Lyrics for Abraham as interpreted by EvilPopkin

Abraham Lyrics
Abraham, worth a righteous one
Take up on the wood
Put it on your son
Lake or lamb
There is none to harm
When the angel came
You had raised your arm

Abraham, put off on your son
Take instead the ram
Until Jesus comes

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Walty
03-14-2005

Rated 0 
What a wonderful song about Abraham. Nothing much here to discuss.

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beulah
05-31-2005

Rated 0 
Beautiful song. I bet if somebody walked in on me listening to this song i would have a peaceful smile on my face :) Sufjan's music is just amazing...

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TonyRo2
07-30-2005

Rated 0 
This song is beauitfully done
Almost brings me to tears when I hear it

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_ellie
01-03-2006

Rated +1 
The Parable of the Old Man and the Young

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Issac, the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, the fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there.
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not a hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not do so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

-- Wilfred Owen

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cutie_carnivore
01-21-2006

Rated 0 
This song is of course about the bible story where Abraham shows his obedience to God by almost sacrificing his only son Issac. The last line "until Jesus comes" refers to how Abraham started the old covenant with God, and then Jesus became the new and everlasting covenant.
The song is so peaceful and relaxing...

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Song of Songs
03-15-2006

Rated 0 
^Abraham actually had two sons. His other, Ishmael, was conceived as a result of Abraham's impatience with God. Isaac, who i believe was thirteen years older, was the fulfillment of God's promise that Abraham's elderly wife would bare him a son who would be the father of a great nation (Israel) and an ancestor of the Messiah.

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Song of Songs
03-15-2006

Rated 0 
^to correct my above post, I meant I believed Isaac was thirteen years younger than Ishmael.

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nashers13
04-15-2006

Rated 0 
i just recently did a sermon on Abraham and his faith. What does "lake or lamb" mean? if anyone can give me some good insight, that would be nice.

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coio
05-20-2006

Rated 0 
Sorry for my English language ignorance, but what does "ram" mean? I don't think it's random access memory, isn't it? ;)

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shadowboxing
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
Ram is referring to a male sheep.

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mcguirk500
07-14-2006

Rated 0 
I think what he meant by the "lake or lamb" line is that the "lamb" represented Jesus or heaven and the "lake" referred to hell, as in lake of fire. So Abraham was having to choose to put his faith in God or choose the "lake".

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Marmoreal
08-24-2006

Rated 0 
I thought it said leg 'o lamb.

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beazer32
10-04-2006

Rated 0 
hahah it sounds just like leg 'o lamb. i thought it said that too.

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efurste
09-24-2007

Rated 0 
because of all of the other political comparisons to the abraham and isaac story in literature and art, it's hard for me to believe that it's just a simple song about the story.


does anyone see anything deeper here?

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majoron
10-13-2007

Rated 0 
I hate this Abraham-Yitshak story, Im Jew.
I think it simply example supidness on the side of Abraham.

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Flostim
10-27-2007

Rated 0 
I find this song musically beautiful, but the story of Abraham still is for me one of the most gruesome in the bible. It teaches us to be obedient at all costs. This has brought the world enough suffering in my opinion.

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abi123
01-09-2008

Rated 0 
to me the lyrics mock peoples compleate and utter faith in something that doesnt even respond to them, the fact that he was willing to kill his own son then this angel turns up and is all like 'haha we were just kidding'.

i know it isnt meant to mean this though cus sufjan is religious, bless him

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everyxnewxday
02-22-2008

Rated 0 
Just to clarify, the story posted above is not correct, with regard to biblical accuracy. In the Biblical account of Abraham (Abram) he was about to kill Isaac (his son) but an Angel stopped him at the last minute and God provided a Ram (a symbol of Christ) for him to sacrifice instead. He took his son off the alter and sacrificed the Ram. He didn't kill his son!

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anxiouschristian
05-07-2008

Rated 0 
you know what is really cool.....the mountain that abraham almost sacrificed isaiac on but then an angel stopped him and said to use the ram....that's the same mountain that jesus was crucified on.....wow...isn't that awsome!!

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toinfinitude
07-10-2008

Rated 0 
cutie_carnivore hit the nail on the head.

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criostoir
07-27-2008

Rated +1 
Regarding "efurste"s belief that this song means more than the words imply, on this album, and in many of Sufjan Steven's songs, the lyrics are meant to be taken at face value. I think it's just a simple rendering of the story, like "Transfiguration". For a more weighted version of the story, try Leonard Cohen's "Abraham and Isaac." However, I like this one better. It's simple and sweet.

Regarding "anxiouschristian"s assertion that Mt. Moriah (where this story took place) was where Jesus was crucified, that is not correct. According to tradition (no one really knows where Mt. Moriah is) the Jewish Temple (now the Muslim Dome of the Rock) was built on Mt. Moriah right where Isaac was almost sacrificed.

However, there is an equally cool tradition regarding the location of the Crucifixion. The mountain was called "Golgotha", the "Hill of the Skull," which (again, according to tradition) was the burial place of Adam. In many ancient paintings and icons of the crucifixion you will find a small skull under the cross. That is Adam.

Further, the wood used to make the cross (yet again, according to tradition) came from the Tree of Life. Adam sent Seth, his third son, to Eden to get some fruit from the Tree of Life so he wouldn't die. But, when Seth returned, the Adam was already dead. He planted the fruit in Adam's mouth and from it grew a new tree which would eventually be used for Jesus' Cross. Thus, the instrument of death was literally and figuratively the Tree of Life.

Are you bored yet? :-)

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CreonBile
09-28-2008

Rated 0 
Paul sheds some additional light on this story in Hebrews 17-19.

17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

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