Komentarz do Rodzaju 22:9

ויעקד AND HE BOUND his hands and feet behind him. Hands and feet tied together is what is meant by עקידה “binding”. It is associated in meaning with עקודים in (Genesis 30:35) “[she-goats] that were streaked” — whose ankles were streaked white so that the place where they are bound could be plainly seen.

AND THEY CAME TO THE PLACE WHICH G-D TOLD HIM OF — now,³⁸⁴As explained above, Abraham recognized the land of Moriah from a distance as he was acquainted with that whole land, and when he came near the mountain, G-d told him, “This is the place which I had designated to you.” All this is in line with the plain meaning of Scripture, as Ramban mentioned above. “This is mount Moriah,” for He told him, “Behold, this is the mountain of which I told you.”

ויבאו אל המקום, this refers to Mount Moriah.

And he arranged the wood, and he bound, etc.: All of this story is coming to teach us that Avraham, our father, understood from the words of God that he should proceed with this according to the law of a set sacrifice on the Temple altar. For behold Avraham, our father, learned all of the entire Torah, as it is taught at the end of Kiddushin (62a). So he knew the difference between a communal sacrifice in the Temple and a sacrifice on a private altar. And all of the laws of a daily offering, and the commandment of arrangement of the wood, are only with the daily offering - the essence of which is upon the altar in the Temple. So Avraham, our father, understood [this] from God saying to him, "on one of the mountains, etc." (Genesis 22:2). [As] if it were for a private sacrifice, what is this place to me [more than] another place? Rather it is the mountain designated for the building of the Choice House. For that reason, he fulfilled the laws of the daily offerings with this [sacrifice of Yitzchak]. And see verse 18 (Haamek Davar on Genesis 22:18). And even though we do not place [them] up on the altar alive - that is because the skin of an animal is not sacrificed, which is not the case with human skin, as it is true flesh. For that reason it is better to place him up alive.

ויבאו אל המקום אשר אמר לו האלוקים, “they arrived at the place that G’d had spoken to him about.” This was Mount Moriah, which G’d had said He would point out to him.

Es ist nicht die gewöhnliche Weise, dass das Opfer auf dem Altar geschlachtet wird. Es scheint, Abraham wollte seinen Sohn so opfern, dass, nachdem das Große von ihm vollbracht, er nichts mehr zu tun haben sollte, wollte daher seinen Sohn auf dem Holzstoße opfern, damit dann die Flammen den Leib seines Kindes verzehren möchten. — עקד: das verstärkte אגד, zusammenbinden.

ויבן אברהם מזבח Avraham built an altar;” Yitzchok did not participate in that activity; the reason that he did not do so was not that he would not have been willing to do so, but his father had hidden him so that Satan would not be able to tempt him, as he had tried to tempt Avraham not to carry out G-d’s request by hurting him so that he would be unfit to serve as an offering.

From above (mimeaal) the wood: It needs [to write], "on the wood (meaal)," like in the book of Leviticus 1. However the understanding of on the wood would have been literally on [it], and not above that which is above, as I wrote earlier 1:7 (Haamek Davar on Genesis 1:7). But the meaning of, from above, is certainly above that which is above. For that reason, it is written, "from above (mimeaal)" - to teach us that he brought him up as a burnt-offering from above. Meaning that the soul of Yitzchak flew up and Michael (the angel) sacrificed it on the supernal altar, as Tosafot wrote at the end of Menachot (110a). And through this, the word of God was fulfilled literally, and nothing was lacking except for the slaughter of Yitzchak's body. And the ram came for this in his place, so his soul was returned to its place. It comes out that the matter is explicitly hinted to in Scripture for those who carefully observe the specifics of the language. And that which God said (Genesis 22:2), "sacrifice him there as a burnt-offering," is also exact: As what was Scripture missing [had it just stated], "sacrifice him as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains, etc.?" Rather it was hinting to him that this raising up would be there, at the place that was known to the Holy One, blessed be He. And that would be "on one of the mountains, etc." - since the altar above is precisely corresponding to the altar that is on the mountain.

אשר אמר לו האלוקים, when Avraham and Yitzchok had been walking together (after leaving the lads behind) G’d told Avraham the exact location, showing it to him in a prophetic vision. According to Bereshit Rabbah 56,2 He showed him either a column of fire over that mountain or a localised pillar of cloud, as we mentioned earlier. According to this aggadic interpretation the words אשר אמר לו refer to the moment when he became aware of this phenomenon and his awareness was the equivalent of what is described in our verses as an אמירה, a verbal communication.

את המזבח, the altar. The Torah did not write: “altar” without the prefix letter ה which meant that it was an altar that had previously served for such a purpose. According to our tradition, Adam, Hevel, Noach and his sons, had all offered offerings to G-d on that same altar.

ויערוך את העצים, he arranged them above the fire to kindle them.

A kabbalistic approach: The meaning of the Midrash we quoted is that the original “recipient” is the final product of the “structure.” In other words, there is a causal relationship between the words ויבן, “he built,” and the word מזבח, “altar.” [I believe a good way of phrasing this may be this. As soon as G’d had completed “building” the universe with the creation of man, the time had come for man to reciprocate in some form by offering gifts to the Creator by means of the altar. Ed.] Kabbalists view this altar as one on which both terrestrial beings and celestial beings offered sacrifices. I will have more to say on the subject in my commentary on Parshat Vayikra 1,9. [The altar is viewed as a place where benevolent celestial input to the terrestrial world evokes input by terrestrial man addressed to the celestial spheres. Ed.]

ויעקד את יצחק, he bound both his hands and his feet so he should not involuntarily kick when the knife would strike him. This was in spite of the fact that Yitzchok was perfectly willing to be the offering. He was afraid that at the last moment he would rebel; this was why he asked his father to tie him securely. (Bereshit Rabbah 56,8)

ויערך את העצים, “and he arranged the fire-wood.” The letter ה at the beginning of the word העצים is a reference to the wood which Avraham had taken with him from home with which we are already familiar. On the other hand, the letter ה may simply teach that not all kinds of wood are acceptable as the kindling for an offering on the altar.

ויעקד את יצחק בנו וישם אותו על המזבח, “he bound his son Yitzchak and placed him on top of the altar.” We are told in Tanchuma Vayera 23 that when Avraham was about to slaughter his son, that Yitzchak asked to be bound hand and foot in order that he should not invalidate the offering if he were to move at the moment his father would cut his throat.

ממעל לעצים, “above the wood.” Rabbi Chanina is reported to have said that Avraham built the altar facing the throne of G’d’s glory in the heavens. He derived this from the wording here i.e. ממעל לעצים, and Isaiah 6,2 שרפים עומדים ממעל לו.