The Burnt Offering on Mount Moriah

Biblical Text and Narrative

This event is recorded in Genesis 22:1-19. God, in order to "tempt" (that is, test) Abraham, commands him to take his only son Isaac, whom he loves, to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering. On the third day of the journey, Isaac, who is carrying the wood, asks, "Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham answers, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:8). When Abraham has built an altar, bound his son, and raised the knife, the angel of the LORD stops him. Abraham offers in his son's place a ram caught in a thicket by its horns, and he names the place Jehovah-jireh (Genesis 22:12-14). God then confirms by oath his promise to multiply Abraham's descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore, and that in his seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Abrahamic covenant).

Background

The Hebrew term for burnt offering is olah, meaning "that which goes up." It refers to a sacrifice in which the offering is wholly consumed by fire (Old Testament sacrifices). Jewish tradition calls this event the Akedah ("binding"), a name drawn from the verb aqad ("to bind") in verse 9. The name Moriah appears again in 2 Chronicles 3:1 as the mountain on which Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. Jewish and Christian traditions regard the two sites as the same place. However, because Genesis refers only to "one of the mountains" in "the land of Moriah," scholars differ on its precise location. Samaritan tradition is known to associate the site with Mount Gerizim.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

Hebrews 11:17-19 explains that Abraham offered his son because he believed that God was able to raise even the dead. James 2:21-24 cites the event as an example of faith made perfect by works. Many interpreters hold that the phrase "He that spared not his own Son" in Romans 8:32 echoes the language of Genesis 22:16. Since the early church, Christian interpreters have read this event typologically. Typology is an interpretive approach that sees Old Testament events as foreshadowing realities in the New Testament. Accordingly, Isaac carrying the wood is compared to Jesus carrying the cross, and the ram offered in his place is compared to the Lamb of God.

Interpretations and Issues

• Faith and works: How James's use of this event to say that Abraham was "justified by works" can be reconciled with Paul's teaching on justification has long been debated. The Lutheran and Reformed traditions generally read works as the evidence of genuine faith. The Catholic Church teaches that faith and acts of charity together play a part in justification (being made righteous).
• Ethical questions: The fact that God commanded a father to offer his child has long raised questions. Some interpreters emphasize that verse 1 identifies the episode from the outset as a "test," while others read it as a narrative that rejects the human sacrifice practiced in the ancient Near East (Molech). The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard treated this story at length in Fear and Trembling.
• Details absent from the text: The text does not state Isaac's age, whether Isaac submitted willingly, or whether Sarah knew of the event. Accounts holding that Isaac was already an adult or that Sarah died upon hearing the news derive from sources such as Jewish rabbinic tradition.

In Korean Churches

"Jehovah-jireh," interpreted as "the LORD will provide," is widely used in sermons, hymn and worship song lyrics, church names, and framed Scripture verses hung in homes. The passage is also frequently read in sermons on obedience and devotion.