2Samuel 23:1 ¶ Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
2Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
2Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
2Samuel 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
This chapter opens with a section of verses identified as being the last words of David, the son of Jesse, the sweet psalmist of Israel, the man raised up (from a lowly shepherd) and anointed by the God of Jacob to be the King of Israel. The implication seems to be that David is declaring his songs to be inspired by God, that he was the messenger chosen to share God’s word with the people of Israel through song. I think most people would admit that music provides one of the best mediums for memorizing and retaining such truths.
These are obviously not David’s very last words. Because of the context, I think the writer is probably declaring verses 2-7 to be David’s last psalm. I liked the following quote from Trapp in summary of this psalm: "Wherein he doth, in few words but full of matter, acknowledge God's benefits, confess his sins, profess his faith, comfort himself in the covenant, and denounce destruction to unbelievers . . . How much in a little!"
David declared that the Spirit of the LORD spoke through him as a messenger of God’s truth. David identified the LORD as “the God of Israel,” the supreme authority over Israel, and “the Rock of Israel,” the strong refuge (from the Hebrew for Rock) of Israel.
God told David that the man who rules over other men must rule justly and righteously; he must rule in the fear of God. To rule in the fear of God is to rule in accordance with God’s revealed will in obedience to His commands. Such a man will shine before God and his people as brightly as the rising sun on a clear day that promotes the growth of the grass sparkling with water after a pleasant rain. I think the psalmist is painting a picture of a man leading a nation that is prospering and experiencing God’s blessing.
If only America were ruled by men who ruled justly and righteously in the fear of the LORD! I liked this quote from Guzik: “When leaders rule in the fear of God they recognize that a God of justice reviews their work and will require an accounting of how the ruler has led.”
2Samuel 23:5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
This is a verse that is at odds with most of the other translations. Most of the translations express the first part of the verse as a statement basically declaring David’s house or family to be in right standing with God. I know the difference must be in the foundational text. Frankly, either way would make sense to me.
The KJV indicates that God chose David and made a covenant with him despite the fact that his house as a whole was not in right standing with God. We know from what we have learned in the study of this book that David’s family was certainly dysfunctional and filled with strife. In that covenant He promised David that His seed would rule on the throne of God’s kingdom forever.
1 Chronicles 17:4&11–14 “Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD….And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.”
The key truth is that God chose to make an everlasting covenant, an irrevocable promise to David that he would effect his salvation and fulfill his desires. We know that fulfillment will culminate in the Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God, when He establishes His kingdom on earth.
Again, the wording of the last phrase is confusing and differs in most translations. Maybe it is a reference to the fact that that kingdom is yet to spring up (from the Hebrew for grow).
2Samuel 23:6 But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:
2Samuel 23:7 But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.
In contrast, the sons of Belial, those that reject the God of Israel as LORD, are like thorn bushes that one avoids touching with the hands. The only reason you would want to touch them is to pile them up and burn them up, and this would require the use of tools to protect your hands. Implied—and this is what God will do to them.
2Samuel 23:8 ¶ These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
The rest of this chapter is a listing of David’s mighty men, a total of 37. It begins by singling out the chief among them for their exploits. We know that Joab was the chief military commander, but he is not singled out for his service. That is not surprising considering the dislike that David had for him. There appear to be three top generals under him and three more commanders under them that were appointed to leadership over the remaining 30.
The first man identified is Adino the Eznite, a Tachmonite that was a chief among the captains. This seems to indicate that he was the next in command under Joab. He is remembered for killing 800 men with his spear in one battle. It is noted that the record in Chronicles calls him Jashobeam and records the number killed as 300.
1 Chronicles 11:11 “And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.”
John Gill offers this explanation: “…others observe, that he engaged with eight hundred, and slew three hundred of them, when the rest fled, and were pursued and killed by his men; and he routing them, and being the occasion of their being slain, the slaying of them all is ascribed to him; or he first slew three hundred, and five hundred more coming upon him, he slew them also: but what Kimchi offers seems to be best, that there were two battles, in which this officer was engaged; at one of them he slew eight hundred, and at the other three hundred; for so what is omitted in the books of Samuel, and of the Kings, is frequently supplied in the books of Chronicles, as what one evangelist in the New Testament omits, another records.”
2Samuel 23:9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:
2Samuel 23:10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.
After Adino/Jashobeam was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite. He was one of the three that were with David when they defied the Philistines despite the fact that the troops of Israel deserted them. He fought so long and so hard that it was like his hand was glued to his sword. It is noted that the LORD achieved a great victory through David and these three men, and the people profited from the great spoil from this battle.
The Chronicler provides a bit more information about this battle.
1 Chronicles 11:13 “He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.”
2Samuel 23:11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.
2Samuel 23:12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory.
After Eleazar was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. He is noted for defending a crop of lentils from the Philistines when most of the people who should have been helping him fled. Again it is noted that it was the LORD that achieved a great victory through this man. As mighty as all of these men were, they could have achieved none these exploits except through the LORD’s enablement.
I liked this application from Spurgeon: "Solitary prowess is expected of believers. I hope we may breed in this place a race of men and women who know the truth, and know also what the Lord claims at their hands, and are resolved, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to war a good warfare for their Lord whether others will stand at their side or no."
2Samuel 23:13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
2Samuel 23:14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.
2Samuel 23:15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
2Samuel 23:16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.
2Samuel 23:17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
This section details a time when three of the chiefs of the thirty (not specifically identified, but most likely were the three just named) went to David at the cave of Adullam where he was in hiding from the Philistines that were encamped in the valley of Raphaim. There was also a garrison of the Philistines stationed in Bethlehem.
David remarked that he longed for a drink from the well by the gate to the city of Bethlehem. This was David’s hometown, and I am sure he had drunk water from that well many times. Three of his mighty men managed to get through the Philistine troops to get David that drink of water and bring it to him. David’s reaction must have surprised them when he dumped the water out before the LORD. He felt guilty that the men had jeopardized their lives just to satisfy his desire for a drink. To him, that water represented their blood; and he was not worthy to drink it.
2Samuel 23:18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three.
2Samuel 23:19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three.
We come now to two of the three men under the three generals—Abishai and Benaiah.
It appears Abishai, Joab’s brother and son of David’s sister Zeruiah, was fourth in command under his brother. He is noted for personally killing 300 men in battle. He is recognized as chief among the commanders under the generals, but definitely not worthy of being ranked with the top three generals.
Though not recorded here, scripture records that Abishai had shown his bravery in many other instances.
He was the one that volunteered to go with David to take Saul’s spear and cruse of water while Saul’s army slept.
He saved David’s life when threatened by the Philistine giant Ishbibenob the last time that David went to battle.
The Chronicler credits him for killing 18,000 in the valley of salt. I would assume that means he led the troops that did so.
2Samuel 23:20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:
2Samuel 23:21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear.
2Samuel 23:22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men.
2Samuel 23:23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard.
Next of note was Benaiah the son of Jehoida, the son of a valiant man of Kabeel. Among his many exploits he is noted for killing two heroic men of Moab as well as a lion one snowy day. He also killed an Egyptian with a spear that confronted him while equipped with only a staff; he actually took the man’s spear from him and killed him with that same spear. The Chronicler informs us that this man was very tall, five cubits, or about eight feet all.
As mighty as he was, Benaiah was still not worthy of ranking with the top three generals. He was, however, placed in charge of David’s personal bodyguards.
The following verses comprise a listing of the rest of David’s mighty men. Since the previous leaders have been noted in order of leadership, it would seem that Asahel, Joab’s other brother, was the final commander in the company of Abishai and Benaiah.
It should also be noted that the list includes Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba that David had killed. We also learned previously that Abner killed Asahel. I think this indicates that this list commemorates the men most noted for helping David establish his kingdom whether or not they were still alive.
Note that verse 34 identifies Eliam the son of Ahithopehl the Gilonite. Ahithophel was David’s personal counselor that defected to help Absalom. It is believed that Ahithophel was the Bathsheba’s grandfather since Eliam is identified as her father.
2 Samuel 11:3 “And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
2Samuel 23:24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
2Samuel 23:25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
2Samuel 23:26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
2Samuel 23:27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
2Samuel 23:28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
2Samuel 23:29 Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
2Samuel 23:30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
2Samuel 23:31 Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
2Samuel 23:32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
2Samuel 23:33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,
2Samuel 23:34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
2Samuel 23:35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
2Samuel 23:36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
2Samuel 23:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah,
2Samuel 23:38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,
2Samuel 23:39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
2Samuel 24:1 ¶ And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
This chapter opens with a statement that the LORD is angry with the people of Israel once again; it does not, however, specify why. The parallel passage in Chronicles provides important information.
1 Chronicles 21:1 “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.”
It is important to note that Satan was the one that provoked David to sin, though I think it is also true that he was only allowed to provoke David because it would result in accomplishing God’s purpose to judge the people of Israel. I truly believe that Satan is only allowed to afflict men and women of faith in accordance with God’s sovereign purposes.
2Samuel 24:2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.
2Samuel 24:3 And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?
2Samuel 24:4 Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
The king told Joab, the captain of the host, to go all over Israel and number the people. The continuing narrative will show that this accounting was intended to determine the number of available fighting men.
Joab reminded David that it was up to the LORD to determine that number. In other words, you don’t need to know it. God is sufficient as our defender no matter the number. This is one time that Joab exhibits spiritual insight. David disregarded Joab’s advice and ordered him to do as he was told; and he did. Verse 24 also indicates that the captains of the host sided with Joab, but that made no difference to David.
2Samuel 24:5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:
2Samuel 24:6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon,
2Samuel 24:7 And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba.
2Samuel 24:8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
2Samuel 24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
This section confirms that Joab and his men went throughout the land of Israel to take this census, a project that took them nine months and twenty days. He returned to the king and reported that there were 800,000 valiant men that were battle ready in Israel and 500,000 men in Judah for a total of 1,300,000 men.
The numbers in the parallel account in Chronicles again show a discrepancy. I liked Adam Clarke’s observation: “…more corruptions have taken place in the numbers of the historical books of the Old Testament, than in any other part of the sacred records. To attempt to reconcile them in every part is lost labor; better at once acknowledge what cannot be successfully denied, that although the original writers of the Old Testament wrote under the influence of the Divine Spirit, yet we are not told that the same influence descended on all copiers of their words, so as absolutely to prevent them from making mistakes. They might mistake, and they did mistake; but a careful collation of the different historical books serves to correct all essential errors of the scribes.”
2Samuel 24:10 ¶ And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
Once Joab reported the numbers from the census, it hit David that he had acted very foolishly. He immediately repented of his sin before the LORD and asked for his forgiveness. How had he sinned? I think it could have been a couple of ways. The numbering could have been an act of pride in showing him just how great Israel had grown during his reign. Or—It reflected a lack of faith in the LORD to need to know just how large a military force he had in facing the enemy. It shouldn’t have mattered if that number were in the hundreds or millions when considering whether or not to go out against the enemy in battle; it hadn’t mattered in his early years. All that was needed was to seek the LORD’s direction and act accordingly. Or—it could have been both.
2Samuel 24:11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
2Samuel 24:12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
2Samuel 24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
2Samuel 24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
The next morning the LORD sent the prophet Gad to give David a message. The LORD presented three options for David to choose from as the consequences of his sin.
Seven years of famine OR
Three months of enemy attacks OR
Three days pestilence in the land
David told Gad that he would rather fall into the hands of the LORD because he knew that His mercies were great. He certainly couldn’t expect such mercy from men. It was only the choice of pestilence that left the extent of the judgment dependent upon God’s mercy. The other two judgments had defined parameters.
2Samuel 24:15 So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.
2Samuel 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
2Samuel 24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.
The LORD sent three days pestilence in the land in accordance with David’s choice. As a result, 70,000 men died throughout the land. When the angel came to stretch out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD stopped him. He determined that judgment had been sufficient.
It is noted that the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite. Many times in the Old Testament scripture “the angel of the LORD” is a reference to the preincarnate Jesus.
I assume that David was at the threshingfloor when he saw the angel. Gill posits that the angel was visible to all as he was poised in the sky ready to strike Jerusalem. The Chronicler does tell us that Ornan and his four sons did see the angel after the fact when David went to build an altar to the LORD as referenced below.
1 Chronicles 21:18–20 “Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite….And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.”
Upon seeing the angel David spoke to the LORD and again admitted his sin while interceding for the people. He was the one that had done wrong. He declared that the judgment should be against him and his house, not those innocent of wrongdoing.
I think it is important to remember that God’s purpose in allowing David to be tempted by Satan was to accomplish judgment against the people of Israel. Therefore, all three options for the punishment of David’s sin were intended to judge the people. David did not know this.
It’s interesting to note David’s response because his psalms are full of the truth that God is omniscient and righteous. He should have realized that the people were guilty of sin also or God would not have judged them. It is natural, however, that David was focused on his own sin at the time.
It’s also interesting to me that David thought it acceptable that the judgment of his sin be allowed to affect his whole family even though he was the guilty one.
2Samuel 24:18 ¶ And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2Samuel 24:19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.
The LORD sent Gad back to David in answer to his prayer. He told David to go and make an altar to the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. So David headed out to do just that.
2Samuel 24:20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
2Samuel 24:21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
2Samuel 24:22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
2Samuel 24:23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.
Araunah is called Ornan in Chronicles (as seen above). Araunah was threshing wheat when he looked up and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. He went out and bowed before the king asking what he wanted. David told him that he wanted to buy his threshingfloor to build an altar to the LORD so that the plague would stop. Araunah offered to give him the land as well as the oxen and all the instruments needed to make the sacrifice. He expressed his hope that the LORD would accept the offerings and stop the plague.
2Samuel 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
2Samuel 24:25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
David, however, told Araunah that he wanted to buy the land and the oxen; he could not offer a sacrifice to the LORD that cost him nothing. So David bought the land and animals for 50 shekels of silver. He then built the altar and offered burnt and peace offerings. The LORD accepted his sacrifices and the plague was stopped. In fact, the Chronicler tells us that the LORD showed His acceptance by sending fire from heaven to consume the burnt offering.
1 Chronicles 21:26 “And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.”
The Chronicler notes that David eventually bought the land outright for 600 shekels of gold.
1 Chronicles 21:24–25 “And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.”
This would seem to imply that the 50 shekels of silver bought a small area on top of the hill and the 600 shekels included the purchase of the whole hill.
David recognized an important truth. To qualify as a sacrifice, the thing being offered must cost the one making the sacrifice. Something that is sacrificed to the LORD is something we give to the LORD for His use to honor Him. Webster words it like this: “Destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else.”
When we surrender our lives to Christ, that should be our mindset. We are giving our lives to Jesus to use for His glory and His purposes—not our own. Since we have to live in this world, that is a hard truth for us to process—at least it is for me. I truly want to honor the LORD and serve Him in every way I can. The world, however, provides so many distractions and temptations to prevent us from doing that. I so look forward to the day that He takes us home, and I can serve Him freely without dealing with the temptations of the flesh and the distractions of this world!
Note: The Chronicler identifies this piece of land as mount Moriah, as the place that Solomon chose to build the temple.
2 Chronicles 3:1 “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.”
I just realized that this verse confirms that the “angel of the LORD” was indeed the preincarnate Jesus, the LORD that appeared to David.
It is supposed that this is the same Moriah upon which Abraham took his son Isaac to offer as a sacrifice to the LORD.
Genesis 22:1–2 “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”