Genesis 22:2

Summary

The verse records a divine command instructing Abraham to take his son Isaac — described as his only son and beloved — and travel to the land of Moriah, where he is to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that will be designated.

Key words

• bin.kha ("your son", H1121A) — masculine singular noun in construct form with pronominal suffix, marking possession ("son of you").
• yechide.kha ("your only [son]", H3173) — adjective in construct form with suffix, reinforcing that this is a unique or sole son.
• 'ahavta ("you love", H0157G) — qal perfect, denoting a completed action ("you have loved/you love"), placed in a relative clause introduced by 'asher ("whom", H0834A).
• ha'aLehu ("offer him up", H5927I) — hiphil (causative) imperative with third-person suffix "him" (H9033); the hiphil stem indicates causing something to go up, here rendered as "offer up."
• 'omar ("I will tell", H0559) — qal imperfect, first person, expressing an action not yet completed, referring to a future disclosure ("which I will tell you").

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of imperatives following the narrative introduction va-yiomer ("and he said", H9001 + H0559). Three commands follow in sequence: qach ("take", H3947G), ve-lekh ("and go", H1980G), and ve-ha'aLehu ("and offer him up", H5927I). Each imperative is addressed to "you" (masculine singular), maintaining a direct second-person address throughout.

The object of the first command is layered: 'et-bin.kha ("your son"), 'et-yechide.kha ("your only [son]"), followed by the relative clause 'asher-'ahavta ("whom you love"), and only then the proper name Yitzchaq ("Isaac", H3327). This ordering places three descriptive phrases before the name itself, each joined by the object marker 'et (H0853), which is grammatically required but has no independent gloss.

The destination is introduced with 'el-'eretz ha-Moriyyah ("to the land of the Moriah"), using the construct noun 'eretz ("land of", H0776G) followed by the definite article and the place name. The purpose clause uses le-'olah ("to a burnt offering", H5930A), a noun without article, and specifies the location as 'al-'achad he-harim ("on one of the mountains", H0259 construct + H2022G plural), qualified by the relative clause 'asher 'omar 'eleikha ("which I will tell you"), using the imperfect 'omar to indicate a future, not-yet-completed act of communication.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew 'eretz ha-Moriyyah ("land of the Moriah") is rendered in the LXX as tēn gēn tēn hypsēlēn ("the high/lofty land"), a descriptive phrase rather than a transliteration of the place name. The Vulgate similarly reads terram visionis ("the land of vision"), also diverging from a direct rendering of "Moriah." The RV1909 and BSB translations follow the Hebrew proper name "Moriah" directly, while the SBLIBRE uses "la región de Moriah."

Regarding the sacrificial act, the Hebrew imperative ha'aLehu ("offer him up") is future-oriented as a command in the Hebrew and BSB/RV1909 translations, whereas the Vulgate's offeres ("you will offer") and SBLIBRE's "me lo ofrecerás" employ future indicative forms rather than imperative mood.