Read Genesis 18:1-22:24 at Bible Gateway.
I study the Torah every year using the Teaching Tools of Scripture.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions inspired by the Holy Spirit are:
18:1-19:38 {s} Abraham’s intercession and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
20:1-18 {s} Abimelech takes but then restores Sarah, Abraham’s wife
21:1-21 {p} Isaac becomes Abraham’s heir when he is weaned
21:22-34 {p} Abimelech and Abraham make a covenant of peace
22:1-19 {p} Abraham and the offering of Isaac
22:20-24 {p} The seed of Nahor
This parashah forms its own Chiastic Structure:
What is amazing to me is the B pair. They do not at first seem to match. But look: in the 1B pair, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah reveals the judgment for sin … which is wrath. In the 2b pair, the prophetic picture of the father offering up his only son (Gen 22:2), the promised seed, reveals the sacrifice for sin … which is mercy.
They do in fact match, because the sin of man, which justice requires to be judged, calls forth from God, the mercy of God, which love requires the sacrifice for sin of Himself!
Leave a Reply