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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

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Chapter 22

1 And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Look! I am here.⁠ 2 And he said, Take your son, the beloved one, whom you have loved, Isaac,⁠ and go into the high land, and offer him there for a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of. 3 And Abraham rose up in the morning and saddled his donkey, and he took with him two servants, and Isaac his son, and having split wood for a whole burnt offering, he arose and departed, and came to the place of which God spoke to him, 4 on the third day; and Abraham having lifted up his eyes, saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his servants, Sit here with the donkey, and I and the lad will proceed thus far, and having worshiped we will return to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the whole burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took into his hands both the fire and the knife, and the two went together. 7 And Isaac said to Abraham his father, Father. And he said, What is it, son? And he said, Look, the fire and the wood, where is the sheep for a whole burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, God will provide himself a sheep for a whole burnt offering, my son. And both having gone together, 9 came to the place which God spoke of to him; and there Abraham built the altar, and laid the wood on it, and having bound the feet of Isaac his son together, he laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand to take the knife to kill his son. 11 And an angel of the Lord called him out of heaven, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Look, I am here. 12 And he said, Do not lay your hand upon the child, neither do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, and for my sake you have not spared your beloved son.⁠ 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and look! a ram caught by his horns in a plant of Sabec;⁠ and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a whole burnt offering in the place of Isaac his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord has seen; that they might say today, In the mount the Lord was seen. 15 And an angel of the Lord called Abraham the second time out of heaven, 16 saying, I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and on my account have not spared your beloved son, 17 surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is by the shore of the sea, and your seed shall inherit the cities of their enemies. 18 And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have listened to my voice.⁠ 19 And Abraham returned to his servants, and they arose and went together to the well of the oath; and Abraham lived at the well of the oath. 20 And it happened after these things, that it was reported to Abraham, saying, Look, Milcah herself too has borne sons to Nahor your brother, 21 Uz the firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of the Syrians, 22 and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 And Bethuel fathered Rebekah; these are eight sons, which Milcah bore to Nahor the brother of Abraham. 24 And his concubine whose name was Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Genesis 22:12 and Romans 8:32

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

Romans describes God as one who “did not spare his own Son,” echoing Genesis 22, where God says Abraham did not withhold his only son. Paul uses the same Greek verb found in the Septuagint translation of Genesis.

Passages

LXX Genesis 22:12

Septuagint
11 And an angel of the Lord called him out of heaven, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Look, I am here. 12 And he said, Do not lay your hand upon the child, neither do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, and for my sake you have not spared your beloved son. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and look! a ram caught by his horns in a plant of Sabec; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a whole burnt offering in the place of Isaac his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord has seen; that they might say today, In the mount the Lord was seen.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

Romans 8:32

New Testament
31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

“... The suspicion is abundantly confirmed in verse 32. “He who did not spare his own Son” is a transparent reworking of the angel”s words to Abraham at the end of the aqedah: “since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me” and “because you have done this and not withheld your son, your favored one” (Genesis 22:12, 16). Paul”s “spare” is the same Greek verb as the Septuagint uses for “withheld” in these two verses (pheidomai). His point is reminiscent of Galatians 3:13-14 but far more explicit: the new aqedah, which is the crucifixion of Jesus, has definitively and irreversibly secured the blessings of which the angel there spoke ...”
Jon D. Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993), 222.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Genesis 22:12 and Romans 8:32

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