וָאֶתֵּ֞ן לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ בְּנֵ֣י בֵית־הָרֵכָבִ֗ים גְּבִעִ֛ים מְלֵאִ֥ים יַ֖יִן וְכֹס֑וֹת וָאֹמַ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם שְׁתוּ־יָֽיִן׃
At inilagay ko sa harap ng mga anak ng sambahayan ng mga Recabita ang malalaking sisidlang puno ng alak, at mga kopa, at sinabi ko sa kanila: “Uminom kayo ng alak.”
Akeidat Yitzchak
(2) The vagueness in describing the site of the sacrifice, as well as the distance to be traversed till arriving at that site, were all meant to give Abraham a chance to reflect on what he was about to do. Speedy decisions are liable to produce second thoughts; a resolve of this nature which has had three days to mature, however, is not likely to be revoked at the last moment. The problem that G-d appears to have reversed His original intention, and that this is not compatible with His own statement "G-d is not like man in that he deceives, when He says something, will He not carry it out?" (Numbers 23,19), can be resolved. The letter lamed in Hebrew has several functions. It can mean tachat, instead of, such as in Genesis 11,3, when the invention of kiln dried bricks is described. There it means "the bricks served them instead of stones." Similarly, the line "offer him there le-olah,” is to be understood "if you elevate him (ha-alehu), he will henceforth serve the same purpose as an olah, total offering. In this way, Abraham's understanding of what he had been commanded differed from the true meaning of the command. There had in fact never been a cancellation of the command.