ABSTRACT
By structure, use of particles, and repetition, the narrator has relentlessly secured meaning. Abraham fears God, worships God, obeys God. Alone Abraham returns from the place ofsacrifice. It can be no other way. If the story is to fulfill its meaning, Isaac cannot, must not, and does not appear?6 Abraham, man of faith, has learned the lesson of nonattachment. Before the crisis he asserted that "we will return" (sub) 22:5). But now the narrator perceptively returns to the verb in the singular: "So Abraham returned ..." (sub) 22:19). To go yonder and worship (cf. 22:5) returns one to social discourse healed ofinterpersonal idolatry. A narrated report concluding this unit likewise ends the entire story:
And-lived Abraham in-Beersheba. (22:19) So much has been at stake that the story requires two conclusions. They give paral-
lel messages: All is well with Isaac; God provides (22:11-14). All is well with Abraham; God blesses (22:15-19).
