Genesis 22:13

and behold, behindhim] The R.V. marginal note refers to a difference of reading, arising from the similarity of the two Heb. letters for r(ר) and (ד) d. The word, rendered "behind," would, by the alteration of rinto d, appear with the same consonants as the word meaning "one": and this reading is found in the LXX, Sam., Peshitto, Targums, and many Heb. MSS. But the text, "behind him," is to be preferred.

For the sudden appearance of a ram, cf. the similar suddenness of appearance in Genesis 18:2; Genesis 21:19. God's gifts may be near at hand, and not yet discerned; the recognition of God's voice brings a sudden realization of His gifts.

a ram The conjecture that the word rendered "ram" (ayil) should, with different vowel points, be rendered a "hart" (ayyâl) is not to be approved. For (1) wild animals were not usually sacrificed by Hebrews; (2) Genesis 22:7, by the mention of "lamb," prepare us for "a ram"; (3) the word "thicket" seems to imply the twisted horns of a ram being entangled in brushwood.