Jehovah-Jireh

Jehovah will provide, the name given by Abraham to the place where he had been on the point of slaying his son Isaac, Gen 22:14 . He gave this name in allusion to his answer to Isaac’s question in Gen 22:8, that God would provide a victim for the sacrifice.\par

Jeho’vah-ji’reh. (Jehovah will see or Jehovah will provide). The name given by Abraham, to the place on which, he had been commanded to offer Isaac, to commemorate the interposition of the angel of Jehovah, who appeared to prevent the sacrifice, Gen 22:14, and provided another victim.

(See ABRAHAM; ISAAC.) ("Jehovah will see or provide".) (Gen 22:14). In Gen 22:8 Abraham had said, "Elohim will provide for Himself a Lamb." He perceives he has uttered an unconscious prophecy, and that the Elohim in whom he trusted has proved Himself JEHOVAH , in covenant with His people; so that the phrase became a Hebrew proverb, "In the mount (as He provided for Abraham in his’ extremity) Jehovah will provide" (for us also in our every extremity). The meaning of Mori-jah," the seeing of Jehovah," implies that it originated in this saying of Abraham, and that "Moriah" in Gen 22:2 is used by anticipation. Moreover, Solomon built his temple on mount "Moriah" (2Ch 3:1). It is no valid objection that Abraham "saw the place afar off," whereas the temple mount is not conspicuous from a distance (whence Moriah is connected by some with Moreh and "the natural altar on the top of Mount Gerizim", which the Samaritans make the place of the sacrifice); for what is meant in Gen 22:4 is only that he saw it at some little distance, as far off as the place admitted. (See GERIZIM.) The distance, two days’ journey from Beersheba, would bring Abraham and his party to Jerusalem, whereas Gerizim could not be reached in three days.

( = "Yhwh seeth"):

By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn

Name given by Abraham to the place where he sacrificed a ram instead of his son Isaac (Gen. xxii. 14). The name may be an allusion either to Gen. xxii. 8 or, as is the opinion of the commentators, to the future importance of the place on which the Temple was to be built by Solomon. The Targumim do not regard "Jehovah-jireh" as a proper name.

JEHOVAH-JIREH.—The name given by Abraham (Gen 22:14) to the spot where he offered a ram in place of his son. The name means ‘Jehovah sees,’ and probably also (with reference to Gen 22:8) ‘Jehovah provides.’ The proverb connected in Gen 22:14 with the name clearly relates to the Temple hill, ‘the mount of the Lord.’ But it is not easy to see the exact connexion between the name and the proverb. The most obvious translation is ‘in the mount of Jehovah one appears’ (referring to the festal pilgrimages to Jerusalem), but in that case the connexion can be only verbal. Other possible translations are: (1) ‘In the mount of Jehovah it is seen,’ i.e. provided; this is a possible translation in the context; but it appears to be suggested that the proverb had an existence independently of the tradition of Abraham’s sacrifice; in which case the meaning assigned to the verb is not a natural or obvious one. (2) ‘In the mount of Jehovah, Jehovah is seen.’ The significance of the phrase would then be that, as Jehovah sees the needs of those who come to worship Him, so as a practical result He is seen by them as a helper. Other translations have been suggested which do not, however, alter the general sense. Driver decides that, unless the connexion be regarded as purely verbal, the last suggestion quoted above seems the most satisfactory. In any case, the point lies in the relation between the name which Abraham gave to the place of his sacrifice and some popular proverb dealing with the Temple at Jerusalem.

A. W. F. Blunt.

jē̇-hō´va-jı̄´re (יהוה יראה, yahweh yir’eh, “Yahweh sees”): The name given by Abraham to the place where he had sacrificed a ram provided by God, instead of his son Isaac (Gen 22:14). The meaning plainly is that the Lord sees and provides for the necessities of His servants. There is an allusion to Gen 22:8 where Abraham says, “God will provide himself (the Revised Version, margin “will see for himself”) the lamb for a burnt offering.” The verse (Gen 22:14 the King James Version) goes on to connect the incident with the popular proverb, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (the Revised Version (British and American) “provided”), the Revised Version margin suggests “he shall be seen.” “The mount of Yahweh” in other places denotes the temple hill at Jerusalem (Psa 24:3; Isa 2:3, etc.). With changes of the punctuation very different readings have been suggested. According to Swete’s text: “And Abraham called the name of that place (the) ’Lord saw’ (aorist) in order that they may say today: ’In the mountain (the) Lord was seen’” (aorist). Septuagint reads, “In the mountain Yahweh seeth,” or “will see.” If there is merely a verbal connection between the clauses we should most naturally read, “In the mount of Yahweh one is seen (appears),” i.e. men, people, appear - the reference being to the custom of visiting the temple at pilgrimages (Driver, HDB, under the word). But if the connection of the proverb with the name “Yahweh-jireh” depends on the double sense of the word “see,” then the best explanation may be, Yahweh sees the needs of those who come to worship before Him on Zion, and there “is seen,” i.e. reveals Himself to them by answering their prayers and supplying their wants. His “seeing,” in other words, takes practical effect in a “being seen” (ibid.).