And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Abraham built an altar. The description is minutely given, and the preparations were made under the full impression that the oblation would be enforced. Moreover, these would require so much active exertion on the part of Abraham that there must have been little time for speaking; and, besides, the dreadful secret pent up in his bosom would strongly indispose him for being communicative. But the deep silence must at length have been broken, a conversation ensued, and the divine mandate made known. According to Josephus, Isaac was then 27 years of age. He was certainly a full-grown man, and his voluntary consent was absolutely necessary. Compulsion, in the circumstances, cannot be thought of, as it was plainly impossible that an aged father of 127 years could alone, without assistance, have compelled a young man of 27, in the full vigour of manhood, had he resisted; and, besides, the use of physical force was inconsistent with that calm, unruffled serenity of mind which is appropriate to a solemn act of religious devotion. Had not the patriarch been sustained by the full consciousness of acting in obedience to the will of God, the effort must have been too great for human endurance; and had not Isaac displayed a similar faith in submitting, this great trial could not have been gone through.