Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him forms a doublet or repetition of the same thought. The first command is literally “Do not put out your hand upon the boy.” It means “Don’t hurt him,” “Don’t cause him pain.” The second part goes further by saying “Don’t do anything [harmful] to him,” “Don’t harm him in any way.” In many languages the urgency of the situation is shown by expressing this sentence as two separate short commands; for example, “Don’t hurt the boy! Don’t do anything to him!”

For now I know: Abraham has shown that he is willing to sacrifice Isaac, and so the test of obedience mentioned in verse 1 is completed successfully. For now signals that the angel of the LORD has had the opportunity to witness Abraham’s obedience. This could only be said after the test was completed. We may also say, for example, “now that I know,” “since I now know,” “because now I have found out.”

You fear God: as in 20.11 fear God does not mean to be frightened by God or fearful of God, but rather to have awe, respect, or reverence for God. In this context we may say “I know you have respect for God,” “I know that you honor God,” “I know that you obey God’s commands,” “I know that you do what God tells you to do.”

Seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me: seeing is Revised Standard Version‘s rendering of the usual Hebrew connective “and.” Not withheld means “you have not spared,” “not held back,” “not kept for yourself.” In some languages it may be more natural to express this thought positively; for example, “you have shown that you are willing to sacrifice your only son to me.” For your son, your only son, see Gen 22.2.

One example of the way the last part of the verse may be translated is “Now I know you truly honor God, because this son is the only one you have, yet you didn’t hang on to him, you were ready to let him die.” Some translations change the order of the clauses; for example, “You have only this one son, but you didn’t hold him back. You were ready to give him to God. So now I know that you are a man who always submits to God.”

Translators may find it strange that the angel of the LORD speaks of God in the third person in this sentence and switches to first person in the next sentence. If it is necessary to retain the first person in both places, Bible en français courant may suggest a suitable model. It switches here to first person, “I know now that you respect my authority,” and retains first person in from me in the following sentence.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .