Jewish views Binding of Isaac

mosaic on floor of beth alpha depicting akedah

the majority of jewish religious commentators argue god testing abraham see if kill own son, test of loyalty. however, number of jewish biblical commentators medieval era, , many in modern era, read text in way.

the rabbinic midrash genesis rabbah imagines god saying never considered telling abraham slaughter isaac (using hebrew root letters slaughter , not sacrifice ) . rabbi yona ibn janach (spain, 11th century) wrote god demanded symbolic sacrifice. rabbi yosef ibn caspi (spain, 14th century) wrote abraham s imagination led him astray, making him believe had been commanded sacrifice son. ibn caspi writes how god command such revolting thing? however, according joseph hertz, chief rabbi of british empire, child sacrifice rife among semitic peoples , suggests in age, astounding abraham s god should have interposed prevent sacrifice, not should have asked it. hertz interprets akedah demonstrating jews human sacrifice abhorrent.

other rabbinic scholars note abraham willing spare son, if meant going against divine command: while god ordered abraham sacrifice son, angel, lesser being in celestial hierarchy, commanded him stop. however, actions , words of angels (from greek messenger ) understood derive directly god s will.

in later jewish writings, theology of divine test rejected, , sacrifice of isaac interpreted punishment abraham s earlier mistreatment of ishmael, elder son, whom expelled household @ request of wife, sarah. according view, abraham failed show compassion son, god punished him ostensibly failing show compassion abraham s son.

in binding of isaac, religious murders & kabbalah, lippman bodoff argues abraham never intended sacrifice son, , had faith god had no intention so. rabbi ari kahn (on orthodox union website) elaborates view follows: isaac s death never possibility — not far abraham concerned, , not far god concerned. god’s commandment abraham specific, , abraham understood precisely: isaac raised offering , , god use opportunity teach humankind, once , all, human sacrifice, child sacrifice, not acceptable. precisely how sages of talmud (taanit 4a) understood akedah. citing prophet jeremiah’s exhortation against child sacrifice (chapter 19), state unequivocally such behavior never crossed god’s mind , referring sacrificial slaughter of isaac. though readers of parashah throughout generations have been disturbed, horrified, akeida, there no miscommunication between god , abraham. thought of killing isaac never crossed minds.

others suggest abraham s apparent complicity sacrifice way of testing god. abraham had argued god save lives in sodom , gomorrah. silently complying god s instructions kill isaac, abraham putting pressure on god act in moral way preserve life. more evidence abraham thought not sacrifice isaac comes genesis 22:5, abraham said servants, stay here ass. boy , go there; worship , return you. saying (as opposed i), meant both , isaac return. thus, did not believe isaac sacrificed in end.

in guide perplexed, maimonides argues story of binding of isaac contains 2 great notions . first, abraham s willingness sacrifice isaac demonstrates limit of humanity s capability both love , fear god. second, because abraham acted on prophetic vision of god had asked him do, story exemplifies how prophetic revelation has same truth value philosophical argument , carries equal certainty, notwithstanding fact comes in dream or vision.

in glory , agony: isaac s sacrifice , national narrative, yael s. feldman argues story of isaac s binding, in both biblical , post-biblical versions (the new testament included) has had great impact on ethos of altruist heroism , self-sacrifice in modern hebrew national culture. study demonstrates, on last century binding of isaac has morphed sacrifice of isaac , connoting both glory , agony of heroic death on battlefield.

the book of genesis not tell age of isaac @ time. talmudic sages teach isaac adult in thirties, based on next biblical story, of sarah s death @ 127 years, being 90 when isaac born. isaac s reaction binding unstated in biblical narrative. commentators have argued traumatized , angry, citing fact , abraham never seen speak each other again; however, jon d. levenson notes never speak before binding, either.