And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”
- BSB Just then the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
- NKJV But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”
- NASB But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
- NLT At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
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
The angel of Yahweh calls urgently from heaven, and Abraham answers, 'Here I am.' God intervenes at the last moment to stop the sacrifice.
Overview
The repeated 'Abraham, Abraham!' conveys the urgency of God's timely intervention. Abraham's familiar response, 'Here I am,' shows his continued readiness to hear and obey. The angel of Yahweh, whom many understand as a manifestation of God Himself, halts the act, confirming that God never intended Isaac's death but the proving of Abraham's faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 21:17And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
- Exod 3:4And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
- Gen 16:9–10And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
- Gen 22:16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
- 1 Sam 3:10And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
- Gen 22:12And 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.
- Gen 22:1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
- Gen 16:7And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
- Acts 9:4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
- Acts 26:14And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
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 22:11 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.