Genesis 22:1

Summary

The verse opens a new narrative unit with a temporal marker ("after these things") and states that God tested Abraham, calling him by name; Abraham responds with a formula of readiness. The verse functions as the narrative hinge introducing the episode that follows.

Key words

• va-yehi ("and it was", H1961) — qal narrative form of "to be," the standard formula opening a new narrative sequence, linking this episode to what precedes without specifying elapsed time.
• ha-devarim ("the things/words", H1697I) — masculine plural noun with definite article, referring back to prior events; the same root can mean "words" or "events/matters," so "things" here is contextual.
• ha-Elohim ("the God", H0430G) — noun with definite article; grammatically plural in form but referring to a singular subject, as shown by the singular verb that follows.
• nissah ("he put to the test", H5254G) — piel (intensive) perfect verb, expressing a completed action; the piel stem intensifies the basic sense of the root, here rendered "tested" or "tried."
• hinneni ("here am I", H2009 + suffix) — interjection hinneh with first-person pronominal suffix, a fixed response formula indicating attentive presence, not a full sentence with a separate verb.

What the text says

The verse is built on a chain of narrative vav-forms (va-yehi, va-yomer, va-yomer), each marking a new sequential action: "and it was... and he said... and he said." This chaining is a structural feature of Biblical Hebrew narrative prose, presenting events as a continuous sequence rather than as separately dated occurrences. The opening phrase achar ha-devarim ha-elleh ("after these things") uses the construct form of achar to link this episode to an unspecified prior narrative block, without indicating how much time has passed — the vagueness is inherent to the Hebrew phrase itself.

The clause ve-ha-Elohim nissah et-Avraham places the subject ha-Elohim before the verb nissah, a word order that in Hebrew narrative often marks a shift in topic or emphasis after the temporal clause. The verb nissah is in the piel stem, which intensifies the root's basic meaning; the perfect aspect presents the testing as a completed, defined action introducing the scene. The double occurrence of va-yomer ("and he said") — once for God calling "Abraham, Abraham" and once for Abraham's reply — frames the exchange as two distinct speech acts. Abraham's answer, hinneni, is a single interjection with an attached first-person suffix, functioning as a fixed idiom of response rather than a full clause with an independent verb "I am."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders nissah ("he tested") as epeirazen (imperfect: "was testing"), differing in verbal aspect from the Hebrew perfect. The LXX also renders the double "Abraham, Abraham" address with only single vocatives per its critical text as cited, and translates hinneni as pou egō ("where am I"), diverging from the Hebrew sense of "here I am." The Vulgate's Adsum ("I am present") aligns more closely with the Hebrew idiom of hinneni than the LXX's rendering does.