Mishna 3
“Ten tests our Patriarch Abraham was tested with, and he withstood them all, to make known how great was Abraham’s love [for the Creator].”
We must understand why the Tanna felt the need to say “and he withstood them all” — could anyone think that Abraham would not withstand them? And further, why does it say “to make known how great was Abraham’s love [for the Creator]” rather than “to make known his merit [for successfully enduring them all]”?
One could explain that, in fact, there were two tests that Abraham was not strictly obligated to endure. In the first, the furnace of Ur Kasdim, there is a disagreement as to whether the Patriarchs were obligated by the Torah’s commandments before it was formally given. Therefore, he may not have been obligated to give up his life — since he might still have been considered a ben Noach (a descendant of Noah), and as such, it would have been forbidden for him to harm himself, in keeping with the verse (Bereishit 9:5) in which Hashem warns Noah and his descendants: “And surely your blood of your lives will I require.”
Also in the final test, the binding of Yitzchak, Abraham could have objected to God: “Yesterday You told me (Bereishit 21:12), ‘For in Yitzchak shall your seed be called,’ and now You say to me (ibid. 22:2), ‘and offer him there as a burnt offering.’”
Nevertheless, because Abraham saw that his entire generation was sinning through idolatry, he gave up his life out of love for God and in sanctification of His Name. And out of that same love, he also gave over his son Yitzchak. Therefore, the Tanna emphasized “and he withstood them all” to teach that he fulfilled everything God commanded him — even that which he could have been exempt from. And all this was “to make known how great was Abraham’s love [for the Creator],” for he was permitted to give up his life out of his great love for God.
