Genesis 22: Pt. I

Ha-shalom, beloved friends? I hope all is well with each of you, and that this post finds you in a state of contentment if not overwhelming joy and happiness! Today, I figured I would share a little bit about the visitation of a Rabbi to my Hebrew class and a whole lot a bit about Genesis 22. Why Genesis 22 you might ask? Well, several reasons: (1) We've studied it in both OT and Hebrew; (2) I had to translate it the other day; (3) It is an 'alarming' text; (4) It's interesting.

The 'command' to sacrifice Issac. This is the title the NRSV gives to the passage of Genesis 22, although I added the quotation marks. First thing to note from this passage is the Abraham's immediate response when God calls to him. In the Hebrew, he says  הִנֵּנִי which means, "Here I am." This is found in several places throughout the Hebrew Bible as proper responses to God's calling. So if God ever calls you, just say, "Hin-ah-nee!" Moving on to God's 'command.' I put this in quotation marks because I'm not entirely convinced that it is actually a command. It sounds more like a request. In Hebrew,  קַח-נָא which is an imperative meaning, "Please, take..."  In the NRSV, however, it is translated without the 'please,' but that is literally what the left part means. "Kack-Na."

One sided conversation. Next in verse two we get a lot of specificity. "[Please] take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac..." <--I reordered the words to conform with the Hebrew more than the English. Rabbinical tradition believes that this was truly a dialogue, and we are only hearing God's side the conversation. Their logic--God doesn't waste words and this is exceptionally extensive. So maybe, the conversation went something like this:
     God: "[Please] take your son..."
     Abraham: Which one?
     God: You're only son.
     Abraham: I have two sons.
     God: Whom you love.
     Abraham: I love them both.
     God: Isaac.

Eagerness. In verse 3 we find out that, "Abraham rose early in the morning" and "saddled his [own] donkey." Whoa, whoa, whoa. Now, why would one wake up early on the day they plan to set out to sacrifice their child? And why would such a rich man saddle his own donkey, surely there were slaves to do this for him. These are several unanswered questions, especially for those who believe that Abraham was overly-eager to kill his son.

So the two of them walked together. The repetition of this phrase suggests that it is important. They walked together, father and son. The interesting thing is Isaac asks where the lamb for the sacrifice is; now check this out:  אֶלֹהִים יִרְאֶה לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה לְעֹלָה בְּנִי wow, that's a lot of Hebrew. Transliteration: elo-heem yi-ra-ah has-ah la-o-lah ba-ni. In English Abraham says, "God will see to it the lamb for the burnt offering my son." But, wait just a minute, there is some ambiguity since there is no such thing as commas in Hebrew. Grammatically speaking, it could also be translated, "God will see to it the lamb for the burnt offering IS my son." WHOA! WHAT?! Unfortunately, there is no real way of knowing which is intended--not from the grammar at least. So, if Isaac knew... and then "the two of them walked together," what does that mean?! The plot thickens!

Part II to come very soon! God Bless! =)