שבו לכם פה, “you remain here, awaiting our return!” A Midrash quotes Avraham as saying to his son Yitzchok after he saw a single mountain covered by a cloud, what he saw. Yitzchok responded that he saw a beautiful mountain above which a cloud was resting. He then returned to the lads who had accompanied him and Yitzchok, and asked them what they had seen. They said that they had not seen anything unusual. Therefore Avraham understood that they were not to accompany him any further. He considered that their powers of perception were no better than those of a donkey which accompanied them. This is why the Talmud taught in tractate Yevamot, folio 62, that the genealogy of any slave is no better than that of a donkey, i.e. cannot be determined with any degree of certainty.

ויקח את המאכלת, “he took hold of the knife.” This was the knife that would be used in cutting up the flesh of an offering after the animal‘s throat had been cut. A different view. The word is used metaphorically, (based on the meaning if אכל “eating,” as the root of the word) it is the instrument that since that time has been feeding Israel throughout history since that time as we all still benefit from Avraham’s having passed this “test.”

והנה איל אחר, נאחז בסבך בקרניו, “and behold, behind him a ram had been caught with its horns in the thicket;” according to B’reshit rabbah, 56,9, the strange word “behind” in this verse is interpreted as G–d having said to Avraham, that He could foresee that his descendants would likewise be caught up in various kinds of sins at different times, and that by using the ram’s horn on designated days of the year and blowing its horn, they would be able to secure for themselves atonement as their founding father Avraham had willingly offered his beloved son as an offering to Him. Ram’s horns which are open ended at both ends are to remind the Jewish people that though they will seemingly enter a dark tunnel when sinning, there is light at the end of the tunnel if they do penitence; blowing the ram’s horns when asking G–d for forgiveness is one of the means of obtaining forgiveness. The ram’s horn may therefore be viewed as an advocate on our behalf.

ויקרא אברהם שם המקום ההוא: ה' יראה, “Avraham named that site: “The Lord will see.” The place is known in our days as the mountain of Moriah. It is called thus as it became a mountain due to the extreme degree of awe of the Lord Avraham had demonstrated there. It had actually first been a valley. Suddenly it was transformed into a tall mountain. Since it had previously been called “shalem” as we know from when its king congratulated Avraham on his victory over Kedorleomer and the kings with him (Genesis 14,18) Avraham now added another word to its name, i.e. יראה, “awe of the Lord,” so that after David conquered it from the Jebusites it is called “Y’ru-shalem.” [The name actually occurs already in chapter 10 of the Book of Joshua, but it did not become part of the Kingdom of the Israelites till some 400 years later. Ed.]

השם יראה, “the name of the attribute of Mercy of the Lord will become manifest.” According to our author, the name is meant to demonstrate not only to G–d but to mankind, that at this place Avraham had demonstrated the ultimate degree of being in awe of the Lord by being willing to sacrifice his son to him.

אשר יאמר היום בהר ה' יראה, “of which it be said today, i.e. (nowadays)”on the mountain of the Lord He can be perceived as having manifested this attribute of His. ” Avraham was concerned that people knowing he had been commanded to sacrifice his son, and had returned with his son, might think that he had been unable to bring himself to do this. The name of that mountain was to be a sign that the abandoning of the original command had nothing to do with his being unwilling or unable to carry it out. We are told in the Midrash that when G–d, i.e. His angel, said to Avraham: “do not dare touch the skin of the lad,” Avraham was not willing to desist until G–d swore to him that He would consider the ashes of the ram that he would slaughter a if they had been the ashes of his son. [This editor finds this difficult, as Avraham had not seen the ram until after he had desisted, as the Torah clearly tells us. Since the author did not reveal which Midrash he has seen this in, I cannot check it. Ed.] Our author adds that as soon as Avraham had taken Yitzchok off the altar, he asked G–d for His signet ring as proof that He had told him this. G–d answered that legally He was not obliged to put his seal on what He had said, as Avraham had not requested it before taking Yitzchok down from the altar. However, having high regard for him, He would hand over that seal to Yaakov instead, and that this is what we derive from the line in Michah 7,20: תתן אמת ליעקב, חסד לאברהם, “Who grants truth to Yaakov and loving kindness to Avraham.” [G–d’s “seal” is proverbially known as אמת, “truth.” Ed.]

וישב אברהם, “Avraham went back, etc.;” why has Yitzchok not been mentioned here? What did he do now? Avraham sent him off under cover of darkness to protect him against the “evil eye.” It is noteworthy that when Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah, after they had escaped unharmed from Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace have never been heard about again. (Daniel chapter 3-4, with Babylonian names for them) According to one view in the Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, folio 91, these men were killed by the evil eye. According to the view of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehutzdak, they changed their place of residence and went to study Torah with Joshua, the High Priest. He bases his opinion on what is written in Zecharyah 3,8: שמע נא יהושוע הכהן הגדול אתה ורעיך היושבים לפניך כי אנשי מופת המה, “hearken well O High Priest Joshua, you and your colleagues sitting before you! For these men are to be wondered at.” According to B’reshit rabbah 56,11, the line means that the three men we mentioned were chosen by Me to serve as survivors after I performed miracles for them.

את עוץ בכורו, “his firstborn son Utz, etc.; according to B’reshit rabbah this is a reference to Job (Job, 1,1) where we are told about Job living in the land of Utz.

קמואל, he is supposed to be identical with the prophet Bileam, who tried to manipulate, rise up against, G–d (Yalkut Shimoni)