Genesis 22:2

Take now thy son. If these words were spoken slowly, as is probable, Abraham must have felt, in sequence, pride, fear, and awe. Repetition was calculated by God to arouse parental affection and to prepare Abraham for the severe test soon to follow. In calling Isaac, Abraham’s “only son,” God implied that he alone was considered a legitimate heir to the promise. This contrasts with the expression of ch. 21:12, 13, where God calls Ishmael “the son of the bondwoman.”

The land of Moriah. The name Moriah appears but twice in the Bible, here and in 2 Chron. 3:1. According to the latter text Solomon built his temple on Mt. Moriah, to the north of David’s city and to the west of the Kidron valley. The land of Moriah must therefore have been the mountainous country round about Jerusalem. The name seems to have been rather uncommon.

Offer him. The sacrifice of human beings, particularly of infants, was common in ancient times. Both the Bible and archeology affirm that the Canaanites practiced such rites. The idea of sacrificing one’s first-born to the deity was therefore nothing strange to Abraham. While God explicitly prohibited such sacrifices (Lev. 18:21), it is not certain that Abraham was clear as to this. Indeed, only on the assumption that he did not understand this divine ban can we explain his failure to protest God’s command to offer up his son.