Isaac Carries the Wood While Samael Tempts the Two

"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son" (Genesis 22:6) - like one who carries his cross on his shoulder. "And he took in his hand the fire and the knife [ma'akhelet]." Why is it called ma'akhelet? Because it makes food [okhalim] fit. And the Rabbis say: Why is it called ma'akhelet? Because Israel eats [okhlim] in this world by the merit of that knife. "And the two of them went together" - this one to bind and that one to be bound, this one to slaughter and that one to be slaughtered. "And Isaac said to Abraham his father, and he said, My father" (Genesis 22:7-8). Samael came and said to him, "Old man, have you lost your heart? A son given to you at a hundred years old, and you are going to slaughter him?" He said to him, "For just this purpose." "And if He tests you even more than this, can you withstand it? 'If one ventures a word to you, will you be wearied?' (Job 4:2)." He said to him, "And even more than this." "Until now? Tomorrow He will say to you, You are a shedder of blood, for you shed his blood." He said to him, "For just this purpose." And since he did not prevail with him, he came to Isaac. He said to him, "Son of an unhappy mother, he is going to slaughter you." He said to him, "For just this purpose." He said to him, "If so, all those fine garments your mother made will be Ishmael's, the hated one of the house, as inheritance; do they not concern you?" If the whole does not enter, half enters. This is what is written, "And he said, My father" - why "My father" twice? So that he would be filled with mercy for him. "And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" He said to him, "May that man who would taunt be rebuked. In any case, He will show Himself the lamb for the burnt offering; and if not, you are the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." "And the two of them went together" - this one to bind and that one to be bound, this one to slaughter and that one to be slaughtered. "And they came to the place which God had told him, and Abraham built there the altar" (Genesis 22:9). He took it [a stone] and hid it from Isaac, saying that this one should not throw a stone and render him unfit for the offering.