פירוש על בראשית 22:2

קח נא TAKE NOW — The word נא is used as a request: God said to him, “I beg of you, stand firm for me in this trial, so that people may not say that the previous trials were no real tests” (Sanhedrin 89b).

TAKE NOW THY SON, THINE ONLY SON. Since Isaac was the son of the mistress and he alone was to be the one to carry his name, He called him Abraham’s only son. The description was for the purpose of magnifying the command, thus saying: “Take now thy only son, the beloved one, Isaac, and bring him up before Me as a burnt-offering.”

המוריה, same as האמוריה, “the land of the Emorite.” It happens frequently that the letter א is missing, just as in our verse. One such example is found in Exodus 10,21 וימש חשך, where the word וימש should really have been ויאמש חשך, “causing darkness.” Another example of the letter א being missing is found in Isaiah 13,20, where instead of לא יהל we would have expected לא יאהל, “he will pitch his tent.”

And lekh lekha (literally, go to you) to the land of Moriyah: It mentioned, "go to you" - meaning to your essence. For the origin of the physical is from there. As it was taken from the place about which it was stated, "An altar of earth you shall make for Me" (Exodus 20:21), as was explained in Parashat Lech Lecha (Kli Yakar on Genesis 12:1). And in the word, Moriyah, "Yah (God)," appears superfluous. For behold, it is stated, "I will go to the mountain of myrrh (Mount Mor)" (Song of Songs 4:6). Rather it is because the place of the foundation stone - from which were established two worlds, which were created with the name, Yah - is there. As the gate of heaven is there; and the union between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel is made complete there - like the cleaving of a man to his wife, between whom the name Yah mediates. And His companion (David) would say fifteen (the numerical value of Yah) [songs of] ascent, [which were parallel to the fifteen steps] which came up from the Women's Courtyard - like the number of the name, Yah. It was also a sign that the Temple would be built there after the fifteen generations from Avraham to Shlomo.

קח נא את בנך. "Please take your son, etc." G'd meant for Abraham to proceed immediately and not to ask for time before carrying out the command, such as happened with the daughter of Yiftach (Judges 11,37) who had asked to be given two months before becoming her father's sacrifice to G'd.

And you, go (lekh lekha): We have already explained at the beginning of Parashat Lekh [Lekha] (Haamek Davar on Genesis 12:1) that the expression, "lekh lekha" here, is that no person should know about this except for you. [This was] so that hindrances to this wonderous thing not increase. And so did Avraham, our father, do. For he did not inform anyone [about it] - even to his lads with whom he walked, [he said nothing] until he said to them, "we will prostrate ourselves and we will return" (Genesis 22:5).

ויאמר...את יחידך, even though he is your only one and you love him very much as he has been born to you by your beloved wife when both of you were already well into your old age, and although My request is a very difficult one, I am asking you to do this.

אל ארץ המוריה, “to the land around Moriah.” Nachmanides understands the term מוריה as describing the region on earth whence reverence for the Lord originates. Other commentators connect it to the incense and frankincense offered on that site. Onkelos translates the term asארעא פולחנא , i.e. a land in which G’d is being worshipped. The word מוריה, means fear and reverence, as at that site G’d is being revered and people are in awe of Him. This is also what Midrash Rabbah had in mind when focusing on the line (verse 9) ויבן שם אברהם את המזבח, “Avraham erected there the altar.” Avraham did not build a new altar, but used an altar on which religious people in former years had offered their sacrifices to the G’d in heaven. Regarding the plain meaning of the text, the words אל ארץ המוריה mean that this was a region where a variety of spices could be found, including first and foremost מור, myrrh. Whereas the Torah here refers to the whole region as ארץ המוריה, Ezra, in a parallel reference in Chronicles calls only the mountain הר המוריה. (Chronicles II 3,1) Avraham had been familiar with the region but not with the specific mountain G’d had in mind. This is why G’d instructed him to go to the general region, and once there, He would point out the specific mountain He had in mind. This mountain had already become a point on earth which G’d was especially fond of, and on which He had selected to make His terrestrial residence when the time was ripe. The merit Avraham would acquire by offering his beloved son there to G’d as a sacrifice would further endow this site so that prayers addressed to G’d from there in the Temple would be especially effective.

קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק, “please take your son, your only one, the one whom you love, etc.” The Torah describes G’d’s command as particularly long-winded in order to lend extra importance to the fulfillment of this commandment. Our sages in Tanchuma Vayera 22 phrase it thus: “When G’d said: ‘take your son,’ Avraham asked: ‘which son?’ When G’d continued: ‘the one whom you ‘love,’ Avraham countered: ‘I love them both.’ Finally, G’d said: ‘Yitzchak.’”

is an expression of a request... I.e., נא mentioned here means “request” although in many places it does not mean “request.” (Re’m)

נא, doch, ich weiß sehr wohl, was ich fordere, weiß, wie dein ganzes Innere sich dagegen sträuben muss; את בנך וגוי, es ist dein Sohn, den ich fordere, dein einziger, und ein solcher, an dem deine ganze Seele hängt, es ist Jizchak, an dessen Leben der Inhalt deines Lebens geknüpft ist. —

And bring him up as a burnt-offering: The Holy One muted His words. So Avraham thought that He commanded him to slaughter him and to completely incinerate him. Hence he brought wood, fire and a knife with him, whereas He only commanded to bring him up on top of the altar. And from when he brought him up, he had finished and fulfilled the commandment of the Holy One. [And there is someone who explains, nisa, is that He raised him and lifted him and made him known to the world, how important he is. It is like, "raise up (nesa) over us the light of Your countenance"; and like, "And He will raise a banner (nasa nes)." For a banner is a big thing. This is the (correct) version.]

אל ארץ המוריה, “to the land of Moriah;” the proper spelling should have been האמוריה; it is not unusual for the Torah to omit the consonant aleph, when it would have been silent anyways, one example being Exodus 10,21 וימש חושך instead of .ויאמש חושך [This missing letter א is not unusual, for instance it occurs in Isaiah 13.20] לא יהל ערבי instead of לא יאהל ערבי, “no Arab shall pitch his tent.”

את בנך THY SON — Abraham said to God, “I have two sons”. “He answered him, “Thine only son”. Abraham said, “This one is the only son of his mother and the other is the only son of his mother”. God then said, “the one whom thou lovest”. Abraham replied, “I love both of them”. Whereupon God said “even Isaac”. Why did He not disclose this to him at the very first? So as not to confuse him suddenly lest his mind become distracted and bewildered and in his confused state he would involuntarily consent, when there would have been no merit in his sacrifice, and so that he might more highly value God’s command and that God might reward him for the increasing sacrifice demanded by obedience to each and every expression used here (Genesis Rabbah 55:7).

And that which He said, upon one of the mountains which I will tell you: It was because the Holy One, blessed be He, had not revealed the place where the Temple was to be built to any creature, as will be explained below in Parashat Reeh (Kli Yakar on Deuteronomy 12:4). Except that Avraham knew this secret, and that is why he called the place, "the Lord will see," as I will explain its reason later, with God's help, on the verse of "the Lord will see." Another explanation: "Which I will tell you," because in the future, the word of God would come to the prophets from there, as it is written (Exodus, 25:22), "and I will speak with you from atop the ark cover." And there are those who say that, "which I will tell you," is referring to, "and bring him up for a burnt-offering." He did not say, "bring him up a burnt-offering," but rather, "for a burnt-offering." That is to say, in order to offer a different offering which I will tell you - who will be the offering? Either your son or some other thing.

Sacrifice him as a burnt-offering: See what I wrote later on verse 9 (Haamek Davar on Genesis 22:9) in explanation of the word, "there," as it appears to be superfluous.

ולך לך, this phraseology is quite common. We have encountered it in 12,1, in Jeremiah 5,5, in Exodus 18,27 as well as in Numbers 22,34 and again in Genesis 45,19. There are more such examples.

ולך לך, “and go for yourself, etc.” Avraham underwent ten trials of his faith. The first one commenced with the words לך לך, “go for yourself,” and the last one concluded with the introduction לך לך, “go for yourself.” Avraham scored perfect marks each time (Avot 5,3). The first trial was “leave your country;” the last one was the binding of Yitzchak.

So that He not confuse him suddenly, and become bewildered... I.e., so people will not say that Hashem confused him and that is why he did it, but otherwise he would have refrained. It seems that [Rashi added the second explanation, “To endear the mitzvah to him,”] because the first explanation is insufficient on its own, as then it should sayאת בנך יחידך אשר אהבת. The fact that את is repeated, implies a division [of the verse into separate parts]: each time, Hashem was answering another question of Avraham’s. And the second explanation is insufficient on its own, as then the verse should be reversed [and follow its logical order]: קח את יצחק את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת. For also [in this order, the use of many expressions would] endear the mitzvah. (Nachalas Yaakov)

Tanchuma 22 on our verse describes Abraham as spending the whole night asking Sarah to permit him to take Isaac with him to teach him Torah.

MORIAH. Rashi comments: “This is Jerusalem, and we find it in the book of Chronicles: To build the house of the Eternal at Jerusalem on mount Moriah.³⁶⁶II Chronicles 3:1. Our Rabbis have explained that it is called Moriah (instruction) because from the Temple built there on that mountain, instruction came forth to Israel.³⁶⁷The Chamber of Hewn Stone (Lishchat hagazith), the seat of the Great Sanhedrin, which was the highest court in Israel, was located in the Court of the Temple. See Deuteronomy 17:8-11. Onkelos translated it as “the land of Worship.” This he derived on the basis of reference to the burning of incense, which contained mor³⁶⁸Hence the name Moriah: the mountain on which mor (myrrh), as part of the incense, was to be burnt. Thus according to Rashi’s understanding of Onkelos. Ramban will later differ with this interpretation in the meaning of Onkelos. (myrrh) and other spices, [as part of the Divine Service].”
Now if so, [i.e., if this be the explanation of the name Moriah], the meaning of the verse will then be, “Go into the land which will be called Moriah.” Or it may be that it was always called so on account of the future. In Bereshith Rabbah,³⁶⁹55:9. the Sages have said thus: “The Rabbis say, Go into the land of Moriah means into the land where incense will be offered on the altar of G-d, even as it is said, I will get me to the mountain ‘hamor’ (of myrrh).”³⁷⁰Song of Songs 4:6. But the opinion of Onkelos, who said “the land of worship,” does not appear to be based on the myrrh in the incense, as Rashi said, for the word “service” does not refer to one of the species used in one of the Divine Services. Besides, why did not Onkelos say, “to the land of the incense of spices?” Instead, Onkelos’ intent is to say, “in the land in which they will worhip G-d.”
Onkelos thus matched that which the Sages interpreted in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, where they said,³⁷¹Chapter 31. “The Holy One, blessed be He, showed Abraham the altar with a finger. He said to him, ‘This is the altar on which the first man sacrificed. This is the altar on which Cain and Abel sacrificed. This is the altar on which Noah and his sons sacrificed.’ For it is said, And Abraham built ‘hamizbei’ach’ (the altar) there,³⁷²Verse 9 here. mizbei’ach (an altar) is not written here, rather, hamizbei’ach (the altar). This is the altar on which the predecessors have sacrificed.” Thus far [is the interpretation of Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer]. And the name Moriah the Rabbis derived from the word mora (fear), for there the people feared G-d and worshipped Him.
The correct interpretation, in line with the plain meaning of Scripture, is that the name Moriah is like the expression, To the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense,³⁷⁰Song of Songs 4:6. for on that mountain [Moriah] are found myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon,³⁷³Proverbs 7:17. even as the Rabbis have said:³⁷⁴Yerushalmi Peah 7:3. “Cinnamon grew in the Land of Israel, and goats and deers ate of it.” Or it may be that it was so called in praise of the Land of Israel.³⁷⁵But myrrh, aloes and cinnamon actually do not grow on mount Moriah itself. It was, however, called by that name, in order to give praise to the land where these things grow.
Now here Scripture calls the name of the land, the land of Moriah, and there [in the book of Chronicles, mentioned above],³⁶⁶II Chronicles 3:1. it appears that only the Temple mount was called mount Moriah. Perhaps, the city³⁷⁶“The City.” The Tur, quoting Ramban, has “the land.” was called by the name of that mountain which it contains, [and the name “land of Moriah” means] the land which contains the Moriah, but it was the mountain alone that was called Moriah. Now Abraham knew the land but did not know the mountain. Hence G-d told him to go to the land of Moriah, and He will there show him one of the mountains which is called by that name. He commanded him to offer up his son in that place for that is the mountain which G-d hath desired for His abode,³⁷⁷Psalms 68:17. and He wanted the merit of the Akeidah (the Binding of Isaac) to be in the sacrifices forever, as Abraham said, The Eternal seeth.³⁷⁸Verse 14 here. Moreover, for His righteousness’ sake,³⁷⁹Isaiah 42:21. He increased the scope of the trial and wanted Abraham to do it after walking three days. Had Abraham been commanded to do so suddenly at his place, his deed would have been performed in haste and confusion, but since it was done after walking for days it was thus performed with reflection of mind and counsel. And so did the Rabbis say in Bereshith Rabbah:³⁸⁰55:5. “Rabbi Akiba said, ‘G-d surely tried [Abraham with a clear-cut situation] so that people should not say that He confounded him and confused him and he did not know what to do.’”

הב ,אהב mit vorgesetztem, auf die tätige Persönlichkeit beziehendem א, also: sowohl sich dem andern hingeben, als den andern in die nächste Nähe zu sich zu bringen suchen, also: nach der innigsten Verbindung mit dem andern streben. Gegensatz von שנא, verwandt mit סנה, eigentlich: Dorn sein, den andern von sich abwehren, soweit als möglich fern von sich wünschen. Der בהaא ist das Dasein des andern notwendig, der שנאה die Entfernung desselben bis zur Vernichtung.

Which I will tell you: And afterwards, He explained to him where it was; as it explains (Genesis 22:3), "which God had told him." Hence, He told him where it was. And because of that, he recognized the place from afar (Genesis 22:4), since He already explained [it] to him.

והעלהו שם לעולה, “and offer him up there as burnt offering.” When Avraham is supposed to have asked G-d: “how can I offer a burnt offering in the absence of the priest whose duty it is to perform such rites? G-d answered that Avraham had been appointed as a priest by Him already. (B’reshit Rabbah 55,7) This is how the sages explained Psalms 110,4: נשבע ה' ולא ינחם אתה כהן לעולם על דברתי מלכי צדק, “The Lord has sworn and will not retract that you are a priest forever as per My word to Malki Tzedek.” (compare Genesis 14,20 where the latter was deprived of that priesthood as he had blessed mortal Avraham before blessing the immortal Lord)

ארץ המוריה THE LAND OF MORIAH — This is Jerusalem, and so we find in Chronicles (2 Chronicles 3:1) “To build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah”. Our Rabbis have explained that it is called Moriah — Instruction — because from it (i.e. from the Temple built on that mountain) instruction הוראה came forth to Israel (Genesis Rabbah 55:7). Onkelos translates it by “the land of the Divine Service”. He takes it as having reference to the offering of incense brought in the Temple on Moriah in which there were myrrh (מור) nard and other spices.

Which I will tell you: He [never] told [him] explicitly. Rather that which he saw and understood to be the mountain, by way of the sighting of a cloud and the glory of God, that was an utterance of God. And so will it be explained later, 24:51 (Haamek Davar on Genesis 24:51), and in many places.

אל ארץ המריה, Jerusalem and district are referred to as ארץ המריה, and this is why the mountain on which Yitzchok was bound is also known by that name. Compare Chronicles II 3,1 לבנות בית ה' בירושלים בהר המריה, “to build the House of G’d in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.” Our sages, as quoted by Rashi, say that the name reflects the fact that G’d’s instructions to man are issued from that mountain. [the seat of the Jewish Supreme Court which decides when there is any doubt about the authenticity of Torah legislation. Ed.] Onkelos translates the term as לארעא פלחנא, “the land where the priests perform service.”

Our verse also contains a hint that seeing that Isaac had not previously been tested, Abraham should broach the matter to him in a manner that would secure Isaac's willingness. Abraham should convince Isaac that by agreeing to serve as an offering to G'd he would achieve great moral stature.

לך לך mit einer solchen isolierenden, Abraham nur in Verbindung mit Gott hinrufenden Aufgabe beginnt sein Leben, mit derselben, aber höchst potenzierten, gipfelt sein Ende.

והעלהו AND OFFER HIM (literally, bring him up) — He did not say, “Slay him”, because the Holy One, blessed be He, did not desire that he should slay him, but he told him to bring him up to the mountain to prepare him as a burnt offering. So when he had taken him up, God said to him, “Bring him down” (Genesis Rabbah 56:8).

על אחד ההרים, even now G’d did not tell Avraham precisely on which mountain he was to offer up Yitzchok as a burnt offering. Instead, G’d only said: אשר אמר אליך, just as at the time when Avraham had been told to leave Charan and move to the Land of Canaan in 12,1 he had been told only to move to a country which G’d would specify later on. At that time Avraham had correctly assumed that he was to set out in the direction of the Land of Canaan. The absence of this detail in both instances was to show us the readers that instead of questioning G’d on details, Avraham set out to undertake difficult tasks without looking for any excuse to delay carrying out G’d’s instructions. It would have been so easy to ask G’d why, if he was to offer Yitzchok as a sacrifice, he first had to travel a long distance to the site where this was to take place. After all, we are speaking about a man of 137 years of age. Actually, if we do not err, G’d had two good reasons why He told Avraham what to do in such an ambivalent fashion. Firstly, to give Avraham additional credit for complying with a command which was wrapped in a riddle, without questioning G’d about it. If G’d had asked him to do this at once near his home, Avraham would not have had time to recover from the initial shock after hearing G’d’s instructions. If, after having had time to digest the implications of what had been asked of him, Avraham proceeded without hesitating, this is even more to his credit. The second reason why G’d worded the instructions in the manner in which the Torah records them, is to teach us that the site where this binding eventually took place is such a holy site; moreover after Avraham named the site, we know that it is one where the attribute of Justice may be changed to the attribute of Mercy due to the manner in which man relates to G’d’s commands. Not only that, but man learned that sometimes the intention behind an action is worth more to G’d than the action itself, so that the binding of Yitzchok rated in G’d’s eyes as if his father had actually sacrificed him.

את בנך את יחידך, "your son, your only one, the one you love, Isaac." Here the Torah alludes to three levels of love that G'd demands of each Jew, i.e. to love G'd with all his heart, all his soul, and all his financial resources (Deut. 6,5). The word בנך alludes to the heart; nothing is closer to a man's heart than the love for his children. Concerning love with one's soul, the Torah mentions יחידך; when a person has no children he is alone and considered as dead. Love with one's soul is therefore love with the only thing one has left to love with. The words אשר אהבת refer to one's possessions; G'd meant that Abraham loved Isaac more than all his other possessions. G'd's test consisted of Abraham demonstrating that though he loved Isaac from all these perspectives he was yet willing to give him up to G'd in the form of a total offering.

המוריה. Wenn es wahr ist, wie die Weisen uns lehren, dass dieser Name die Örtlichkeit bezeichnet, von welcher die תורה ausgeht — (Lehre gibt ungenügend den Begriff תורה wieder, es ist von הרה, Lebenskeim empfangen, im Hiphil somit ein geistiges Zeugen) — von wo aus die Keime ausgestreut werden sollen, um die Menschen geistig wieder zu gebären; wenn ferner an dieser Stelle bereits die ersten Opfer, das verworfene und das entsprechend befundene Opfer Kains und Hebels, warnend und lehrend in die Welt hinleuchteten; wenn an diesem Orte Noa im Vorgefühl jenes ניחוח der einstigen gänzlichen Hingebung der Menschheit auf der wiedergeschenkten Erde sein Opfer gebracht: wenn alles dieses wahr ist, so war Abraham schon mit der Angabe des Ortes gesagt, dass diese Handlung nicht nur für ihn Bedeutung haben, sondern dass sie die fernste Zukunft mit dem lehrendsten Beispiel darüber erleuchten sollte, was die Erfüllung eines zu Gott gesprochenen "הנני" bedeute, was denn "Gottesgesetz", "Gottesdienst", "Tempel", "Opfer" in Wahrheit heiße, wie dies alles nicht "Zeremonie"; wie es den ernstesten Ernst in sich fasse, wie mit dem Worte: הנני! mit dem Worte "wir wollen Gott dienen!" man sich der eigenen Einsicht und des eigenen Willens völlig begebe und alle seine Kräfte der Einsicht und dem Willen Gottes ohne weiteres bereit stelle. Der Name מוריה durfte Abraham sagen, dass das von ihm Geforderte zur הוראה für sein Volk, für die Menschheit gehören solle, und — wenn sein gottdurchdrungener Sinn noch eines Beistandes bedurft hätte — dieses Bewusstsein dürfte ihm beistehen, zu vollbringen, was von ihm gefordert. —

אחד ההרים ONE OF THE MOUNTAINS — The Holy One, blessed be He, first makes the righteous expectant and only afterwards discloses fully to them his intention — and all this in order to augment their reward. Similarly we have (Genesis 12:1) “[Go to] the land which I will show thee”, and similarly in the case of Jonah 3:2 “Make unto it the proclamation which I shall bid thee” (Genesis Rabbah 55:7).

והעלהו שם לעולה. In dem Begriffe עלה wird im jüdischen Gedankenkreise ein Zwiefaches gefasst. Der menschlichen Betrachtungsweise stellt sich das Materielle, Irdische, als "unten", "niedrig" vor. Das, was sich vom Boden entfernen soll. das vom Materiellen sich Loslösende wird in allen Sprachen als "Erhebung" bezeichnet. Wenn die Materie Leben bekommt, so erhebt sie sich, steigt sie empor, und עָלֶה wird Blatt. עָלָה: das Leben spendende und nährende Muttertier, die gehemmte Entwicklung wird חעלה: Krankheit (die נוח von נוע) und die wieder gelöste Hemmung תעלה: Heilung. Davon עלה לדי: ein gänzliches Sublimieren, eine gänzliche Loslösung von allem materiell Gebundenen zu Gott hin, die gänzliche Erhebung, eigentlich: Hinangebung zu Gott und das ist: das Opfer, das עולה.

Absolut genommen ist aber עלה auch ein bloßes Hinwegheben aus den irdischen Existenzen, so אל תעלני בחצי ימי (Ps. 102, 25), ohne Hingebung an eine höhere Bestimmung, und wenn hier, wo die Bezeichnung dieser höheren Bestimmung gewiss nicht fehlen durfte, gleichwohl dieselbe fehlt, und es nicht heißt: והעלהו לי שם לעולה — was ja auch, wo das Opfern nicht eine symbolische, sondern eine konkrete Menschentötung hätte gewesen sein sollen, nur ein blasphemierender Unsinn wäre, da Menschen- Vernichtung das diametrale Gegenteil vom Opfer ist — sondern absolut והעלהו שם לעולה heißt, so wird damit eben ein Hinwegheben aus den irdischen Existenzen, eine zwecklose Tötung gefordert, zwecklos, insofern der Zweck nicht dabei offenbar ist.