Genesis 22 · Verse 9

Genesis 22:9

And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Genesis 22:9, King James Version

Genesis 22:9 in other translations

BSB	When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood.
WEB	They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.
ASV	And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
YLT	And they come in unto the place of which God hath spoken to him, and there Abraham buildeth the altar, and arrangeth the wood, and bindeth Isaac his son, and placeth him upon the altar above the wood;
DARBY	And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built the altar there, and piled the wood; and he bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
BBE	And they came to the place of which God had given him knowledge; and there Abraham made the altar and put the wood in place on it, and having made tight the bands round Isaac his son, he put him on the wood on the altar.
Webster	And they came to the place which God had named to him; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

What does Genesis 22:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

9. Abraham built an altar, &c.--Had not the patriarch been sustained by the full consciousness of acting in obedience to God's will, the effort would have been too great for human endurance; and had not Isaac, then upwards of twenty years of age displayed equal faith in submitting, this great trial could not have gone through.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9 And bound Isaac his son - If the patriarch had not been upheld by the conviction that he was doing the will of God, and had he not felt the most perfect confidence that his son should be restored even from the dead, what agony must his heart have felt at every step of the journey, and through all the circumstances of this extraordinary business? What must his affectionate heart have felt at the questions asked by his innocent and amiable son? What must he have suffered while building the altar, laying on the wood, binding his lovely son, placing him on the wood, taking the knife, and stretching out his hand to slay the child of his hopes? Every view we take of the subject interests the heart, and exalts the character of this father of the faithful. But has the character of Isaac been duly considered? Is not the consideration of his excellence lost in the supposition that he was too young to enter particularly into a sense of his danger, and too feeble to have made any resistance, had he been unwilling to submit? Josephus supposes that Isaac was now twenty-five, (see the chronology on Gen 22:1 (note)); some rabbins that he was thirty-six; but it is more probable that he was now about thirty-three, the age at which his great Antitype was offered up; and on this medium I have ventured to construct the chronology, of which I think it necessary to give this notice to the reader. Allowing him to be only twenty-five, he might have easily resisted; for can it be supposed that an old man of at least one hundred and twenty-five years of age could have bound, without his consent, a young man in the very prime and vigor of life? In this case we cannot say that the superior strength of the father prevailed, but the piety, filial affection, and obedience of the son yielded. All this was most illustriously typical of Christ. In both cases the father himself offers up his only-begotten son, and the father himself binds him on the wood or to the cross; in neither case is the son forced to yield, but yields of his own accord; in neither case is the life taken away by the hand of violence; Isaac yields himself to the knife, Jesus lays down his life for the sheep.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 22:3-10

Never was any gold tried in so hot a fire. Who but Abraham would not have argued with God? Such would have been the thought of a weak heart; but Abraham knew that he had to do with a God, even Jehovah. Faith had taught him not to argue, but to obey. He is sure that what God commands is good; that what he promises cannot be broken. In matters of God, whoever consults with flesh and blood, will never offer up his…

Read the full comment on Genesis 22:3-10 →

Genesis 22:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיָּבֹ֗אוּvai.ya.Vo.'uand they cameH935

אֶֽל\־'el-toH413

הַמָּקוֹם֮ha.ma.kOmthe placeH4725

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834

אָֽמַר\־'a.mar-he had saidH559

ל֣וֹloto <the> him

הָאֱלֹהִים֒ha.'E.lo.Him<the> GodH430

וַיִּ֨בֶןvai.Yi.venand he builtH1129

שָׁ֤םshamthereH8033

אַבְרָהָם֙'av.ra.HamAbrahamH85

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַha.miz.Be.achthe altarH4196

וַֽיַּעֲרֹ֖ךְvai.ya.'a.Rokhand he arrangedH6186

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

הָעֵצִ֑יםha.'e.Tzimthe wood<s>H6086

וַֽיַּעֲקֹד֙vai.ya.'a.Kodand he boundH6123

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

יִצְחָ֣קyitz.ChakIsaacH3327

בְּנ֔וֹbe.Noson hisH1121

וַיָּ֤שֶׂםvai.Ya.semand he putH7760

אֹתוֹ֙'o.To<obj.> himH853

עַל\־'al-onH5921

הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַha.miz.Be.achthe altarH4196

מִמַּ֖עַלmi.Ma.'alfrom aboveH4605

לָעֵצִֽים\׃la.'e.Tzim<to> the wood<s>H6086

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 22:9

James 2:21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Philippians 2:7-8
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Matthew 26:1-27
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. …
Hebrews 9:28
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Mark 15:1
And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Genesis 22:2-4
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
Matthew 27:2
And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Psalms 118:27
God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Acts 8:32
The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
Galatians 3:13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

place.
2-4; Mt 21:1-46; 26:1-27:66
built.
8:20
bound.
Ps 118:27; Isa 53:4-10; Mt 27:2; Mr 15:1; Joh 10:17,18; Ac 8:32
Ga 3:13; Eph 5:2; Php 2:7,8; Heb 9:28; 1Pe 2:24

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Genesis 22:8
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Genesis 22:9
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Genesis 22:10
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

Read all of Genesis 22

Genesis 22:9 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y como llegaron al lugar que Dios le había dicho, edificó allí Abraham un altar, y compuso la leña, y ató á Isaac su hijo, y púsole en el altar sobre la leña.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et ils arrivèrent au lieu que Dieu lui avait dit. Et Abraham bâtit là l’autel, et arrangea le bois, et lia Isaac, son fils, et le mit sur l’autel, sur le bois.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und sie kamen an den Ort, von dem Gott ihm gesagt hatte; und Abraham baute daselbst den Altar und schichtete das Holz; und er band seinen Sohn Isaak und legte ihn auf den Altar oben auf das Holz.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et venerunt ad locum quem ostenderat ei Deus, in quo ædificavit altare, et desuper ligna composuit; cumque alligasset Isaac filium suum, posuit eum in altare super struem lignorum.