Genesis 22:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

NIV: and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

NASB: and said, 'By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,

CSB: and said, "By myself I have sworn," this is the Lord’s declaration: "Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,

NLT: This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that

KJV: And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

NKJV: and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—

The voice of the angel of the Lord—the Lord Himself—calls out to Abraham after stopping him from sacrificing Isaac (Genesis 22:11–12) and after Abraham has sacrificed the ram God provided instead (Genesis 22:13–14).

The Lord begins by saying that because Abraham has not withheld his only son from the Lord, the Lord has sworn "by Himself" to do what is named in the following verses. This is the only time God swears an oath to do something in the stories of the patriarchs. Why does He swear "by" Himself, or "on" Himself? Hebrews 6:13 spells it out: "For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself."

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, "For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath" (Hebrews 6:16–17). In other words, what God is about to promise to Abraham in the following verses carries huge significance. So, God uses a human concept, for the sake of our human understanding.

Genesis 22:1–19 takes place over the course of a few days, when Isaac is perhaps a teenager. God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son as a burnt offering. Abraham sets out to obey without hesitation, acting in complete trust that God, somehow, will make all things right. Abraham stops the sacrifice only when the Lord intervenes. For his deep trust and obedience, the Lord renews and emphasizes His blessing on Abraham and his offspring, as well as promising to bless all nations through Abraham's descendants.

In a test of Abraham's faith and obedience, God commands Abraham to do a terrible thing: kill and offer his son Isaac, whom he loves, as a burnt offering. Abraham sets out to obey without hesitation, having finally learned to trust God's goodness over his own misunderstandings. Instead of allowing the boy to be sacrificed, the Lord calls out to Abraham moments before he kills Isaac, laying bound on an altar. Because of Abraham's obedience, God renews and emphasizes His promises of blessing, multiplied offspring, and victory over future enemies.

In the previous chapter, the long-promised Isaac was finally born to Sarah and Abraham, while Abraham's other beloved son, Ishmael, was sent away to be cared for by God apart from them. Now God tests Abraham's faith and obedience by commanding him to offer his precious son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham sets out to obey without hesitation, stopping only when the Lord cries out to him. For Abraham's obedience, God renews and emphasizes the blessing on him and his offspring. This marks the beginning of the end of Abraham's story, as the book of Genesis transitions to focus on Isaac and his descendants.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.