Genesis 22:13

And beheld a ram: (the ram) had been ready since the 6 days of creation

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and, behold, a certain ram which had been created between the evenings of the foundation of the world, was held in the entanglement of a tree by his horns. And Abraham went and took him, and offered him an offering instead of his son.

וירא והנה איל, passing by in front of him

אחר נאחז בסבך בקרניו, getting enmeshed in the thicket with its horns after Avraham had seen it. He reasoned that surely this must be a message from the angel who had caused this ram to become entangled at the command of G’d so that he, Avraham, could offer it in place of his son Yitzchok. This is also the meaning of Psalms 68,26 קדמו שרים אחר נוגנים, “first come the singers, afterwards the musicians.” A similar meaning of the word אחר is found in Ecclesiastes 12,2 ושבו העבים אחר הגשם, “the clouds return after the rain.” Another example of the word אחר having the same meaning as here is found in Exodus 5,1 ואחר באו משה ואהרן, “after (what had occurred before) Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh.”

והנה איל אחר נאחז בסבך, this incident indicated to him that G’d must have arranged for this ram to be at his disposal, and that there could be no question of his committing robbery if he took this ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering. The fact that there had been no such ram when he prepared the altar and bound Yitzchok and suddenly this ram materialised, was ample evidence of its purpose.

תחת בנו, in exchange for what he had had in mind to do with his son. The phrase reminds us of Psalms 15,2 ודובר אמת בלבו, “he spoke truthfully in his heart.” [the author justifies the use of the word תחת, “in lieu of,” for something which had not actually happened, i.e. Yitzchok had not been slaughtered. The verse from Psalms proves that the intention is as good as the deed when such an intention was sincere, wholehearted. Ed.]

וישא, he raised his eyes in order to see if there was some pure animal suitable for a sacrifice which he could offer in lieu of his son.

וירא והנה איל אחר נאחז, after it had become enmeshed in the thicket. בסבך בקרניו, this served Avraham as an invitation from G’d that seeing that this ram was caught in a thicket away from the flock it belonged to, something which its shepherd had not even become aware of. This is why we have learned in the Mishnah Avot 5,6 (according to some scholars) that among the things which had been created at dusk on the 6th day of creation was also this ram which would eventually serve as the sacrifice brought by Avraham instead of his son. If Avraham had been able to locate the shepherd of this ram, he would have compensated him for the value of the animal. He would not have wanted to offer an animal as a sacrifice without paying for it.

והנה איל אחר, נאחז בסבך בקרניו, “and behold, behind him a ram had been caught with its horns in the thicket;” according to B’reshit rabbah, 56,9, the strange word “behind” in this verse is interpreted as G–d having said to Avraham, that He could foresee that his descendants would likewise be caught up in various kinds of sins at different times, and that by using the ram’s horn on designated days of the year and blowing its horn, they would be able to secure for themselves atonement as their founding father Avraham had willingly offered his beloved son as an offering to Him. Ram’s horns which are open ended at both ends are to remind the Jewish people that though they will seemingly enter a dark tunnel when sinning, there is light at the end of the tunnel if they do penitence; blowing the ram’s horns when asking G–d for forgiveness is one of the means of obtaining forgiveness. The ram’s horn may therefore be viewed as an advocate on our behalf.