אל תירא אברם. נמצא כשהרג את המלכים נתירא שמא נתמעטו זכיותיו אמר לו ית' בערת קוצים מן הכרם אל תירא אנכי מגן לך ולכך אומרים מגן אברהם. ובשעה שנעקד יצחק פרחה נשמתו ועלתה למרום וחזרה לגופו והחיהו לכך התקין מחיה המתים. ונמצא במדרש כשפרחה נשמתו של יצחק עלתה למרום נסתכלה בזיו שכינה דכתיב לא יראני האדם וחי ולכך ותכהן עיניו מראות ובשעה שראה יעקב המלאכים עולין ויורדין ומלווין לו בכל רגע היו מודין ומקלסין להקב"ה ולכך התקין האל הקדוש: אל תירא אברם, “do not fear, Avraham.” Having miraculously succeeded to kill these mighty kings and their armies, Avraham was now afraid that he used up his spiritual “capital” i.e. any merits he might have accumulated by his good deeds thus far. G–d now reassured him on that score, saying that he need not worry about that. On the contrary, if someone removes thorns from the paths of people, something that might have harmed them, he is doubly deserving of protection by Him. (Midrash Tanchuma section 10) This may well be why the sages composing the Amidah prayer referred to G–d as “shield of Avraham, at the conclusion of the first benediction.” At the time when Yitzchok was lying bound on the altar his father had put him on Mount Moriah, his soul escaped to heaven only to return to him and to revive his body. This may account for the second benediction in the Amidah prayer concluding with G–d being referred to as “reviving the dead.” We find a statement in B’reshit Rabbah 65,10, that the reason why Yitzchok’s physical eyesight was dim after the experience on Mount Moriah, is due to the fact that he had had a glimpse of the essence of G–d during his soul’s brief stay there, and the Torah told us, i.e. Moses was told by G–d (Exodus 33,20) that a visual image of the essence of G–d is denied human beings while they are still alive. When Yaakov, in his dream of the ladder, observed the angels ascending and descending from heaven and accompanying him at all times, while constantly singing the praises of the Lord, this may be the reason why the third benediction, symbolising Yaakov, ends with G–d being described as “the holy G–d.”