Abraham’s Test

Genesis 22:1-2 says, “God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!…Take your son,…your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

The word translated tested in this verse is an interesting word. The translators of the King James Version used the English word tempt to represent the Hebrew term. It also carries the meaning of trying, proving, or, as we see in the Holman Christian Standard Bible, testing. (In this instance, tested is a clearer translation for modern readers than the KJV phrase did tempt). Consider the following verses in which the word appears, along with the apparent meaning in each example. The English word representing the Hebrew word is underlined in each instance.

• “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions’” (Ex. 16:4).
• “Should anyone try to speak with you when you are exhausted? Yet who can keep from speaking?” (Job. 4:2).
• “Test me, LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind” (Ps. 26:2).
• “They deliberately tested God, demanding the food they craved” (Ps. 78:18).
• “They were seized with craving in the wilderness and tested God in the desert” (Ps. 106:14).
• “Please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink” (Dan. 1:12; see vv. 1-21 for the context).

It is clear that in some contexts the word carries a negative connotation, and in others a positive one. When God tests anyone, of course, He does so appropriately and for the person’s own good. God never tempts anyone to sin, however; James said so directly in James 1:13.

In the New Testament, we read, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac” (Heb. 11:17). The Greek word translated tested here appears an additional 37 times in the New Testament. We find it in Matthew 4:1 (tempted), Acts 5:9 (test), 2 Corinthians 13:5 (test), James 1:13 (3 times: undergoing a trial, tempted [first instance], tempt), and Revelation 2:2 (tested).