The copperplate was part of the sale by Pieter De Haan (1767, lot 4) where sold to Watelet. It then became part of the set of plates subsequently owned and used for printing Recueils by Claude-Henri Watelet, Pierre-François Basan, Henri-Louis Basan (his nr 1375), Auguste Jean (ca 1809), Veuve Jean, Auguste and Michel Bernard (1846), Alvin-Beaumont (1906) and Robert Lee Humber (1937). It was sold through Artemis London (1993) and later Salomon Lilian (Amsterdam) and is now probably in a private collection in the Netherlands.

Genesis 22, verses 4-8
This etching is one of two in which Rembrandt shows the sacrifice by Abraham of his son Isaac, as ordered by God. This is the prologue described in te Bible, when father and son travel to Moriah, where the sacrifice was supposed to take place. Abraham carries a knife and a torch, Isaac the wood for the fire. Unaware of his fate, Isaac asks his father where the lamb for the offering is. Abraham tells his son that God would provide one. He holds one hand on his heart and uses the other to point to heaven, as if to support his statement.

Rembrandt situates the scene at the place of the sacrifice, not on the way to it, as most other do. The stone at left will serve as altar, the mountainous surrounding suggest Mount Moriah. Doing so, he follows the interpretation by Flavius Josephus (100 AC). Rembrandt had a German version of his book, Jüdische Geschichte, in his possession. The moment in the story selected by Rembrandt is quite unusual. Instead of showing the actual offering and/or the interruption by the Angel (as he does ten years later in B 35), he shows us the moment Abraham must lie to his son, for sure the most difficult moment of his life

Rembrandt made a painting of the sacrifice itself ten years earlier (Corpus A 108, now at the Hermitage). He was obviously not fully content with that version, since he painted a second one a year later, now at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. And a drawing around 1652 (Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden). A woodcut by Lucas van Leyden of 1517, showing Abraham and Isaac walking (B3), may have inspired Rembrandt. Or a print after a painting made by Maarten de Vos in 1603. White-Boon see similarities in the hatching with those by Mategna.

NH lists four copies, all in reverse. A is an anonymous copy in an oval (132 x 100 mm, WB 2).
Copy B was previously attributed to Gerard Dou and is included in all editions of the Recueils de Basan (two states, 158 x 129 mm, WB 1, in the collection “Rembrandt in B&W”, number 305). Copy C is by Ignace Joseph de Claussin (132 x 210 mm). Copy D is an anonymous, mezzotint version (158 x 127 mm, WB 3).

The etching is not by Rembrandt according to Singer.

New Hollstein lists two states, only the first by Rembrandt. Other authors list one state only, Biörklund two, Nowell-Usticke three. From his 2nd state there are later impressions by P.F. Basan, H.L. Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1st state (NH, WB, BB, NU) the corners are square, especially upper right and lower left. Early impressions are rare.
In the 2nd state (BB, NU, R114) the corners are rounded and the plate is slightly shaved. There is a gap in the arch at the top. NH does not consider this a separate state, but merely the result of wear of the top of the plate. Later impressions are by Basan.
In the 2nd state (NH/3rd state NU) the right shoulder (part of the cloak) is filled in. The plate is reworked, especially in the shadows. There is a black spot 2 cm’s left of Abraham’s head (not in NH).

In the 1st state: Arms of Amsterdam; Foolscap with five-pointed collar with cm PDB’ (c. 1648); Strasbourg lily; Hare; HIS; Miscellaneous (A.c and A.zz, later);

H 214, BB 45-D, G 32, M 220, Mz 180, RA 114, Cl 39, W 38, Bl 5, Du 39, CD 168.
Tümpel 2006, p. 36; Spijkerboer 2006, p. 30; Hinterding 2008, p. 76ff; Verdi 2014, p. 210; Rosenberg 2017, p. 80-83.

New Hollstein: 1st state of II/White-Boon: only state
A very good impression. Since the ‘gap’ in the arch is visible, it could be a somewhat later impression, but before the rework of the 2nd state, as can be seen on the cloak over the right shoulder. Also before the Basan impressions, where the gap is much larger.
Sheet 159/161 x 131 mm, margins of 1 to 2 mm. on three sides, cut on the well-visible platemark at left (+3%).
Watermark: Arms of Amsterdam (partial) similar to an impression in the Rijksmuseum (Hinterding 2006, II, p. 250, dates 1645). Vertical chain lines at approx. 27 mm.