It means UNITED. It’s where we get the Gospel concept of “in one accord.”
It means no division. No hierarchy. As ONE.
Yakhad appears in five verses in Genesis, three of which are about Abraham, his son, and his young men, or servants. They act in UNITY.
And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
Genesis 22:6 (NASB)Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
Genesis 22:8 (NASB)So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.
Genesis 22:19 (NASB)
The Midrash suggests that Isaac’s obedience and willingness is critical to the story, because you can’t be both yakhad and coerced.
There is no unity of purpose when one party is forcing the other party into submission. And given that Abraham is over 100 years old at this point, it seems unlikely that he could overpower his son to restrain him.
Yakhad is the only way this story moves forward.
But the teaching about yakhad isn’t only found in the positive uses here in Genesis 22. When we read the word in Psalm 133, we’re given an important clue.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1 (NASB)
Yakhad is linked to “good.” This is the same good as from the Tree of Knowledge of “good” and “evil.”
If yakhad is good (joy and blessings), the opposite of yakhad is evil (misery and suffering). With that in mind, the other usages of yakhad in Genesis give us a clear teaching.
And the land could not support both of them while living together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.
Genesis 13:6 (NASB)For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they resided could not support them because of their livestock.
Genesis 36:7 (NASB)
The opposite of yakhad is linked to too much wealth. Too many possessions.
It’s no wonder, then, that Jesus would teach that “it is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
You can’t have yakhad with one another or with God when you’re clinging to all of your stuff.