How Did God Tell Abraham Sarah Was Going to Have a Baby
The Bounden of Isaac (Hebrew: עֲקֵידַת יִצְחַק ʿAqēḏaṯ Yīṣḥaq, in Hebrew also only "the Binding", הָעֲקֵידָה hāʿAqēḏā)[1] is a story from the Hebrew Bible found in Genesis 22. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. Abraham begins to comply, when a messenger from God interrupts him. Abraham then sees a ram and sacrifices it instead.
This episode has been the focus of a bully bargain of commentary in traditional Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources, every bit well as being addressed by modern scholarship.
Biblical narrative [edit]
Co-ordinate to the Hebrew Bible, God commands Abraham to offer his son Isaac every bit a sacrifice.[Gen 22:2-8] Subsequently Isaac is spring to an chantry, a messenger from God stops Abraham earlier the sacrifice finishes, saying "now I know you fear God." Abraham looks up and sees a ram and sacrifices it instead of Isaac.
The passage states that the event occurred at "the mountain of the LORD"[2] in "the land of Moriah."[3] 2 Chronicles iii:1 refers to "mount Moriah" equally the site of Solomon's Temple, while Psalms 24:3; Isaiah 2:3 & 30:29; and Zechariah viii:three utilize the term "the mount of the LORD" to refer to the site of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the location believed to be the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Jewish views [edit]
In The Binding of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah, Lippman Bodoff argues that Abraham never intended to actually sacrifice his son, and that he had faith that God had no intention that he do so. Rabbi Ari Kahn (on the Orthodox Union website) elaborates this view as follows:[4]
Isaac'due south death was never a possibility — non as far as Abraham was concerned, and not as far as God was concerned. God's commandment to Abraham was very specific, and Abraham understood it very precisely: Isaac was to be "raised up as an offering", and God would use the opportunity to teach humankind, one time and for all, that human being cede, kid sacrifice, is non acceptable. This is precisely how the sages of the Talmud (Taanit 4a) understood the Akedah. Citing the Prophet Jeremiah's exhortation against child sacrifice (Chapter xix), they state unequivocally that such behavior "never crossed God'south mind", referring specifically to the sacrificial slaughter of Isaac. Though readers of this parashah throughout the generations have been disturbed, fifty-fifty horrified, by the Akedah, there was no miscommunication between God and Abraham. The thought of actually killing Isaac never crossed their minds.
In The Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides argues that the story of the binding of Isaac contains two "cracking notions". Get-go, Abraham's willingness to cede Isaac demonstrates the limit of humanity'southward capability to both love and fear God. Second, because Abraham acted on a prophetic vision of what God had asked him to exercise, the story exemplifies how prophetic revelation has the same truth value equally philosophical argument and thus carries equal certainty, still the fact that it comes in a dream or vision.[5]
In Glory and Agony: Isaac's Sacrifice and National Narrative, Yael S. Feldman argues that the story of Isaac's binding, in both its biblical and postal service-biblical versions (the New Testament included) has had a cracking impact on the ethos of altruist heroism and self-sacrifice in mod Hebrew national culture. Equally her study demonstrates, over the concluding century the "Binding of Isaac" has morphed into the "Sacrifice of Isaac", connoting both the glory and desperation of heroic death on the battlefield.[half dozen]
In Legends of the Jews, rabbi Louis Ginzberg argues that the binding of Isaac is a way for God to test Isaac's claim to Ishmael, and to silence Satan'southward protest well-nigh Abraham who had non brought upwards any offering to God after Isaac was born,[7] too to show a proof to the world that Abraham is the true god-fearing man who is ready to fulfill whatever of God's commands, even to sacrifice his ain son:
When God commanded the father to desist from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham said: "I homo tempts another, because he knoweth non what is in the heart of his neighbour. Only Thou surely didst know that I was ready to sacrifice my son!"
God: "It was manifest to Me, and I foreknew it, that 1000 wouldst withhold not fifty-fifty thy soul from Me."
Abraham: "And why, then, didst M afflict me thus?"
God: "It was My wish that the world should get acquainted with thee, and should know that information technology is not without adept reason that I have chosen thee from all the nations. Now it hath been witnessed unto men that g fearest God."— Legends of the Jews [vii]
Jacob Howland has pointed out that "Ginzberg'due south work must exist used with caution, because his projection fabricating a unified narrative from multiple sources inevitably makes the tradition of rabbinic commentary seem more univocal than it actually is." Ginzberg's work does not encompass the way in which midrash on 'Akedah mirrored the different needs of various Jewish communities. Isaac was resurrected later on the slaughter in the version of medieval Ashkenaz. Spiegel has interpreted this as designed to recast the biblical figures in the context of the Crusades.[8]
The Volume of Genesis does not tell the age of Isaac at the time.[9] Some Talmudic sages teach that Isaac was an adult anile thirty seven,[vii] likely based on the next biblical story, which is of Sarah's death at 127 years[Genesis 23:1], existence ninety when Isaac was built-in[Genesis 17:17, 21].[ten] Isaac's reaction to the binding is unstated in the biblical narrative. Some commentators have argued that he was traumatized and angry, oftentimes citing the fact that he and Abraham are never seen to speak to each other again; yet, Jon D. Levenson notes that the biblical text never depicts them speaking before the binding, either.[xi]
Utilize in worship [edit]
The narrative of the sacrifice and bounden of Isaac is traditionally read in synagogue on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
Christian views [edit]
The binding of Isaac is mentioned in the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews among many acts of faith recorded in the Sometime Testament: "By religion Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered upwardly his simply begotten son, of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called,' terminal that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he as well received him in a figurative sense." (Hebrews eleven:17–19, NKJV)
Abraham'south faith in God is such that he felt God would be able to resurrect the slain Isaac, in order that his prophecy (Genesis 21:12) might be fulfilled. Early on Christian preaching sometimes accepted Jewish interpretations of the bounden of Isaac without elaborating. For example, Hippolytus of Rome says in his Commentary on the Song of Songs, "The blessed Isaac became desirous of the anointing and he wished to sacrifice himself for the sake of the world" (On the Song ii:15).[12]
Other Christians from the catamenia saw Isaac as a blazon of the "Word of God" who prefigured Christ.[13] This interpretation can be supported past symbolism and context such as Abraham sacrificing his son on the third twenty-four hours of the journey (Genesis 22:four), or Abraham taking the woods and putting it on his son Isaac'due south shoulder (Genesis 22:six). Another thing to note is how God reemphasizes Isaac being Abraham's ane and only son whom he loves (Genesis 22:2,12,sixteen). As farther support that the binding of Isaac foretells the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when the two went up at that place, Isaac asked Abraham "where is the lamb for the burnt offering" to which Abraham responded "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." (Genesis 22:7-8). However, information technology was a Ram (not a Lamb) that was ultimately sacrificed in Isaac's place, and the Ram was caught in a thicket (i.eastward. thornbush). (Genesis 22:13). In the New Testament, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1:29). Thus, the binding is compared to the Crucifixion and the last-infinitesimal stay of sacrifice is a blazon of the Resurrection.
Muslim views [edit]
The version in the Quran differs from that in Genesis in 2 aspects: the identity of the sacrificed son and the son's reaction towards the requested cede. In Islamic sources, when Abraham tells his son about the vision, his son agreed to be sacrificed for the fulfillment of God's command, and no binding to the altar occurred. The Quran states that when Abraham asked for a righteous son, God granted him a son possessing forbearance. The son mentioned here is traditionally understood to exist Ishmael. When the son was able to walk and work with him, Abraham saw a vision about sacrificing him. When he told his son about information technology, his son agreed to fulfill the command of God in the vision. When they both had submitted their will to God and were ready for the sacrifice, God told Abraham he had fulfilled the vision, and provided him with a ram to cede instead. God promised to reward Abraham.[14] The adjacent 2 verses state God also granted Abraham the righteous son Isaac and promised more than rewards.[15]
Among early on Muslim scholars, there was a dispute over the identity of the son. One side of the argument believed it was Isaac rather than Ishmael (notably ibn Qutaybah and al-Tabari) interpreting the verse "God's perfecting his mercy on Abraham and Isaac" as referring to his making Abraham his closest one, and to his rescuing Isaac. The other side, by far a vast majority, held that the promise to Sarah was of a son, Isaac, and a grandson, Jacob (Quran 11:71-74) excluded the possibility of a premature death of Isaac. Regardless, almost Muslims believe that it is actually Ishmael rather than Isaac despite the dispute.[16]
The submission of Abraham and his son is historic and commemorated past Muslims on the days of Eid al-Adha. During the festival, those who can afford and the ones in the pilgrimage cede a ram, moo-cow, sheep or a camel. Part of the sacrifice meat is eaten by the household and remaining is distributed to the neighbors and the needy. The festival marks the terminate of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
In Islam, the site of Marwa near the Kaaba which rhymes with the Moriah mentioned in the Volume of Genesis.
Modern research [edit]
The bounden besides figures prominently in the writings of several of the more important modernistic theologians, such equally Søren Kierkegaard in Fright and Trembling and Shalom Spiegel in The Final Trial. Jewish communities regularly review this literature, for case the recent mock trial held past more than than 600 members of the University Synagogue of Orange County, California.[17] Derrida also looks at the story of the sacrifice likewise equally Kierkegaard's reading in The Souvenir of Expiry.
In Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, the literary critic Erich Auerbach considers the Hebrew narrative of the binding of Isaac, along with Homer'due south description of Odysseus's scar, as the two paradigmatic models for the representation of reality in literature. Auerbach contrasts Homer'south attention to detail and foregrounding of the spatial, historical, as well as personal contexts for events to the Bible'due south sparse account, in which virtually all context is kept in the groundwork or left outside of the narrative. As Auerbach observes, this narrative strategy virtually compels readers to add their own interpretations to the text.
Redactors and narrative purpose [edit]
Modernistic biblical critics operating under the framework of the documentary hypothesis have ascribed the binding's narrative to the biblical source E, on the grounds that information technology generally uses the specific term Elohim ( אלהים ) and parallels feature E compositions. On that view, the second celestial appearance to Abraham (v. 14–18), praising his obedience and blessing his offspring, is in fact a after Jahwist interpolation to E'southward original account (v. ane–13, 19). This is supported by the mode and limerick of these verses, equally well equally by the utilize of the name Yahweh for the deity.[18]
More than recent studies question the analysis of E and J as strictly dissever. Coats argues that Abraham'south obedience to God's control in fact necessitates praise and blessing, which he only receives in the 2nd celestial spoken communication.[nineteen] That speech, therefore, could not accept been simply inserted into E's original account. This has suggested to many that the author responsible for the interpolation of the 2d angelic appearance has left his marker too on the original business relationship (v. one–xiii, 19).[18]
More recently it has been suggested that these traces are in fact the first angelic appearance (v. xi–12), in which the Angel of YHWH stops Abraham before he kills Isaac.[twenty] The style and composition of these verses resemble that of the 2nd angelic spoken communication, and YHWH is used for the deity rather than God. On that reading, in the original East version of the binding Abraham disobeys God's command, sacrificing the ram "instead of his son" (five. 13) on his ain responsibility and without being stopped by an angel: "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son; simply Abraham lifted upward his eyes and looked and beheld, backside him was a ram, caught in a thicket past his horns; and Abraham went, and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son" (v. 10, xiii).
By interpolating the first appearance of the angel, a later redactor shifted responsibleness for halting the examination from Abraham to the angel (v. 11–12). The second celestial advent, in which Abraham is rewarded for his obedience (v. 14–18), became necessary due to that shift of responsibility. This assay of the story sheds light on the connection between the binding and the story of Sodom (Genesis xviii), in which Abraham protests against God's unethical plan to destroy the city, without distinguishing between the righteous and the wicked: Far be it from you to practise such a thing: Shall non the guess of all the world practice what is just?" Abraham's ethical rebellion against God in the destruction of Sodom culminates in his defiance to God, refusing to sacrifice Isaac.[21]
Possible child cede [edit]
Francesca Stavrakopoulou has speculated that it is possible that the story "contains traces of a tradition in which Abraham does sacrifice Isaac".[22] R.E. Friedman argued that in the original E story, Abraham may take carried out the sacrifice of Isaac, but that after repugnance at the idea of a human sacrifice led the redactor of JE to add the lines in which a ram is substituted for Isaac.[23] As well, Terence Fretheim wrote that the text bears no specific marker of being a polemic confronting child sacrifice.[24]
Some scholars besides signal at the genealogical snippet (verses 20–24) as containing a hint to the question whether Abraham sacrificed Isaac or not.
- First of all, the clarification of a rash of newborns placed right after the main story suggests the beingness of some direct cause-outcome connexion between the 2. From the perspective of a sacrificial economy, such a numerous progeny could not take been conceived without the preceding payment in an advisable 'currency'.
- Secondly, the said passage is problematic due to its onomastic content. The verses 20–23 listing the progeny of Nahor and Milkah while v. 24 adds the offspring conceived with Re'umah, said to be his concubine.
However, whereas verses 20–23 have some significant links with other parts of the Hebrew Bible every bit well as with the historical and cultural entourage of the ancient Near Eastward, such connections are absent in v. 24. The very proper name of Nahor's concubine appears here exclusively, and in no other place in the Hebrew Bible is Re'umah mentioned. The same applies to near of her children's names, though the names "Ma'akah" and "Tevah" are present in subsequently books. The farthermost rarity of these appellations demands some alternative interpretation with regards to its purpose.
Appropriately, the personal list may comprise some "coded" explanation concerning the remainder of the story. One suggested interpretation is as follows:[25]
- Re'umah (רְאוּמָה) – "see what"
- Tevah (טֶבַח) – "slaughtering" or "slaughtered"
- Gaham (גַּחַם) – "flame" or "burning"
- Tahash (תַּחַשׁ) – "skin" often used to describe the tabernacle'south covering
- Ma'akah (מַעֲכָה) – "blown" or "crushed"
In other words, v. 24 "begins with an interpretational invitation and continues with the names which seem to explain the cause of the rash of newborns present at the conclusion of the pericope: somebody had been blown, slaughtered, put on the tabernacle, and burned".[25]
Rite of passage [edit]
Information technology has been suggested that Genesis 22 contains an intrusion of the liturgy of a rite of passage, including mock cede, every bit commonly found in early on and preliterate societies, marking the passage from youth to adulthood.[26]
Music [edit]
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Sacrificium Abrahae, H.402, oratorio for soloists, chorus, doubling instruments, and continuo (1680–81)
Leonard Cohen, "Story of Isaac" Songs from a Room (1969).[27]
Bob Dylan, "Highway 61 Revisited" Highway 61 Revisited (1965).
Gilad Hochman, Akeda for Solo Viola (2006)
See as well [edit]
- The Binding of Isaac (video game) and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
- Kid sacrifice
- Covenant of the pieces
- Eid al-Adha
- Fearfulness and Trembling
- Filicide
- Free will
- Iphigenia
- Jephthah'due south daughter
- Phrixus in Greek mythology, child sacrifice thwarted past ram
- Vayeira, the parashah containing the binding of Isaac
Notes [edit]
- ^ Jewish Virtual Library. "Akedah". Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Accessed March 25, 2011
- ^ Genesis 22:14
- ^ Genesis 22:ii
- ^ Rabbi Ari Kahn. "It Never Crossed My Mind Archived 2014-11-x at the Wayback Machine".
- ^ Maimonides. The Guide of the Perplexed, Vol. 2, Book III, Ch. 24. English language translation past Shlomo Pines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963.
- ^ Feldman, Yael S. (2010). Glory and Agony: Isaac'south Cede and National Narrative. Stanford, California: Stanford University Printing. ISBN978-0-8047-5902-1.
- ^ a b c Ginzberg 1909.
- ^ Howland, Jacob (2015). "Fear and Trembling'due south "Attunement" as midrash". In Conway, Daniel (ed.). Kierkegaard'south Fearfulness and Trembling. Cambridge University Printing.
- ^ Levenson, Jon D. (2004). "Genesis: introduction and annotations". In Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). The Jewish Report Bible . Oxford University Printing. ISBN9780195297515.
The Jewish report Bible.
- ^ Jon D. Levenson, Lecture Oct xiii, 2016: "Genesis 22: The Binding of Isaac and the Crucifixion of Jesus Archived 2020-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, starting at about 1:05:10
- ^ Levenson, J.D. (2012). Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Library of Jewish Ideas. Princeton University Press. p. 59. ISBN978-1-4008-4461-6. Archived from the original on 2019-06-15. Retrieved 2017-12-12 .
- ^ Run across Yancy Smith, "Hippolytus' Commentary On the Vocal of Songs in Social and Critical Context" (Unpublished PhD Dissertation; Brite Divinity School, 2008), 312.
- ^ Origen, Homilies on Genesis 11–13
- ^ Quran 37:100
- ^ Quran 37:112-113
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Ishaq.
- ^ Bird, Cameron (12 Jan 2009). "For 'jury', a instance of biblical proportions". The Orange County Register. Vol. 105, no. 12. p. 11.
- ^ a b Grand. J. Wenham. (1994). Genesis 16-50. Dallas, TX: Give-and-take Biblical Commentary.
- ^ Coats, M.W. (1973). Abraham's sacrifice of faith: A form critical study of Genesis 22. Interpretation, 27, pp. 389–400.
- ^ Boehm, O. (2002). The binding of Isaac: An inner Biblical polemic on the question of disobeying a obviously illegal order. Vetus Testamentum, 52 (ane) pp. one–12.
- ^ O. Boehm, O. (2007). The Binding of Isaac: A Religious Model of Defiance, New York, NY: T&T Clark.
- ^ It may be that the biblical story contains traces of a tradition in which Abraham does sacrifice Isaac, for in Genesis 22:xix Abraham appears to return from the mount without Isaac. Stavrakopoulou, F. (2004). King Manasseh and child cede: Biblical distortions of historical realities, pp. 193–194.
- ^ Friedman, R.E. (2003). The Bible With Sources Revealed, p. 65.
- ^ Terence E Fretheim in The Child in the Bible edited by Marcia J. Bunge, Terence E. Fretheim, Beverly Roberts Gaventa, pg. xx
- ^ a b Kosior, Wojciech (2013). ""Y'all have not withheld your son, your only 1, from Me". Some arguments for the consummated sacrifice of Abraham". The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. 8 (5/2013): 73–75. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ T. McElwain (2005) The Beloved and I: New Jubilees Version of Sacred Scripture with Poesy Commentaries pages 57–58.
- ^ "Songs From A Room – The Official Leonard Cohen Site". www.leonardcohen.com. Archived from the original on 2021-ten-19. Retrieved 2021-ten-xix .
References [edit]
- Berman, Louis A. (1997). The Akedah: The Binding of Isaac. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBNi-56821-899-0.
- Bodoff, Lippman (2005). The Bounden of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah: Seeds of Jewish Extremism and Alienation?. Devora Publishing. ISBN1-932687-52-i.
- Bodofff, Lippman (1993). "The Real Exam of the Akedah: Bullheaded Obedience versus Moral Choice". Judaism. 42 (ane).
- Bodofff, Lippman (1993). "God Tests Abraham - Abraham Tests God". Bible Review. IX (5): 52.
- Boehm, Omri (2002). "The Binding of Isaac: An Inner Biblical Polemic on the Question of Disobeying a Apparently Illegal Order". Vetus Testamentum. 52 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1163/15685330252965686.
- Boehm, Omri (2007). The Binding of Isaac: A Religious Model of Defiance. T&T Clark. ISBN978-0-567-02613-two.
- Delaney, Carol (1998). Abraham on Trial. Princeton University Press. ISBN0-691-05985-3.
- Delaney, Ballad (1999). "Abraham, Isaac, and Some Hidden Assumptions of Our Civilization". The Humanist. May/June. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-02-02 .
- Feiler, Bruce (2002). Abraham: A Journeying to the Heart of Three Faiths . HarperCollins. ISBN0-06-083866-3.
- Feldman, Yael (2010). Glory and Agony: Isaac'south Sacrifice and National Narrative' . Stanford Academy Press. ISBN978-0-8047-5902-1.
- Firestone, Reuven (1990). Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis. Country University of New York Press. ISBN0-7914-0332-7.
- Ginzberg, Louis (1909). The Legends of the Jews Vol. I : Satan Accuses Abraham (PDF). Translated by Henrietta Szold. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. Archived from the original on 2020-03-xiii. Retrieved 2018-02-fourteen .
- Goodman, James (2015). Abraham and His Son: The Story of a Story. Sandstone Press. ISBN978-1-910124-15-4.
- Goodman, James (2013). Only Where Is the Lamb? Imagining the Story of Abraham and Isaac. Schocken Books. ISBN978-0-8052-4253-ix.
- Jensen, Robin M. (1993). "The Binding or Sacrifice of Isaac: How Jews and Christians See Differently". Bible Review. 9 (five): 42–51.
- Levenson, Jon D. (1995). The Death and Resurrection of the Dear Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity. Yale University Press. ISBN0-300-06511-6.
- Ravitzky, Aviezer. Abraham: Father of the Believers (in Hebrew). Hebrew University.
- Sarna, Nahum (1989). The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis . Jewish Publication Social club. ISBN0-8276-0326-6.
- Spiegel, Shalom (1967). The Concluding Trial: On the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Isaac Every bit a Sacrifice: The Akedah (1993 reprint ed.). Jewish Lights Publishing. ISBNone-879045-29-10.
External links [edit]
- Symposium on the Cede of Isaac in the 3 Monotheistic Religions
- The Sacrifice of Isaac in Medieval English Drama
- Mystery play texts in the cycles from Chester, Wakefield, York and due north-Boondocks
- Shofar Callin' (G-dcast's animated retelling of the Binding of Isaac, to a hip hop soundtrack)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac
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