REFLECTION

We continue our study of the revelatory language and grammar in Genesis 22 by turning to verse 5. Here, we find a key insight into Abraham’s mindset.

Genesis 22:5: After traveling for three days, Abraham sees the place in the distance and tells his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

At first glance, “we will come back” sounds like an unshakable statement of faith, and it is often quoted as evidence of Abraham’s certainty. But, in Hebrew, verbs can be written in different forms that show not just the action but also the speaker’s intent or attitude toward that action.¹ The verb for “we will come back” — wənāšūḇāh (הָבּו֥ ׁשָנְו) — is in the cohortative form, which is often used when the speaker expresses a wish, intention, or desire rather than a guaranteed outcome or certainty.²

So, when Abraham said, “We will come back,” in the cohortative form, Abraham’s words were not necessarily a confident prediction. They were an expression of hope spoken amid uncertainty. Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us that Abraham considered God able even to raise the dead. Whether he expected miraculous deliverance or resurrection, he trusted that God’s power and promise would prevail—even over death.

This invites us to broaden our understanding of faith. It shows that faith can include wrestling, hoping, and still choosing to move forward without guarantees. Too often, faith is taught as unwavering certainty. Here, Abraham shows us that faith is rooted in a hope that is not dependent on a particular outcome but anchored in the character of God.

The tension continues in verse 8, when Isaac addresses his father and asks where the lamb for the sacrifice is. Some scholars suggest Isaac was in his mid-teens because in verse 5, Abraham uses the word “lad” (naʿar), while some Jewish historians, such as Josephus, suggest Isaac may have been up to twenty-five years old.³ Whatever his exact age, Isaac was old enough to understand the situation. Perhaps, in asking about the lamb, he began to realize the true nature of their journey.

Abraham’s response is vague, and even more so when read in the original language:

“God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

In most modern translations, a comma appears between “offering” and “my son,” which shapes the meaning in one direction. In the original Hebrew, however, there is no punctuation.⁴ This allows for two possible readings:

1. “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” meaning God will provide an animal.

2. “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering—my son,” meaning Isaac is the offering.

The ambiguity invites us to imagine the conversation. Isaac, face-to-face with his father, could have discerned the tone and intent behind the words. We, however, are left with a lack of clarity: Did Isaac know he was to be the lamb, or was Abraham intentionally withholding that truth?

From Abraham’s perspective, if he meant God would provide an animal, it reveals hope and expectation that God would make a way out. If he meant Isaac was the offering, it shows his resolve to obey even without a way out in sight. Either way, one truth is clear: Abraham was following God.

As the journey unfolded, Isaac’s role certainly became clear to him. In an extraordinary display of trust, he allowed himself to be bound and laid upon the altar. For Abraham, raising the knife was not only the act of offering his son’s life but, in another sense, surrendering his own. The loss of Isaac would have unraveled him completely. Yet at the very moment Abraham was prepared to follow through with the command, the angel of the Lord intervened. The physical sacrifice was never required because the surrender of heart and will had already been accomplished.

After this encounter, Abraham gave that place a name: Jehovah Jireh, often translated as “The Lord will provide.” Abraham acknowledged God’s faithfulness just as God honored his trust. God is not blind to our faith. God is not forgetful of our surrender or of the internal battles we fight while following Him. God is the One who provides and the God who sees.