Why did Avraham place the wood for the Korban on Yitzchak?
Oznayim la'Torah: The Midrash describes adorning the Korban with wood as a Hidur Mitzvah. 1 So Avraham adorned Yitzchak.
Like they adorned the basket of Bikurim (See Mishnah, Bikurim 3:3).
Why is the Shechitah-knife called a 'Ma'acheles'?
Rashi #1: Because in a sense, it consumes the flesh, 1 and because it prepares it for eating.
Rashi #2: It is specifically here that the Pasuk calls it by this name, because Yisrael eat off its 2 reward. 3
See Devarim 32:42.
Peninim mi'Shulchan ha'Gra (4): There is no reward for a Mitzvah in this world. We are fed only from the Zerizus of our Avos to do Mitzvos - Avraham rose early, saddled his donkey... Bereishis Rabah (56:1) cites "Yechayenu mi'Yomayim; ba'Yom ha'Shelishi Yekimenu v'Nichyeh Lefanav" (Hoshe'a 6:2) - we eat the reward of his Zerizus on the first two days, but the reward of the Mitzvah itself on the third day remains for us in the world to come. (In Chulin 16a, it says that (perhaps) the Torah mentions the knife to show Avraham's Zerizus - PF.)
As we shall see later (22: 17-18).
What is the significance of the phrase, "And the two of them went together"?
Rashi: Avraham, who knew that he was going to sacrifice Yitzchak, went with the same Simchah as Yitzchak, who didn't!
