“Isaac said to Abraham his father; he said: My father. He said: Here I am, my son. He said: Here are the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7). “Isaac said to Abraham his father; he said: My father” – Samael15This is another name for the Satan. came to our patriarch Abraham.
He said to him: ‘Old man, old man – have you lost your heart? Are you going to slaughter the son who was granted to you at the age of one hundred years?’ He [Abraham] said to him: ‘It is with this understanding [that I am going].’ He [Samael] said to him: ‘If He were to test you beyond this, would you be able to withstand it? –“If a matter tries you, will you be overwhelmed?”’ (Job 4:2).
He [Abraham] said to him: ‘[I will comply] even if it is beyond this.’ He said to him: ‘Tomorrow He will tell you that you are a shedder of blood because you shed the blood of your son.’ He said: ‘It is with this understanding [that I am going].’ Since [Samael saw that] it was to no avail, he turned to Isaac.
He said to him: ‘Son of the despondent woman,16Imagine how your mother will feel if you are killed. he is going to slaughter you.’ He [Isaac] said to him: ‘It is with this understanding [that I am going].’ He [Samael] said to him: ‘If so, all the finery that your mother crafted [for you] will go as inheritance to Ishmael, the one hated in her household, and you do not take all this to heart?’ If a word does not enter completely, it enters half way.17This is an expression.
When someone utters slander, even if the hearer does not believe his words, he does begin to have his doubts. In this case, although Samael did not convince Isaac, he was able to sow uncertainty in him. That is what is written: “Isaac said to Abraham his father…My father” – why “father, my father,” twice? It was so that he should become filled with mercy for him.
“He said: Here are the fire and the wood” – he said to Him: ‘May He [God] bring trouble upon that man who is the subject of His rebuke.’18Satan, of whom it is said, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan” (Zechariah 3:2). Abraham was telling Isaac to disregard Samael’s words. In any case, “God will Himself see to the lamb, my son” (Genesis 22:8). [By this he meant:] And if not, [if God will not provide a lamb], you yourself will be the lamb for burnt offering.
“Abraham said: God will Himself see to the lamb for a burnt offering, my son, and the two of them went together” (Genesis 22:8). “The two of them went together” – this one to bind and the other one to be bound; this one to slaughter and the other one to be slaughtered.