Komentarz do Rodzaju 22:14

'ה יראה Its real meaning is as the Targum renders it: The Lord will choose and select for Himself this place to make His Shechinah reside in it and for sacrifices to be offered there.

אשר יאמר היום, “of which its is being said today and tomorrow that G’d had manifested Himself to Avraham at this mountain of the Lord.”

And he called the name of the place, the Lord will see, as it is said this day, on the mountain of the Lord, He will be seen: Since it is stated (Exodus 23:17), "all your males shall appear" - you may read, "shall appear (yiraeh)," as, "and will see (vayireh)," the [letter], yod, [being vocalized] with a tzerei. This means that in the same manner that one comes to be seen, so does he come to see (Chagigah 2a). So too is it said here for this reason - "shall appear (yiraeh)," [is also,] "and will see (vayireh)," for it is all one matter. However to make the expression, "as it is said this day," fit, I say that this is why he called the name of the place, the Lord will see, implying the future: Because the Holy One, blessed be He, did not reveal this holy place to any creature. For even to Avraham, it was said, "upon one of the mountains which I will tell you" (Genesis 22:2). And we do not see that He said anything to him, except that which Avraham sensed, in that he saw a cloud tied around the mountain. Nevertheless, 'there was no speech and no words,' that this was the place that God desired for His seat. As God hid the reason from him, which will be explained later, Parashat Reeh (Kli Yakar on Deuteronomy 12:4), with God's help. That is why he called it, the Lord will be seen/show, from the usage, "God will see to the lamb for Him" (Genesis 22:8). Likewise did he say [that] the time will come when God will show and choose this place. And at that time, "it will be said," for [all] the generations, "this day, on the mountain of the Lord, He will be seen" - this day, but not before. For until this day, when He chose [it], the Holy One, blessed be He, did not reveal it.

ויקרא...ה' יראה, a reference to his having said to Yitzchok in verse 8 that G’d would select the animal for the offering.

The Lord will see: From this place He shall see, to oversee His world. For behold, here is the place of His Kingship, may He be blessed - as it is found in Rosh Hashanah (27a) [Chapter] 3, that we blast trumpets and a horn in the Temple, because it is stated (Psalms 98:6), "With trumpets and the blast of the horn, raise a shout before the Lord, the King."

אשר יאמר היום, the place of which the Israelites had said on the day that the Torah was written (or given) that G’d manifests Himself on the mountain. G’d would reveal which mountain this is only in the future, in the days of David, seeing that even in Deuteronomy 12,11 only veiled reference is made to such a mountain. It was this mountain, subsequently known as the Temple Mount which Avraham now named ה' יראה.

ויקרא אברהם שם המקום ההוא: ה' יראה, “Avraham named that site: “The Lord will see.” The place is known in our days as the mountain of Moriah. It is called thus as it became a mountain due to the extreme degree of awe of the Lord Avraham had demonstrated there. It had actually first been a valley. Suddenly it was transformed into a tall mountain. Since it had previously been called “shalem” as we know from when its king congratulated Avraham on his victory over Kedorleomer and the kings with him (Genesis 14,18) Avraham now added another word to its name, i.e. יראה, “awe of the Lord,” so that after David conquered it from the Jebusites it is called “Y’ru-shalem.” [The name actually occurs already in chapter 10 of the Book of Joshua, but it did not become part of the Kingdom of the Israelites till some 400 years later. Ed.]

The Lord will see: Meaning, He will see this place and remember the deed.

ה' יראה, Avraham said the following: “Hashem will become my witness after I have fulfilled this commandment of His.” The reason that this is necessary is some people will say that this is the mountain to which I brought my son in order to prove that I would honour Him even by offering my son as an offering and at which I had weakened at the last moment and not gone through with my intention, as proved by the fact that I returned with my son intact. They will not give me credit when told that G-d had to stop me from going through with slaughtering my son in His honour.”

אשר יאמר היום AS IT IS SAID TO THIS DAY — In the generations to come people will say of it,” On this mountain the Holy One, blessed be He, shows Himself to His people.”

As it is said this day: After the giving of the Torah, when they were commanded to build the Temple there, such that there would be appearance of the face in the courtyard.

אשר יאמר היום, a reference to the day on which this story is being related. This occurrence would be remembered every time G’d would manifest Himself on that mountain. When the Temple would be built, this event would be commemorated, for instance. Avraham had been told in a prophetic vision why this mountain had been chosen by G’d for this particular event. It was because also in the future Avraham’s descendants would make a point of offering their sacrifices on that mountain.
בהר ה' יראה, G’d would manifest Himself in the future also on this mountain.

השם יראה, “the name of the attribute of Mercy of the Lord will become manifest.” According to our author, the name is meant to demonstrate not only to G–d but to mankind, that at this place Avraham had demonstrated the ultimate degree of being in awe of the Lord by being willing to sacrifice his son to him.

As it is said this day: Among people when they speak about this mountain, [one] will ask [the other], "What mountain are you saying?" And he will answer that its name is, He will see. As this is what Avraham called it.

היום THIS DAY — the future days, with the same meaning as עד היום הזה “even until this day” wherever it occurs in the entire Scriptures: that all future generations who read this passage will refer the phrase “even unto this day” to the day in which they live. The Midrashic explanation is: May God see this Binding of Isaac every year to forgive Israel and to save them from punishment, so that it may be said “in this day” — in all future generations — “there are seen in the mountain of the Lord” the ashes of Isaac heaped up as it were and serving as a means of atonement (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 23).

On the mountain of the Lord, He will be seen (yiraeh): Yireh (will see) [can also be a reading of] yiraeh, as is known - the beginning of Tractate Chagigah (2a).

אשר יאמר היום בהר ה' יראה, “of which it be said today, i.e. (nowadays)”on the mountain of the Lord He can be perceived as having manifested this attribute of His. ” Avraham was concerned that people knowing he had been commanded to sacrifice his son, and had returned with his son, might think that he had been unable to bring himself to do this. The name of that mountain was to be a sign that the abandoning of the original command had nothing to do with his being unwilling or unable to carry it out. We are told in the Midrash that when G–d, i.e. His angel, said to Avraham: “do not dare touch the skin of the lad,” Avraham was not willing to desist until G–d swore to him that He would consider the ashes of the ram that he would slaughter a if they had been the ashes of his son. [This editor finds this difficult, as Avraham had not seen the ram until after he had desisted, as the Torah clearly tells us. Since the author did not reveal which Midrash he has seen this in, I cannot check it. Ed.] Our author adds that as soon as Avraham had taken Yitzchok off the altar, he asked G–d for His signet ring as proof that He had told him this. G–d answered that legally He was not obliged to put his seal on what He had said, as Avraham had not requested it before taking Yitzchok down from the altar. However, having high regard for him, He would hand over that seal to Yaakov instead, and that this is what we derive from the line in Michah 7,20: תתן אמת ליעקב, חסד לאברהם, “Who grants truth to Yaakov and loving kindness to Avraham.” [G–d’s “seal” is proverbially known as אמת, “truth.” Ed.]