09/01/2026
Hey Church Family - Jeff Thompson here. For the Bible nerds out there, here are a few more details on why I believe Isaac wasn't a young boy in Genesis 22:
- The Abimelech treaty in 21:22–34 is 3 or 4 years after the events of Chapter 20 (Sarah got pregnant, Isaac was born, Isaac was weaned).
Genesis 21:34 says Abraham lived in Philistine territory "for many days"—a phrase not used in Genesis when only a few years have passed. Then, 22:1 opens with "After these things" (i.e., after “many days”).
So, no matter what, Chapter 22 is a long way from Chapter 21.
- When Abraham is 99, before Isaac is born, Scripture describes him as “old and getting on in years” (18:11). He was 100 when Isaac was born + 3-4 years to Isaac being weaned + “many days” = Abraham was old.
- RE: estimating Isaac to be 20-37 years old, 20 is a soft floor—what many scholars consider the minimum that fits the elapsed-time markers and the physical details in the text.
37 comes from Sarah. She's 90 at Isaac's birth (17:17) and dies at 127 (23:1), which makes Isaac 37. Genesis 23 is considered to follow shortly after the events of the previous chapter, making a 37-year-old Isaac the outer limit.
- Isaac carries the wood for a whole burnt offering up the mountain (V.6)—a load sufficient to consume a ram, and Abraham keeps the light items (the fire and the knife). This was not a physical feat a small boy could have accomplished.
- The word "boy" in VV.5 & 12 is the Hebrew נַעַר (na'ar)—one of the most elastic words in the Old Testament. It spans infancy to full adulthood, and doubles as a status term for a servant or retainer at any age:
*Moses at 3 months (Exodus 2:6)
*Ishmael at 16-17 (Genesis 21:12–20, repeatedly)
*Joseph at 17 (Genesis 37:2, "the na'ar was working with the sons of Bilhah")
*Absalom (2 Samuel 18:5, "deal gently with the na'ar Absalom," said of a grown man with children who was commanding an army in rebellion)
*Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 13:7 calls him na'ar at his accession; 12:13 says he was 41)
And the decisive one is in V.5:
"Then Abraham said to his nəʿārāyw, 'Stay here with the donkey. The na'ar and I will go over there to worship.'"
The servants are called the plural of the same word used for Isaac. These servants would have been men, trusted with a 3-day journey and left in charge of the animals. It cannot mean "small child" for Isaac and “young men” for the servants, in the same verse.
One honest wrinkle: the Septuagint renders Isaac's na'ar as παιδάριον (a diminutive) while using παῖδας for the servants. So, the Greek translators did distinguish them. But the LXX's paidarion still covers Joseph at 17 (Genesis 37:30), so it leans younger without requiring a child.
- RE: Abraham being able to put Isaac on the altar (V.9), the verb doesn't imply lifting. Sim means to put, place, set—a general positioning verb. It's the same word used 2 verses earlier for laying wood on Isaac's back and for arranging wood on the altar. It describes where something ends up, not how it gets there. A cooperating man climbs up and lies down; the father positions him.
And the verb is specialized. ʿāqad occurs only here in the entire Hebrew Bible. Later Hebrew uses it to mean tying an animal's legs for slaughter. It's ritual vocabulary, not the language of subduing someone who's fighting back. It's also why Jewish tradition has always called this passage the Akedah—the Binding.
- Less clear, but still interesting—Isaac makes a 3-day journey (V.4; ~45–50 miles from Beersheba) on foot, keeping pace with adults. They took one donkey (VV.3 & 5; the Hebrew is singular), but it was likely for Abraham and/or the firewood and supplies.
