📖 Biblical Definition
The Binding of Isaac (Hebrew Aqedah, "binding") was God’s ultimate test of Abraham, commanding him to take his beloved son Isaac — "thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest" — and offer him as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-19). Abraham obeyed without delay, splitting the wood, saddling the ass, and walking three days to the mountain. As Isaac asked, "where is the lamb for a burnt offering?", Abraham answered: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb." The LORD halted the blade and provided a ram caught in the thicket. Moriah was the very mount on which the temple would later stand — and on which Christ would be crucified. The Father who tested Abraham did not spare His own Son.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Akedah — the binding of Isaac; the test on Mount Moriah.
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At the place that would later become the temple mount, Abraham raises the knife over his bound son. The angel of the LORD intervenes, and a ram caught in a thicket is offered in his place. Abraham names the place Yahweh-Yireh: 'the LORD will provide'.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 22:2 — "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah."
Genesis 22:8 — "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering."
Genesis 22:14 — "Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen."
Hebrews 11:19 — "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The Akedah is condemned as divine child abuse rather than read as messianic prefigurement.
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Modern critics call the binding of Isaac monstrous and use it to indict the God of the Old Testament. Some Jewish and Christian readings, embarrassed, soften the test until nothing remains.
Scripture preserves the sharp edge: God did command, Abraham did obey, the knife was raised, and the LORD did provide a substitute. The whole scene rehearses Calvary, where the same hill saw a Son not spared, a Father not stopping the knife, and the ram — the Lamb of God — given in our place.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Aqad (bind) and yireh (provide/see) are the keywords.
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H6123 — aqad — to bind (the Akedah)
H7200 — raah — to see, provide
H352 — ayil — ram — the substitute caught in the thicket
Usage
"God provided a ram for Abraham; God Himself was the Lamb on the same hill."
"Abraham raised the knife by faith, accounting God able to raise the dead."
"'The LORD will provide' was named on the mountain where He did."