LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
WORD STUDY OF THE NOUN הָלֹע IN GENESIS 22:1-8
Submitted to Dr. John McLean, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course,
OTCL 505-B04
Hebrew Language Tools
by
Kristopher Williams
SCORE (100/100)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….….…...1
SELECT ONLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS FOR YOUR STUDY………………2
DETERMINE THE HEBREW WORD TRANSLATED AS “BURNT OFFERING” ……...2
DETERMINE THE USAGE OF THE HEBREW WORD………….………………………..2
LIST ALL ENGLISH WORDS USED FOR ……………………………….…………… הָלֹע3
CONTEXTUAL SETTINGS THAT INFLUENCE TRANSLATION CHOICES…………...4
CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………….4
BIBLIOGRAPHY.……………………………………………………………...……………..5
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INTRODUCTION
Genesis 22 is a well-known and intriguing passage that has attracted attention from
scholarly exegetes, faithful readers, and unbelieving casual readers for millennia. With the
birth of Isaac in Genesis 21, the child promised by God to Abraham and Sarah, “it appears
that the plot has reached its appropriate resolution.”1 Abraham had maintained his faith in
God through decades of testing, failures, and disappointments. At this point, and despite
efforts on Abraham and Sarah’s part to assist God by securing a natural heir by somewhat
scurrilous means through Hagar, Abraham’s faithfulness to the covenant seems to have
finally paid off. With all of the apparent loose ends in his life metaphorically tied up and
seemingly cemented with the identification of Yahweh by a new title (El Olam, the
“everlasting/enduring” God in Genesis 21:33), the situation “indicates the stability, security,
and permanence that Abraham now feels in the covenant and in his relationship with God.”2
It is at what appears to be the “happy ending” of Abraham’s story that God decides to put
Abraham’s faith to the test once again by demanding that Abraham take Isaac to the region of
Moriah and “offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell
you” (Genesis 22:2).3 In the initial reading of Genesis 22:1-8, it appears that Abraham will
indeed sacrifice Isaac; with the ultimate results of the passage, however, Abraham’s claim
that “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son, (Genesis 22:8)”
takes on additional meaning in the context of this chapter and also in the New Testament.
However, before we see the denouement of the entire chapter, verses 1-8 increase the drama
1 Tremper Longman, III, How to Read Genesis (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 134.
2
John H. Walton, Genesis: The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 509.
3
Emphasis is mine.
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by stressing the apparent reality of Isaac’s impending sacrifice as a “burnt offering” to God.
It is this single Hebrew word translated as “burnt offering” that we will examine.
SELECT ONLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS FOR YOUR STUDY
Chet Roden presses the idea that “If a noun is used several times in a short span, that
word is probably a key to understanding that text.” In Genesis 22:1-8, the English term “burnt
offering” is used five times (22:2; 22:3, 22:6; 22:7; 22:8).4 “Burnt offering,” due to its multiple
mentions, seems to be an important term that is necessary for proper understanding of the
passage.
DETERMINE THE HEBREW WORD TRANSLATED AS “BURNT OFFERING”
The root word translated as “burnt offering” five times in our passage is הָלֹע (`olah).5
The noun is feminine, appearing in lexicons and dictionaries as הָלֹע.6
DETERMINE THE USAGE OF THE HEBREW WORD
The first instance of הָלֹע in our passage is in Genesis 22:2, where it appears with the
inseparable preposition ְל (to/for/as) and is seen as הָ֔לֹעְל. It is demonstrating what Isaac’s
purpose was to be (as/for a burnt offering). The second appearance of the noun is in verse 3 as
הָ֔לֹע. The third occurrence is in verse 6 with the definite article as הָהָ֗לֹע , where it is used in
4
The term also appears in 22:13.
5
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/22.htm, accessed 22 February 2020. See also
https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/22/2/t_conc_22002, accessed 23 February 2020.
6
Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt, Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2001), 462.
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reference to the wood used intended to be used (wood of the burnt offering). The 4th and 5th uses,
in verses 7 & 8 respectively, are with the inseparable preposition ְל as in verse 2 and translate as
“for a burnt offering.”
The Blue Letter Bible Online quotes 289 uses of הָלֹע, stressing that the “KJV translates
Strong's H5930 in the following manner: burnt offering (264x), burnt sacrifice (21x), ascent (1x),
go up (1x).”7 The Strong’s Hebrew Concordance agrees with 289 OT uses of הָלֹע.8 The word
is used in every book of the Pentateuch (though sparingly in Deuteronomy), Joshua, Judges, 1-2
Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Hosea, Amos, and Micah.
LIST ALL ENGLISH WORDS USED FOR הָלֹע
Strong’s defines the noun as “a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a
holocaust (as going up in smoke):—ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to.”9 The force of
the noun seems to be smoke ascending to heaven as the result of burning something as part of a
religious ritual. As mentioned above, the KJV translates the noun as burnt offering, burnt
sacrifice, ascent (1 Kings 10:5), and “go up” (Ezekiel 40:26). Offering is practically
synonymous with sacrifice; thus, the KJV translates the noun 285 of 289 times the same way.
Interestingly, the use of the English term holocaust, perhaps due to its use to describe the
genocide committed against European Jews during the 20th century by Nazi Germany, is rarely
used to translate the term despite its accuracy.
7 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5930&ot=NASB&t=KJV#lexSearch,
accessed 22 February 2020. This still leaves two instances unaccounted for.
8
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/strongs_5930.htm, accessed 23 February 2020.
9 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5930&ot=NASB&t=KJV#lexSearch,
accessed 22 February 2020.
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CONTEXTUAL SETTINGS THAT INFLUENCE TRANSLATION CHOICES
Almost all of the times הָלֹע is translated, it appears as "burnt offering” or “burnt
sacrifice.” Examining the contexts, the noun is used to describe liturgical sacrifices performed
by those in covenant agreements (Noah, Abraham, the Israelites during the Exodus, etc.) with
Yahweh. In the vast majority of these scenes, animal sacrifices are called for, described,
performed, or alluded to. For our passage, it is clear that the readers are to understand the
seriousness of the situation; an actual sacrifice is called for. Isaac, a human, is supposed to be
killed and burned as a sacrifice in the same manner as the animals sacrificed throughout the OT.
All traces of the promised covenant child are seemingly to be removed from existence.
Combined use through the OT strongly suggests continuity of thought; in other words, I do not
think the language used by the author of Genesis is figurative or symbolic. It describes a harsh
reality and creates tension in the text as we can imagine the anguish Abraham felt, but never
expressed, as he faithfully went about carrying out God’s commandment. Whereas we know the
end of the story, Abraham was living it and did not.
CONCLUSION
The Hebrew noun הָלֹע is used five times in Genesis 22:1-8 to alert the reader that God
has asked Abraham to kill and burn his son Isaac in the same manner as one would an animal
sacrifice. Used nearly 300 times in the OT and translated as "burnt offering" in nearly every
circumstance in 23 OT books, הָלֹע seems to always designate the actual, physical sacrifice and
immolation of an object, usually an animal, offered in honor and obedience to God. In our text,
we are supposed to see a shocking turn of fortune since all seemed well with Abraham’s life now
that he had secured his promised child. It seems tragic that Abraham will, after planting a tree in
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Beersheba and calling upon the newly revealed name of Yahweh, לֵ֥א םָֽלֹוע (El ‘olam), that he
will lose this “everlasting/eternal” idea because of a strangely demanded ֹהָל (`olah).10 Victor
Hamilton notes that the message of the chapter itself “is not Abraham has performed, but God
will provide,” with the ultimate takeaway being that “Faith then is ultimately based on God’s
character and the reliability of His word.”11
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages. Accessed February 23, 2020.
https://biblehub.com/.
Blue Letter Bible. Accessed February 23, 2020. https://www.blueletterbible.org/.
Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1982.
Longman, Tremper. How to Read Genesis. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005.
10 It may be a stretch phonetically and grammatically, but the terms sound similar enough to me to make
a note of.
11 Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1982), 109.
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