YHWH will see for himself…

INTRODUCTION

The binding of Isaac (Gen 22:1-18) is the climactic narrative in the Genesis story of Abraham for both the Jewish and Christian traditions.  It is the demonstration of Abraham’s ultimate obedience to the will of YHWH by willingly presenting his promised son as a burnt offering on Mt. Moriah.  Since YHWH had promised Abraham that Isaac would be the channel through whom his heirs would come, his actions demonstrated the faith that YHWH would restore Isaac from the dead, which he did figuratively, as understood by the author of Hebrews (Heb 11:19).  For the most part, the narrative is straight forward; however, there are three occurrences of the root h.a.r whose significance is generally obscured for those who can only read or hear the narrative in translation.  To elucidate what has been obscured by the common English translations, I will first present my translation and point out where the three occurrences of h.a.r are located and then discuss the significance of the verbal interplay.

The Binding of Isaac

1 After these things God tested Abraham.  He said to him, “Abraham;” and he answered, “Yes.”  2 Then he said, “Take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac; take him to the land of Moriah, and offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”  3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, he prepared his ass, and he took two young men and his son Isaac with him.  He split wood for the burnt offering, and then he arose and began traveling to the place that God had spoken to him about.  4 On the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance.  5 So Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass, and the lad and I will go there, we will worship, and we will return to you.”  6 Abraham took the wood for the offering and laid it on Isaac his son, he took the fire and a large knife in his hand, and the two walked on together.   7 Then Isaac said to Abrham his father, “Daddy;” and he said, “Yes, my son.”  He said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering?”  Abraham said, “God will see for himself the lamb (hl;[ol] hc2h' /LAha2ryI µyhiloa‘) for the offering, my son,” and the two walked on together.  9 Then they came to the place about which God had spoken to him, so Abraham built an altar there, arranged the wood, bound Isaac his son, and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.  10 Abraham put out his hand and grasped the knife to slaughter his son.  11 Then the messenger of YHWH called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham.”  And he said, “Yes.”  12 He said, “Do not send out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your only son from me.”  13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and saw a ram caught by his horns in a thicket, so he went over, took the ram, and presented it as a burned offering in place of his son.  14 Abraham named that place YHWH Will See (ha2r“yI hwhy), as it is said today on the Mt. of YHWH, ‘He will be seen’ (ha2r:yE).  15 The messenger of YHWH called to Abraham again from heaven:  16 “I have sworn by myself, says YHWH, because you have done this thing and not withheld your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and greatly increase your seed like the stars of heaven and the sand on the sea shore, and your seed will possess the gate of his enemy.  18 All the nations of earth will be blessed by your seed because you heard my voice.

hl;[ol] hc2h' /LAha2ryI µyhiloa‘)

The common English translation for this clause is ‘God will himself provide the lamb for the sacrifice’.  A common paraphrase is ‘God will see to it’.  The verb form here is a 3ms qal imperfect.  This verb form expresses either visual or mental perception with roughly equal frequency; the meaning of provide is not supported anywhere else in the Hebrew bible.  The paraphrase God will see to it is a modern English idiom without any contact with the ancient language.  In my opinion, the best rendering for this clause is the literal rendering of the words present: God will himself see the lamb for the sacrifice.   By this response Abraham did not lie and he also did not inform Isaac that he was to be the intended lamb.

ha2r“yI hwhy

After God provided a substitute animal for Isaac, Abraham named this location of the mountain ha2r“yI hwhy.  Again the common English translation is ‘God provides’.  This fits the context but not the semantic range of the verb.  The literal translation should be YHWH sees or YHWH perceives.  The point of this statement is that YHWH perceived the spiritual state of Abraham through his actions and responded by giving unconditional promises and blessings that would extend through the ages to Abraham’s physical descendants and particularly to his ultimate seed, the Messiah.

As it is said today on the Mt. of YHWH, ‘He will be seen’ (ha2r:yE)

First, this clause is clearly a later addition to the narrative.  As a minimum, it reflects a perspective that existed after the first temple was constructed on the traditional site of Isaac’s binding.  As such, this statement reflects an Israelite perception from nearly 1000 years after Abraham’s time.  Second, the form of the verb is changed from qal to niphal (passive); that is the meaning becomes He will be seen/perceived.  It is not now possible to assess how wide spread this perception was in antiquity, but the orthodox rabbinic position concerning the temple mount today is that it is too sacred for ordinary Jews to step foot on it.  Signs to that effect are posted at the only entrance that non-Muslims can use to enter the area.

This exact expression does not occur elsewhere in the Hebrew bible, but there are a number of passages that provide clarification of its significance.

Leviticus 16:3 contains an almost exact equivalent expression, but the verb for was changed to 1cs niphal: "For in the cloud I will be seen over the הכפורת (the lid on top of the arc of the covenant."  This instruction was within the prescription for the Day of Atonement ceremony following the dear of two of Aaron's sons.

1 Kings 8:10-12 After Solomon completed the temple and dedicated it, the cloud of the glory of YHWH filled it to such an extent that the priests could not go in to minister.

1 Kings 9:3 YHWH stated that his name would reside at the site of the temple forever.

Isaiah 6:1 In the year of king Uzziah’s death, Isaiah saw a vision of YHWH on his throne in the temple.  The message of the vision was one of judgment, because the people had replaced a personal relation with YHWH with ceremonial activity.

Ezekiel 43:1-6 The glory of YHWH comes from the east to inhabit the eternal house of God in Jerusalem.  Here he will dwell with the descendants of Israel forever.

Psalm 63:2 David perceived the power and glory of YHWH in his sanctuary before construction of the temple.

The point is this:  A physical place is nothing more than that; but this place where YHWH has chosen to place is name is the place where people will perceive the power and glory of YHWH.