22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there21 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up22 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.
snAbraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?
22
snThen he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17–21.