“Abraham lifted his eyes and saw that behold, there was a ram, after this, which had been caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham went, took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13). “Abraham lifted his eyes and saw that behold, there was a ram, after this” – what is meant by “after this”? Rabbi Yudan said: “After” all of Israel’s actions in which they become caught up in transgressions and encounter problems, ultimately they will be rescued through the ram’s horn, as it is stated: “The Lord God will sound the shofar…[the Lord of Hosts will protect them…]” (Zechariah 9:14–15).
Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: “After” many generations, Israel will become caught up in transgressions and become entangled with misfortunes, ultimately they will be rescued through the ram’s horn, as it is stated: “The Lord God will sound the shofar” (Zechariah 9:14). Rabbi Ḥanina bar Rabbi Yitzḥak said: All the days of the year, the people of Israel are caught up in transgressions and become entangled in misfortunes, and on Rosh Hashanah they take a shofar and sound it, and they are remembered before the Holy One blessed be He and He forgives them, as it is stated: “The Lord God will sound the shofar” (Zechariah 9:14).
Rabbi Levi said: Because Abraham saw the ram freeing itself from one thicket and going and becoming entangled in another thicket, the Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘So, too, your descendants are destined to become entangled in the [four] kingdoms,43See Daniel chapters 2 and 8. [going] from [being subjugated by] Babylon to Medea, from Medea to Greece, and from Greece to Edom. But ultimately they will be rescued through the ram’s horn.’
That is what is written: “The Lord God will sound the shofar” (Zechariah 9:14). “Abraham went, took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of [taḥat] his son” – Rabbi Banai said: He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, consider this ram’s blood as though it were the blood of Isaac my son, its fats [burnt on the altar] as though they were the fats of Isaac my son,’ like what we learned: [If one says:] This [animal] is in place of [taḥat] that one,44Referring to an animal that had been consecrated to be sacrificed. this one is a substitute for that one, or this one is in exchange for that one – it is considered a substitute.45The second animal assumes the sanctity of the first one (the first animal remain sacred as well, however.
See Leviticus 27:10.) Rabbi Pinḥas said: He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, consider it as though I had sacrificed Isaac my son first, and then I sacrificed this ram in addition to [taḥat] him,’ just as it says: “Yotam his son reined after him [taḥtav]” (II Kings 15:7).46When Yotam reigned after [taḥat] his father, he did not supplant his father’s reign; rather, both he and his father were kings, albeit not simultaneously.
Here, too, Abraham prayed that God should consider it as though he had offered both the ram and Isaac. It is like what we learn in the Mishna: [If one makes a vow, declaring that something shall be consecrated] like the sheep or like the sheepfolds, [it is consecrated]47Mishna Nedarim 1:3. When he said ‘like the sheep,’ it is assumed that he was referring to a particular sacrificial sheep, as the Midrash goes on to elaborate. – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Like the sheep of the daily offering.
Reish Lakish said: Like Isaac’s ram. There48In Babylon. they said: Like the offspring of a sin offering. Bar Kapara taught: Like the lamb that never suckled in all its days.49The miraculous lamb, created just for this occasion – referring to the sheep found by Abraham.