Isaac the Unblemished Offering Who May Not Leave the Land

"Sojourn in this land" (Genesis 26:3). [The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Isaac:] You are an unblemished burnt-offering. Just as a burnt-offering, if it goes outside the curtains [of the courtyard], is disqualified, so too you, if you go outside the land, are disqualified. "For to you and to your seed I will give all these lands" (Genesis 26:3). The Hebrew word "ha-El" [usually "the"] is read as "these" but [the sages note it implies] a portion of them. When do I give you the rest? In the time to come. "Because Abraham obeyed My voice" (Genesis 26:5). At the age of forty-eight Abraham recognized his Creator. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: at the age of three he recognized his Creator, as it is said, "because [ekev] Abraham obeyed," the numerical value of [the letters of] ekev being one hundred and seventy-two [the years Abraham lived after age three, by this reckoning].