NOTE:
This post has been withdrawn. The post has been published in my book, Rereading the Biblical Text: Searching for Meaning and Understanding. The approach taken in the book is to compare how different translations have approached difficult texts in the Old Testament. The goal of the book is to invite readers to reread the biblical text in light of the new understanding of the intent of the original writer of the text. You can order the book from Amazon.
Rereading the Biblical Text
Visit my Amazon author’s page to purchase the book (click here).
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
A Note About This Post:
Before “Rereading Genesis 22:8: The Sacrifice of Isaac and the Preacher” was withdrawn for publication, “Rereading Genesis 22:8: The Sacrifice of Isaac and the Preacher” was read by 887 readers. “Rereading Genesis 22:8: The Sacrifice of Isaac and the Preacher” was also shared 4 times by readers who enjoyed reading the post. You can read “Rereading Genesis 22:8: The Sacrifice of Isaac and the Preacher” and other articles on problems in Bible translation by reading my book Rereading the Biblical Text: Searching for Meaning and Understanding. Below is the content of the book:
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments – Page xi
Abbreviations – Page xii
Introduction – Page xv
SECTION 1 — THE PENTATEUCH
Chapter 1. The Creation of Animals in Genesis 2:19 – Page 3
Chapter 2. The Serpent Was Right (Genesis 3) – Page 7
Chapter 3. The Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:15) – Page 11
Chapter 4. Were They Really Giants? (Genesis 6:4) – Page 17
Chapter 5. “As Far as Dan” (Gen 14:14) – Page 20
Chapter 6. Abraham and the Promises of God – Page (Genesis 12:7) – Page 23
Chapter 7. The Sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:8) – Page 26
Chapter 8. The Rape of Bilhah (Genesis 35:22) – Page 29
Chapter 9. Miriam, a Leader in Israel (Exodus 15:20) – Page 32
Chapter 10. Azazel (Leviticus 16:8-10) – Page 35
Chapter 11. Understanding Numbers 24:24 – Page 38
SECTION 2 — THE HISTORICAL BOOKS
Chapter 12. The Levite and His Concubine (Judges 19:1–30) – Page 43
Chapter 13. The Sacrifice of Jephthah’s Daughter (Judges 10:6–12:7) – Page 47
Chapter 14. The Fate of Jephthah’s Daughter (Judges 10:6–12:7) – Page 4750
Chapter 15. The Virginity of Jephthah’s Daughter (Judges 10:6–12:7) – Page 54
Chapter 16. Who Went Back to the City? (Ruth 3:15) – Page 59
Chapter 17. Was Ruth Barren? (Ruth 4:13) – Page 59
Chapter 18. King Saul: Little in His Own Eyes (1 Samuel 15:17) – Page 63
Chapter 19. How Old Was Saul? (1 Samuel 13:1) – Page 64
Chapter 20. David and Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4) – Page 67
Chapter 21. David’s Sons Were Priests ((2 Samuel 8:18) – Page 70
Chapter 22. “Him that Pisseth against the Wall” (1 Samuel 25:22) – Page 72
Chapter 23. Whose Cloak Did Ahijah Tear? (1Kinga 11:4–7) – Page 78
Chapter 24. The Challenges of Parenthood (2 Kinga 21:25–26) – Page 82
SECTION 3 — THE WISDOM AND POETICAL BOOKS
Chapter 25. Psalm 8:5: In Search of a Better Translation – Page 87
Chapter 26. Understanding Psalm 17:14 – Page 90
Chapter 27. Jezebel’s Wedding Song (Psalm 45:1–17) – Page 93
Chapter 28. Psalm 100:3: In Search of a Better Translation – Page 99
Chapter 29. Sons or Children? (Psalm 127:3-5) – Page 103
Chapter 30. Proverbs 29:18 – Page 106
Chapter 31. “Black and Beautiful” or “Black but Beautiful”? (Song of Songs 1:5) – Page 108
SECTION 4 — THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS
Chapter 32. The Use of Gender Inclusive Language (Isaiah 9:1) – Page 115
Chapter 33. “You Have Increased Their Joy” (Isaiah 9:3) – Page 118
Chapter 34. Who Will the Messiah Strike? (Isaiah 11:4) – Page 120
Chapter 35. The Way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3) – Page 122
Chapter 36. “All Their Goodliness” (Isa 40:6) – Page 126
Chapter 37. The Proclaimer of Good News (Isaiah 40:9) – Page 129
Chapter 38. The Problem of Divorce in the Old Testament (Isaiah 50:1) – Page 132
Chapter 39. Beulah Land (Isaiah 62:4) – Page 135
Chapter 40. The Balm of Gilead (Jeremiah 8:22) – Page 138
Chapter 41. The Mother of Seven (Jeremiah 15:9) – Page 142
Chapter 42. The Coming of the Messiah (Daniel 9:25–27) – Page 144
Chapter 43. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:25–27) – Page 148
Chapter 44. The Knowledge of God (Hosea 4:1) – Page 152
Chapter 45. The Word “Hesed” in the Book of Hosea (Hosea 4:1) – Page 154
Chapter 46. The Word “Justice” in Amos (Amos 5:24) – Page 157
Chapter 47. “What the Lord Requires” (Micah 6:8) – Page 160
Bibliography – Page 165
Index of Subjects – Page 169
Index of Authors – Page 171
Index of Scriptures and Other Ancient Documents – Page 173
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>Sadly, the Old Testament is nearly neglected (perhaps even rejected) by far too many preachers. Thank you for immersing yourself into the Old Testament like you do. I also appreciate your updates in regard to Biblical archeology.
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>Excellent article. I linked to it this morning at my blog. Peace.
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>Thanks! That was close, I was about to regurgitate the same teaching that I’ve heard to my youth group tomorrow. Lucky I came on the internet to check it out huh? I checked it out in the Septuagint and it says the same thing. Thanks, peace in Christ~
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>Great lessons!ThanksJuan
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>Adding a “for” into the text does NOT imply that God never intended to mean he will provide himself a Lamb. Read the sentence to yourself out loud (assuming the ‘for’ belongs there as the good Doctor claims) “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering”. How does that imply that God was NOT providing himself as the Lamb??Contrived? I call to your attention how this started. Gen 2:22 “take thy son, thine ONLY son…”. ONLY son? What about Ishmael? No, God did not disown Ishmael. Earlier God says he will make Ishmael a great nation Gen 21:13.No, the correct translation here is NOT “thy beloved son” instead of “thine only son”. The Hebrew word used is “yachiyd” from the root “yachad”, meaning root, to be one, unite. The sense here is a singular.Again Gen 22:16 – “..thy son, thine ONLY son”. huh? The reason the ONLY is used repeatedly is because the Holy Spirit is setting up a MODEL, for another Father who will give HIS ONLY SON. The obvious “error” of calling Isaac Abraham’s “only” son is call attention to THIS fact.Don’t believe me? Lets go on. After the sacrifice, scripture does not record Isaac coming down from the mountain. Why? The next mention of Isaac in the scripture is when he meets Rebecca at the pool of Lahai-roi. Why?Because the first instance is model of Christ being sacificed on the cross, after which he is not physically on the Earth. Therefore, no record of Abraham coming down out of the mountain with Isaac. The next mention of Isaac is a model of Christ (Isaac) being joined with the Church (Rebecca), at the well of Lahai-Roi (meaning “the well of the vision of life” – what a coincidence!).The servant that fetches Rebecca is un-named. The un-named servant always is a model of the Holy Spirit.Given this bigger picture, we can safely insert the “for” into the sentence in question and STILL infer, in context, that the Model here is talking about Christ.
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>wow! The last comment before mine is awesome! The truth is clear. Praise God! May God help to open all hearts and minds to His truth and may we as Christians be open to hearing it.
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>I agree with the last bloggers. The old and new testament intertwine so beautifully and YES, Jesus is the new lamb.
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>A message to dlkleist and to jeninem:Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment on my post on the sacrifice of Isaac. The two of you agree with the comments left by anonymous in which he suggested that the sacrifice of Isaac was a model for the death of Christ on the cross.I do not dispute that truth. Any Christian who reads the Old Testament will see here a picture of what happened at Calvary. The point of my post was to emphasize the misinterpretation that comes by the use of the word “himself” in the King James Version. Typology must be used carefully. I never answered the comment posted by anonymous because his typological interpretation diminishes the historical value of the text.Thank you for your comment.Claude Mariottini
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