The Lamb · stop 1 of 9
Where is the lamb?
Isaac asks the question the canon will spend sixty-five more books answering — 'where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?' — and Abraham does not point at anything: 'God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.' The noun is שֶׂה (seh, H7716), one of a flock. The wood Isaac is carrying is עֵץ (H6086), the same noun the Trees thread follows to Calvary.
7Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” “Here I am, my son,” he replied. “The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.
Open Genesis 22:7–8 in the reader →Everything gathered on this verse →
A voice from the tradition
Witness
Christ the great sacrifice of atonement was of God's providing: when none in heaven or earth could have found a lamb for that burnt-offering, God himself found the ransom. All our sacrifices of acknowledgement are of God's providing too; 'tis he that prepares the heart. The broken and contrite spirit is a sacrifice of God, of his providing.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Bible (1765), on Genesis 22:8 — public domainEvangelical
The approved voices
On Genesis 22:7–8
And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering,....
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)Reformed
Therefore he brings his well-beloved son to be sacrificed, and offered promptly him whom he had received late; nor is he restrained by being called by the name of father, when his son called him "Father," and he replied, "My son." Dear pledges of love are these names, but the commands of God are loved still more. And so although their hearts felt for each other, their purpose remained firm.
Ambrose of Milan· On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus, Book 2, Section 97, 397Patristic
The workbench
Words in this verse
- וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.mer — and he saidH559
- יִצְחָ֜קyitz.Chak — IsaacH3327
- אֶל־'el- — toH413
- אַבְרָהָ֤ם'av.ra.Ham — AbrahamH85
- אָבִיו֙'a.Viv — father hisH1
- וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.mer — and he saidH559
- אָבִ֔י'a.Vi — O father myH1
- וַיֹּ֖אמֶרvai.Yo.mer — and he saidH559
- הִנֶּ֣נִּֽיhi.Ne.ni — here [am] IH2009
- בְנִ֑יve.Ni — O son myH1121
- וַיֹּ֗אמֶרvai.Yo.mer — and he saidH559
- הִנֵּ֤הhi.Neh — here!H2009
- הָאֵשׁ֙ha.'Esh — the fireH784
- וְהָ֣עֵצִ֔יםve.Ha.'e.Tzim — and the wood<s>H6086
- וְאַיֵּ֥הve.'ai.Yeh — and where?H346
- הַשֶּׂ֖הha.Seh — [is] the sheepH7716
- לְעֹלָֽה׃le.'o.Lah — for a burnt offeringH5930
The floor
Where the canon echoes this verse
- Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Commentary on Romans 8:152 voices
But we do now receive a certain portion of His Spirit, tending towards perfection, and preparing us for incorruption, being little by little accustomed to receive and bear God; which also the apostle terms "an earnest," that is, a part of the honour which has been promised us by God, where he says in the Epistle to the Ephesians, "In which ye also, having heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, believing in which we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance."
Irenaeus· Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 5, 202Patristic
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear,....
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)Reformed
- Matthew 26:39
Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Commentary on Matthew 26:391 voice
(Verse 39) And going forward a little, he fell on his face, praying and saying: My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Having given the apostles the command to endure and keep watch with the Lord, he advanced a little and fell on his face, showing the humility of his mind in the appearance of his flesh, and he said in a gentle way: My Father, and he asked that, if possible, the cup of suffering pass from him, about which we have spoken above.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420Patristic
- Genesis 4:2–4
Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
Commentary on Genesis 4:2–42 voices
Again, she bore his brother Abel. Abel is interpreted as grief or miserable, by which name from the earliest age was foreshadowed the condition of his lamentable untimely death. For, although precious is the death of his saints in the sight of the Lord, having …
Bede· Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron), 735Patristic
Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, "My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked." [Deuteronomy 32:15] Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years.
Clement of Rome· Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4, 99Patristic
- John 18:11
“Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”
Commentary on John 18:112 voices
Christ's bidding is fraught with the enactment of life according to the Gospel, and the spirit, not of the Mosaic Law revealed to the men of old time, but of the dispensation of Christ; which so dissuades us from using the sword, or offering resistance, that if a man choose to smite us on one cheek, and then to demand the other to be smitten, we ought to turn to him the other also; cutting out, as it were, by the roots the human weakness of our hearts.
Cyril of Alexandria· Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 11, 444Patristic
Then said Jesus unto Peter,....
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)Reformed
- Matthew 26:42
A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
Commentary on Matthew 26:422 voices
Or otherwise; He prays a second time that if Nineveh, or the Gentile world, cannot be saved unless the gourd, i. e. the Jews, be withered, His Father's will may be done, which is not contrary to the Son's will, who Himself speaks by the Prophet, I am content to do thy will, O God. (Ps. 40:8.)
Jerome· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 420Patristic
He went away again the second time,.... To the same place as before, or at some little distance; after he had reproved his disciples for their sleeping, and had exhorted them to watchfulness and prayer, suggesting the danger they were liable to, and the condition they were in: and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done.
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)Reformed
- Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Commentary on Genesis 8:202 voices
Noah built an altar to the Lord, and taking from all the clean animals and birds, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. Because he was a just man and truly perfect in his generations, after surviving such a great calamity, he immediately, upon building …
Bede· Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron), 735Patristic
And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord,....
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)Reformed
- Exodus 12:3
Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.
Commentary on Exodus 12:31 voice
"The lamb," the Lord says, "must be without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats." In another place of Holy Writ, it is prescribed that if anyone is unable to keep the Passover in the first month, he is to do so in the second. According to the regulation above, anyone who is unable to sacrifice a lamb may substitute a kid.
Jerome· HOMILY 91, 420Patristic
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge; OpenBible.info (CC-BY).