slay him, but would prevent it when it came to the crisis; for he approves not of, nor delights in human sacrifices; and that this might not be dawn into an example, it was prevented; though the Gentiles, under the influence of Satan, in imitation of this, have practised it:
neither do thou anything unto him; by lacerating his flesh, letting out any of his blood, or wounding him ever so slightly in any part:
for now I know that thou fearest God; with a truly childlike filial fear; with such a reverence of him that has fervent love, and strong affection, joined with it; with a fear that includes the whole of internal religious worship, awe of the divine Being, submission to his will, faith in him, and love to him, and obedience springing from thence. And this is said, not as though he was ignorant before how things would issue; for he knew from all eternity what Abraham would be, and what he would do, having determined to bestow that grace upon him, and work it in him, which would influence and enable him to act the part he did; he knew full well beforehand what would be the consequence of such a trial of him; but this is said after the manner of men, who know things with certainty when they come to pass, and appear plain and evident: or this may be understood of a knowledge of approbation, that the Lord now knew, and approved of the faith, fear, love, and obedience of Abraham, which were so conspicuous in this affair, see Ps 1:6; Saadiah Gaon i interprets it, “I have made known”, that is, to others; God by trying Abraham made it manifest to others, to all the world, to all that should hear of or read this account of things, that he was a man that feared God, loved him, believed in him, and obeyed him, of which this instance is a full and convincing proof:
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me: but as soon as he had the order to offer him up, prepared for it, took a three days’ journey, and all things along with him for the sacrifice; when he came to the place, built an altar, laid the wood in order, bound his son, and laid him on it, took the knife, and was going to put it to his throat; so that the Lord looked upon the thing as if it was really done: it was a plain case that he did not, and would not have withheld his son, but would have freely offered him a sacrifice unto God at his command; and that he loved the Lord more than he did his son, and had a greater regard to the command of God than to the life of his son, and preferred the one to the other. And thus God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, Ro 8:32.
i Apud Aben Ezram, in ver. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12. Now I know that thou fearest God. The exposition of Augustine, ‘I have caused thee to know,’ is forced. But how can any thing become known to God, to whom all things have always been present? Truly, by condescending to the manner of men, God here says that what he has proved by experiment, is now made known to himself. And he speaks thus with us, not according to his own infinite wisdom, but according to our infirmity. Moses, however, simply means that Abraham, by this very act, testified how reverently he feared God. It is however asked, whether he had not already, on former occasions, given many proofs of his piety? I answer that when God had willed him to proceed thus far, he had, at length, completed his true trial; in other persons a much lighter trial might have been sufficient. (449) And as Abraham showed that he feared God, by not sparing his own, and only begotten son; so a common testimony of the same fear is required from all the pious, in acts of self-denial. Now since God enjoins upon us a continual warfare, we must take care that none desires his release before the time.
(449) “ Respondeo, quando hucusque eum progredi volebat Deus, tune vera demum probatione, quae in aliis multo levior sufficeret, defunctum esse.” — “ Je respond que Dieu vouloit qu’il poursuyvist jusques la; et que lors finalement, il s’est acquitte de son espreuve, laquelle eust este beaucoup legere en d’auctres, et eust bien suffi.” — French Tr
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
12. Lay not thine hand upon the lad That is, for the purpose of slaying him . “God did not seek the slaying of Isaac in fact, but only the implicit surrender of the lad, in mind and heart . But if all mental reservation, every refuge of flesh and blood, all mere appearance and self-delusion were to be avoided, this surrender could only be accomplished in the shape in which it was actually required. If it was to be wholly an act of faith left to its own energies, without any other point of support, God could not merely ask a mental surrender, but must have demanded an actual sacrifice. On the part of any other than God such a quid pro quo would have been a dangerous game. Not so on the part of God, who held the issue entirely in his own hand. When Abraham had, in heart and mind, completely and without any reserve, offered up his son, God interposed and prevented the sacrifice in facto, which was no longer required for the purpose of trial” Kurtz.
Now I know The Covenant Angel speaks here after the manner of man, as when, in Gen 18:21, he said: “I will go down now and see,” etc . The word, says Murphy, “denotes an eventual knowing, a discovering by actual experiment; and this observable probation of Abraham was necessary for the judicial eye of God, who is to govern the world, and for the conscience of man, who is to be instructed by practice as well as principle.”
Thou hast not withheld thy son This passage seems to have suggested to Paul the language of Rom 8:32: “He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.” But it is misleading to speak unqualifiedly of Isaac as a type of Christ. Isaac did not lay down his life at all, nor do we know that he was a willing victim. Not Isaac, but Abraham, is the great figure in this scene. See below, on the typical lessons of this chapter.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 22:12. Lay not thine hand As by the command Abraham understood the nature of man’s redemption, he must know also how the scenical representation was to end. Isaac was made the person, or representative of Christ dying for us. The Son of God, he knew, could not possibly lie under the dominion of the grave. Hence, he must needs conclude, either that God would stop his hand, when he came to give the sacrificing stroke; or that, if the revelation of this mystery was to be represented throughout in action, that then his son, sacrificed under the person of Christ, was soon to be restored to life: accounting, that God was able to raise him up even from the dead as the author of the epistle to the Hebrews assures us, ch. Gen 11:19. The law of nature commands us to protect and cherish our offspring: would that law have been transgressed in giving a stroke, whose hurt was presently to be repaired? The law of nature, which is the law of God, forbids all injury to our fellow creature: and was he injured, who, by being thus highly honoured, in becoming the representative of the Son of God, was to share with his father in the rewards of his obedience? Thus it appears, that this command was an information by action: and when regarded in this view, all the arguments against God’s giving it to Abraham are absolutely enervated and overthrown. This interpretation of the command concludes strongly against the Socinians for the real sacrifice of Christ, and the proper redemption of mankind. For if the command were an information by action, instead of words, the proof conveyed in it would be decisive, there being here no room for the evasion of its being a figurative expression, since the figurative action, the original of such expression, denotes either a real sacrifice, or nothing at all.
Now I know, &c. God could not but know this before: therefore all that can be implied is, Thou hast now given the fullest and most satisfactory proof of thy faith, and of thy piety and regard to me, by this action.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 35
IMPORTANCE OF EVIDENCES
Gen 22:12. Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.
THERE are in the Holy Scriptures many expressions, which, if taken in the strictest and most literal sense, would convey to us very erroneous conceptions of the Deity. God is often pleased to speak of himself in terms accommodated to our feeble apprehensions, and properly applicable to man only. For instance; in the passage before us, he speaks as if from Abrahams conduct he had acquired a knowledge of something which he did not know before: whereas he is omniscient: there is nothing past, present, or future, which is not open before him, and distinctly viewed by him in all its parts. Strictly speaking, he needed not Abrahams obedience to discover to him the state of Abrahams mind: he knew that Abraham feared him, before he gave the trial to Abraham: yea, he knew, from all eternity, that Abraham would fear him. But it was for our sakes that he made the discovery of Abrahams obedience a ground for acknowledging the existence of the hidden principle from which it sprang: for it is in this way that we are to ascertain our own character, and the characters of our fellow-men. And this is the point which it is my intention chiefly to insist upon at this time. I shall not enter upon the circumstances of the history, but confine myself rather to the consideration of two points; namely,
I.
The general importance of evidences for ascertaining our state before God
Many are ready to pour contempt on marks and evidences, as though they were legal. They imagine that the direct agency of the Spirit on the souls of men is quite sufficient to satisfy our minds respecting our real state. Now, though we deny not that there is a direct agency of the Holy Spirit on the souls of men, and that Gods Spirit does witness with our spirits, that we are his [Note: Rom 8:16.], yet is this not of itself sufficient; because it may easily be mistaken, and can never, except by its practical effects, be discovered from the workings of our own imagination. Indeed, the greater our confidence is, when independent of evidences, the more questionable it is; because there is the more reason to suspect that Satan has made the impression in order to deceive us. Evidences in confirmation of this persuasion are necessary,
1.
For the satisfaction of our own minds
[The Scriptures suggest innumerable marks whereby to discover our true character. St. John seems to have written his First Epistle almost for the very purpose of informing us on this head, that he might leave us altogether inexcusable if we erred respecting it: Hereby we do know that we know God, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him: but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him [Note: See 1Jn 2:3-5; 1Jn 3:6-10; 1Jn 3:14-15; 1Jn 3:18-21; 1Jn 4:13; 1Jn 4:20; 1Jn 5:1-4; 1Jn 5:10; 1Jn 5:18 .]. (Some of the other passages referred to may also be cited.) And St. Paul particularly exhorts us to consult these marks and evidences, just as we would in the assaying of gold: Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves.]
2.
For the satisfaction of others
[What can others know of our state, any farther than it is discoverable in our lives? Our blessed Lord teaches us to bring all, even though they may call themselves prophets, to this test: Ye shall know them by their fruits: do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them [Note: Mat 7:15-20.]. And to this test must we ourselves be brought: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another [Note: Joh 13:35.].]
3.
For the honour of our God
[Men will judge of our principles by our practice. Now the Gospel is represented as a doctrine according to godliness. But how shall men know it to be so? Our mere assertions will carry no conviction with them, if they be not confirmed by manifest and substantial proofs. Men will naturally say to us, Shew me your faith by your works: and, if our works be unworthy of our profession, the name of God and his doctrine will be blasphemed [Note: 1Ti 6:1.]. It is by our works that we are to shine as lights in the world: and we are therefore bidden to let our light shine before men, that they, seeing our good works, may glorify our Father that is in heaven [Note: Mat 5:16.].]
From the text we learn,
II.
What is that evidence which alone will prove satisfactory to God or our own souls
Never was there a more glorious act of obedience than that which Abraham performed in offering up his son, his only son, Isaac. But it will be asked, Is any thing like that required of us? I answer,
1.
A full equivalent to this is required of us
[True, indeed, we are not called to that very act of offering up our own son: but we are expressly commanded to hate father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and our own life also, in comparison of Christ [Note: Luk 14:26.]: and our blessed Lord declares, that whosoever cometh not after him, and forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be his disciple [Note: Luk 14:33.]. This may be deemed a hard saying; but so it is; and the declaration is irreversible: and further still, our blessed Lord has decreed, that he who saveth his life shall lose it; and he only who loseth his life for his sake, shall find it unto life eternal [Note: Mat 16:25.]. There is no difference between either persons or times: the same is true respecting all his followers, in every age and place. On no lower terms will any human being be acknowledged as a friend of Christ; nor will any child of man that is unwilling to comply with them, find acceptance with him in the day of judgment.]
2.
Without a compliance with this, we in vain pretend to have the fear of God
[The fear of God is the lowest of all graces: yet must that, no less than the highest, be tried by this test. The truth is, that the new creature, even in its lowest state, is complete in all its parts. A little infant has all the parts of an adult: there is nothing added to him even to his dying hour: the only difference between him in the different periods of his life is, that his parts are more matured by age, and capable of greater exertion when he arrives at manhood than they were in the earlier stages of his existence. The different rays of light may be separated by a prism, and so be brought under distinct and separate consideration: but it is the assemblage of all the rays that constitutes light. In like manner, we may separate in idea the graces of a Christian: but where there is one truly operative, there is, and must be, all. One particular grace may shine more bright in one person, and another in another; but when Christ is formed in us [Note: Gal 4:19.], not one of his graces can be absent. Hence then I say, that the fear of God, no less than the love of him, must be tried by this test: and by this alone will God know that you fear him, if you withhold not your son, your only son, from him.]
Now, let me ASK, What testimony must God bear respecting you?
[He knows every one amongst you, and every secret of your hearts: yet will he not proceed in judgment without adducing the proofs which you had given of your true character. If he say to you, Come, ye blessed, or, Go, ye cursed, he will assign his reasons for it, and thereby approve the equity of his sentence before the whole universe [Note: Mat 25:34-43.]. Let me ask, then, What sacrifices have you made for him? and what duties have you performed? Have you plucked out the right eye, and cut off the right hand, that has offended you? If not, you know the sad alternative, that your whole body and soul will be cast into hell fire [Note: Mar 9:43-48.]. Examine yourselves, then, and inquire, whether God can bear this testimony respecting you? Must he not rather, with respect to the greater part of you, say, I know you, that you have not the fear of God before your eyes [Note: Rom 3:18.] ! You have made no sacrifice for me; nor have you paid any attention to my commands. Abraham consulted not even his own wife, lest she should prove a snare to him: but you have been ready to follow any adviser that would counsel you to disregard me. Well, know of a surety that the time is shortly coming, when God will call every one of you into judgment, and when he will put an awful difference between his friends and his enemies; between those who feared his name, and those who feared him not [Note: Mal 3:18.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.
Ver. 12. Lay not thine hand upon the lad. ] As he was about to do, having armed his pious hand, not only with the knife, but with faith that works by love; as had likewise David, when going against the giant, he flies upon him, perinde ac si fundae suae tunicis non lapillum, sed Deum ipsum induisset ac implicuisset. a
Now I know that thou fearest me.
a Bucholcer.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fearest
(See Scofield “Psa 19:9”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Lay: 1Sa 15:22, Job 5:19, Jer 19:5, Mic 6:6-8, 1Co 10:13, 2Co 8:12, Heb 11:19
now: Gen 20:11, Gen 26:5, Gen 42:18, Exo 20:20, 1Sa 12:24, 1Sa 12:25, 1Sa 15:22, Neh 5:15, Job 28:28, Psa 1:6, Psa 2:11, Psa 25:12, Psa 25:14, Psa 111:10, Psa 112:1, Psa 147:11, Pro 1:7, Ecc 8:12, Ecc 8:13, Ecc 12:13, Jer 32:40, Mal 4:2, Mat 5:16, Mat 10:37, Mat 10:38, Mat 16:24, Mat 19:29, Act 9:31, Heb 12:28, Jam 2:18, Jam 2:21, Jam 2:22, Rev 19:5
seeing: Joh 3:16, Rom 5:8, Rom 8:32, 1Jo 4:9, 1Jo 4:10
Reciprocal: Gen 22:11 – angel Gen 37:22 – lay Exo 18:21 – such as Exo 33:5 – I may Lev 25:17 – fear Deu 6:2 – fear Jdg 2:1 – And an angel 1Ki 8:40 – fear thee 1Ki 18:3 – feared the Lord 2Ki 4:1 – thy servant did fear Neh 9:8 – foundest Job 1:1 – one Psa 19:9 – The fear Psa 34:9 – fear Jer 32:39 – they may Hag 1:12 – fear Mal 3:16 – that feared Mar 2:5 – saw Mar 12:6 – his Luk 5:20 – he saw Luk 7:12 – the only 1Pe 2:17 – Fear Rev 14:7 – Fear
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 22:12. Lay not thy hand upon the lad Gods time to help his people is, when they are brought to the greatest extremity: the more imminent the danger is, and the nearer to be put in execution, the more wonderful and the more welcome is the deliverance. Now I know that thou fearest God God knew it before, but now Abraham had given a memorable evidence of it. He need do no more; what he had done was sufficient to prove the religious regard he had to God and his authority. The best evidence of our fearing God is our being willing to honour him with that which is dearest to us, and to part with all to him, or for him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I {f} know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.
(f) That is, by your true obedience you have declared your living faith.