Genesis 22:2

Hebrew Bible

1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. 2 God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” 3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.

LXX Genesis 22:2

Septuagint

1 And it came about after these matters that God tested Abraam and said to him, “Abraam, Abraam!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 And he said, “Take your beloved son Isaak, whom you love, and go into the high land, and offer him as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains, whichever I mention to you.” 3 And when Abraam had risen in the morning, he saddled his donkey. Now he took along with himself two servants and his son Isaak, and after he had split wood for a whole burnt offering and risen, he went and came to the place that God had mentioned to him, on the third day.

 Notes and References

"... The one arena in which the character of Abraham is most altered is in the naming of Isaac. Recall that the naming of Isaac played an important role in stressing the father-son relationship and hence deepened the challenge Abraham faced. The fact that Isaac was Abraham's only son is placed before the Hebrew reader in verses 2, 12, and 16 ... In the first two instances, the word is eliminated. We also saw that it was used nine times in this narrative to solicit emotion from the Hebrew reader. In two instances, the "my son" of the Hebrew was replaced with ('child') and no personal pronoun. Those may be found in verses 7-8. These references in the Hebrew are clearly designed to deepen the reader's appreciation of the father-son relationship and hence amplify the nature of the trial and Abraham's obedience. The net effect of the Greek translation is to mitigate that outcome ..."

Beck, John A. Translators as Storytellers: A Study in Septuagint Translation Technique (p. 85) Peter Lang Publishing, 2000

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.