What Does Genesis 22:3 Mean?
And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the rising offering, and rose, and went to the place of which God had said to him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.THE KEY
In Hebrew, Abraham’s second “rose up” and the “place” he goes to share the root קום (qum), joining his rising with his destination in one word-family.
THE MEANING
A divine word takes physical form: Abraham rises, gathers his two young men and Isaac, splits the wood for a burnt offering, and goes to the specified place. Isaac and the offering wood travel together, leaving the gravity of the journey exposed and unresolved.
THE ROOT
קוּם
qûm
GROWS FROM
קום
q-w-m
To rise, stand, or arise.
“rose up / place” in this verse is qûm. The Hebrew verb וַיָּקָם (wayyaqom, “he rose up”) and מָקוֹם (maqom, “place”) grow from the same root. English separates the movement from its destination; Hebrew holds rising and the place where one stands in a single word-family.
ALSO GROWS
qûm: Rise, stand, arise.
קוּם
This is the root behind Abraham’s second “rose up” in the verse.
maqom: Place, a standing-place.
מָקוֹם
The destination God told Abraham to go to carries the same root as his rising.
heqim: Raise, establish.
הֵקִים
This causative form shows the root extending from standing up to raising or establishing something.
וַיְבַקַּע
vayvaqqaʿ
GROWS FROM
בקע
b-q-ʿ
To split, cleave, or break open.
The verse names the action directly: Abraham splits the wood for the burnt offering. The same root can describe waters being split open, so the shared Hebrew word reaches across ordinary preparation and a dramatic opening in the sea.
ALSO GROWS
bāqaʿ: Split, cleave, break open.
בָּקַע
This is the root verb behind Abraham’s act of splitting the offering wood.
vayyibbaqəʿû: And they were split open.
וַיִּבָּקְעוּ
Exodus 14:21 uses this form of the same root for the waters being divided.
THE PATTERN
Divine speech takes spatial form by directing bodies toward or away from a particular place.
And the LORD said to Abram, Go away from your land, from your land of birth, and from your father's house, to the land I will let you see.And he said, Do not draw near here. Loosen the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is set-apart ground.By trust Abraham, called to go out into a place he would receive as an inheritance, heard and responded, and went out, not knowing where he was going.THE THREAD
And you, lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it, and let the children of Israel come on dry ground in the midst of the sea.The Hebrew verb behind “clave” here and “divide” in God’s command over the sea share the root בקע (b-q-ʿ). One names splitting wood for an offering; the other, splitting the sea, two sharply different scenes joined by the same action word.
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