And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Parallel translations
- WEB Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
- BSB Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
- NKJV And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
- NASB And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
- NLT And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abraham reaches out with the knife to slay his son. His obedience is complete in intent at the decisive moment.
Overview
Abraham's raised hand shows that his obedience was real and unreserved, holding nothing back from God. In his heart the sacrifice was already made, proving the genuineness of his faith. This moment of total surrender, just before God's intervention, demonstrates that faith which obeys God fully is counted as righteousness, as the New Testament affirms of Abraham.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Heb 11:17–19By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
- Jas 2:21–23Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
- Isa 53:6–12All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 22:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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