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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadGreater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 065. Abraham's Great Trial
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IX
Abraham's Great Trial
Literature
Clifford, J., Daily Strength for Daily Living (1887), 19, 425.
Dillmann, A., Genesis, ii. (1897) 138.
Dods, M., The Book of Genesis (Expositor's Bible) (1888), 81.
Driver, S. R., The Book of Genesis (Westminster Commentaries) (1904), 144.
Dykes, J. O., Abraham, the Friend of God (1883).
Funcke, O., The World of Faith and the Everyday World (1891), 1.
Hackett, W. S., The Land of Your Sojournings (1911), 75.
Hamer, D. J., Salt and Light (1889), 385.
Hommel, F., The Ancient Hebrew Tradition (1897), 147.
Maclaren, A., The God of the Amen (1891), 209.
Morgan, J., The Sacrament of Pain (1902), 163.
Moule, H. C. G., Temptation and Escape (1903), 18.
Perowne, J. J. S., Sermons (1874), 332.
Shepherd, A., Bible Studies in Living Subjects (1911), 53.
Skinner, J., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis (1910), 240.
Stanley, A. P., Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church, i. (1889) 1.
Taylor, C., Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (1897), 80.
Expositor, 5th Ser., iii. (1896) 434; iv. (1896) 16, 338 (R. W. Dale).
Interpreter, vi. (1910) 120 (W. E. Barnes).
The only incident in Abraham's life expressly characterized as a “trial” of his faith is the one here narrated, where the patriarch proves his readiness to offer up his only son as a sacrifice at the command of God. The story, which is the literary masterpiece of the Elohistic collection, is told with exquisite simplicity; every sentence vibrates with restrained emotion, which shows how fully the author realizes the tragic horror of the situation.
1. Isaac had now grown to be a lad when Abraham received from God a command regarding him. The boy is his only son, yet he is told to offer him to God in sacrifice. Obedient and devoted, he makes the necessary preparations, and betakes himself to the appointed place of sacrifice, resolved to satisfy even this extreme demand. His hand is raised to slay his son when he hears the Divine voice, clear and distinct, saying that God does not desire the completion of the sacrifice, but is satisfied with the proved willingness of the patriarch to surrender even his dearest to Him. The animal which is to be substituted in his son's place stands there ready by Divine Providence, and is sacrificed for him. The reward of his perfected obedience and faith is a solemn renewal of all the Divine promises hitherto given him. The spot where this all took place was Moriah. Three results follow: (1) Abraham's faith is triumphantly established in the face of the most severe test of all; (2) his son is a second time granted to his faith, and preserved as the foundation-stone in the building of the Church of God; (3) above all, in contradistinction to Canaanite practice, the knowledge that God does not desire human sacrifices is acquired and secured for all time to come.
2. How old Isaac was at the time of this sacrifice there is no means of accurately ascertaining. He was probably in the vigour of early manhood. He was able to take his share in the work of cutting wood for the burnt offering and carrying the faggots a considerable distance. It was necessary, too, that this sacrifice should be made on Isaac's part, not with the timorous shrinking or ignorant boldness of a boy, but with the full comprehension and deliberate consent of maturer years. It is probable that Abraham was already preparing, if not to yield to Isaac the family headship, yet to introduce him to a share in the responsibilities he had so long borne alone. From the touching confidence in one another which this incident exhibits, a light is reflected on the fond intercourse of former years. Isaac was at that time of life when a son is closest to a father, mature but not independent; when all that a father can do has been done, but while as yet the son has not passed away into a life of his own.
Ruskin told me that the exquisite tenderness between fathers and sons delighted him above all things in Virgil, and led one to the root of the main source of Roman greatness in its noblest time.1 [Note: Octavia Hill, in Life by C. E. Maurice (1913), 250.]