Unbinding Isaac

(1) Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test, saying to him, “Abraham.” He answered, “Here I am.”(2) “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.”(3) So early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him.(4) On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place from afar.(5) Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there; we will worship and we will return to you.”(6) Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. He himself took the firestone and the knife; and the two walked off together.(7) Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he answered, “Yes, my son.” And he said, “Here are the firestone and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”(8) And Abraham said, “It is God who will see to the sheep for this burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.(9) They arrived at the place of which God had told him. Abraham built an altar there; he laid out the wood; he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.(10) And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son.(11) Then a messenger of ה׳ called to him from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.”(12) “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.”(13) When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.(14) And Abraham named that site Adonai-yireh, whence the present saying, “On the mount of ה׳ there is vision.”(15) The messenger of ה׳ called to Abraham a second time from heaven,(16) and said, “By Myself I swear, ה׳ declares: Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your favored one,(17) I will bestow My blessing upon you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore; and your descendants shall seize the gates of their foes.(18) All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed My command.”(19) Abraham then returned to his servants, and they departed together for Beer-sheba; and Abraham stayed in Beer-sheba.

(31) You shall not act thus toward your God ה׳, for they perform for their gods every abhorrent act that ה׳ detests; they even offer up their sons and daughters in fire to their gods.

(1) Be careful to observe only that which I enjoin upon you: neither add to it nor take away from it.(2) If there appears among you a prophet or a dream-diviner, who gives you a sign or a portent,(3) saying, “Let us follow and worship another god”—whom you have not experienced —even if the sign or portent named to you comes true,(4) do not heed the words of that prophet or that dream-diviner. For your God ה׳ is testing you to see whether you really love your God ה׳ with all your heart and soul.(5) It is your God ה׳ alone whom you should follow, whom you should revere, whose commandments you should observe, whose orders you should heed, whom you should worship, and to whom you should hold fast.

אחר הדברים האלה AFTER THESE THINGS [or, WORDS] —Some of our Rabbis say (Sanhedrin 89b) that it means after the words of Satan who denounced Abraham saying, “Of all the banquets which Abraham prepared not a single bullock nor a single ram did he bring as a sacrifice to You ’. God replied to him, “Does he do anything at all except for his son’s sake? Yet if I were to bid him, “Sacrifice him to Me’’, he would not refuse’’.

Others say that it means “after the words of Ishmael” who boasted to Isaac that he had been circumcised when he was thirteen years old without resisting. Isaac replied to him, “You think to intimidate me by mentioning the loss of one part of the body! If the Holy One, blessed be He, were to tell me, “Sacrifice yourself to Me” I would not refuse” (Sanhedrin 89b).

(6) One day the divine beings presented themselves before the LORD, and the Adversary (Satan) came along with them.(7) The LORD said to the Adversary, “Where have you been?” The Adversary answered the LORD, “I have been roaming all over the earth.”(8) The LORD said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed My servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil!”

(1) THE strange and wonderful Book of Job treats of the same subject as we are discussing; its basis is a fiction, conceived for the purpose of explaining the different opinions which people hold on Divine Providence. You know that some of our Sages clearly stated Job has never existed, and has never been created, and that he is a poetic fiction. Those who assume that he has existed, and that the book is historical, are unable to determine when and where Job lived. Some of our Sages say that he lived in the days of the Patriarchs; others hold that he was a contemporary of Moses; others place him in the days of David, and again others believe that he was one of those who returned from the Babylonian exile. This difference of opinion supports the assumption that he has never existed in reality. But whether he has existed or not, that which is related of him is an experience of frequent occurrence, is a source of perplexity to all thinkers, and has suggested the above-mentioned opinions on God’s Omniscience and Providence.

(16) The agents set out from there and looked down toward Sodom, Abraham walking with them to see them off.(17) Now ה׳ had said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,(18) since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him?(19) For I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of ה׳ by doing what is just and right, in order that ה׳ may bring about for Abraham what has been promised him.”

(25) Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

(27) Abraham spoke up, saying, “Here I venture to speak to my lord, I who am but dust and ashes:

(30) And he said, “Let not my lord be angry if I go on: What if thirty should be found there?” “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

(32) And he said, “Let not my lord be angry if I speak but this last time: What if ten should be found there?” “I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten.”(33) Having finished speaking to Abraham, ה׳ departed; and Abraham returned to his place.

(32) Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, that we may maintain life through our father.”

(2) Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.(3) But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are to die because of the woman that you have taken, for she is a married woman.”(4) Now Abimelech had not approached her. He said, “O lord, will You slay people even though innocent?(5) He himself said to me, ‘She is my sister’! And she also said, ‘He is my brother.’ When I did this, my heart was blameless and my hands were clean.”

(1) ה׳ took note of Sarah as promised, and ה׳ did for Sarah what had been announced.(2) Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken.

(9) Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing.(10) She said to Abraham, “Cast out that slave-woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”(11) The matter distressed Abraham greatly, for it concerned a son of his.(12) But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued for you.(13) As for the son of the slave-woman, I will make a nation of him, too, for he is your seed.”

(14) Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away. And she wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

(5) They have built shrines to Baal, to put their children to the fire as burnt offerings to Baal—which I never commanded, never decreed, and which never came to My mind.

The Gemara interprets each phrase of this verse: “Which I did not command,” this is referring to the son of Mesha, king of Moab. King Mesha sacrificed his son, as it is stated: “Then he took his firstborn son, who would reign after him, and he offered him as a burnt-offering” (II Kings 3:27). “And I did not speak,” this is referring to Jephthah, who sacrificed his daughter as an offering. “Nor did it come into my heart,” this is referring to Isaac, son of Abraham. Although God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, there was no intent in God’s heart that he should actually do so; it was merely a test.

The Holy One, blessed be He, answered: “You have spoken what was in you heart, now I will say what I wish to say. In the future Isaac’s descendants will sin against Me, and I will judge them on Rosh Hashanah. If they want Me to discover something to their credit, and to recall for their advantage the binding of Isaac, let them blow upon this shofar.” Abraham asked: “What shofar?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Turn around. Then it was that Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind a ram caught in the thicket by his horns (Gen. 22:13). This was one of the ten things that were created at twilight.

Rabbi Acha said, "Avraham started to wonder, 'These words are only words of wonder. Yesterday, you told me (Genesis 21:12), "Because in Itzchak will your seed be called." And [then] you went back and said, "Please take your son." And now You say to me, "Do not send your hand to the youth." It is a wonder!' The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'Avraham, "I will not profane My covenant and the utterances of My lips, I will not change" (Psalms 89:35) – When I said, "Please take your son," I did not say, "slaughter him," but rather, "and bring him up." For the sake of love did I say [it] to you: I said to you, "Bring him up," and you have fulfilled My words. And now, bring him down.’ [A different version: They said a parable about a king that said to his friend, 'Bring up your son to my table.' His friend brought him up and his knife was in his hand. The king said, 'And did I say to you, "Bring him up to eat him?" I said to you, "Bring him up"' – [and this was] because of [the king's] love.) This is [the meaning of] what is written (Jeremiah 19:5), 'it did not come up on My heart' – that is Itzchak."]

את בנך THY SON — Abraham said to God, “I have two sons”. “He answered him, “Thine only son”. Abraham said, “This one is the only son of his mother and the other is the only son of his mother”. God then said, “the one whom thou lovest”. Abraham replied, “I love both of them”. Whereupon God said “even Isaac”. Why did He not disclose this to him at the very first? So as not to confuse him suddenly lest his mind become distracted and bewildered and in his confused state he would involuntarily consent, when there would have been no merit in his sacrifice, and so that he might more highly value God’s command and that God might reward him for the increasing sacrifice demanded by obedience to each and every expression used here (Genesis Rabbah 55:7).

When he was about to slaughter Isaac, an angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, saying: Abraham, Abraham (ibid. 22:11). Why was his name repeated? Because he was hastening to slaughter him. And He said: Lay not thy hand upon the lad (ibid., v. 12). Abraham asked: “Who are you?” And he replied: “An angel.’ Thereupon Abraham retorted: “When I was commanded, Take now thy son, it was the Holy One, blessed be He, who spoke to me; if He now wishes to stop me, let Him tell me so.”

(1) I NEED not explain what a dream is, but I will explain the meaning of the term mareh, “vision,” which occurs in the passage: “In a vision (be-mareh) do I make myself known unto him” (Num. 12:6). The term signifies that which is also called mareh ha-nebuah, “prophetic vision,” yad ha-shem, “the hand of God,” and maḥazeh, “a vision.” It is something terrible and fearful which the prophet feels while awake, as is distinctly stated by Daniel: “And I saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength” (Dan, 10:8). He afterwards continues, “Thus was I in deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground” (ibid. ver. 9). But it was in a prophetic vision that the angel spoke to him and “set him upon his knees.”

(2)Under such circumstances the senses cease to act, and the [Active Intellect] influences the rational faculties, and through them the imaginative faculties, which become perfect and active. Sometimes the prophecy begins with a prophetic vision, the prophet greatly trembles, and is much affected in consequence of the perfect action of the imaginative faculty: and after that the prophecy follows. This was the case with Abraham. The commencement of the prophecy is, “The word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision” (Gen. 15:1); after this, “a deep sleep fell upon Abraham”; and at last, “he said unto Abraham,” etc.

When prophets speak of the fact that they received a prophecy, they say that they received it from an angel, or from God; but even in the latter case it was likewise received through an angel. Our Sages, therefore, explain the words, “And the Lord said unto her” that He spake through an angel. You must know that whenever Scripture relates that the Lord or an angel spoke to a person, this took place in a dream or in a prophetic vision.

(3) There are four different ways in which Scripture relates the fact that a divine communication was made to the prophet. (1) The prophet relates that he heard the words of an angel in a dream or vision; (2) He reports the words of the angel without mentioning that they were perceived in a dream or vision, assuming that it is well known that prophecy can only originate in one of the two ways, “In a vision I will make myself known unto him, in a dream I will speak unto him” (Num. 12:6). (3) The prophet does not mention the angel at all; he says that God spoke to him, but he states that he received the message in a dream or a vision. (4) He introduces his prophecy by stating that God spoke to him, or told him to do a certain thing, or speak certain words, but he does not explain that he received the message in a dream or vision, because he assumes that it is well known, and has been established as a principle that no prophecy or revelation originates otherwise than in a dream or vision, and through an angel.

(4) Instances of the first form are the following:—“And the angel of the Lord said unto me in a dream, Jacob” (Gen. 31:11); “And an angel said unto Israel in a vision of night” (ibid. 46:2); “And an angel came to Balaam by night”; “And an angel said unto Balaam” (Num. 22:20-72). Instances of the second form are these: “And Elohim (an angel), said unto Jacob, Rise, go up to Bethel” (Gen. 35:1); “And Elohim said unto him, Thy name is Jacob,” etc. (ibid. 35:10); “And an angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time” (ibid. 22:15); “And Elohim said unto Noah” (ibid. 6:13). The following is an instance of the third form: “The word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision” (ibid. 15:1). Instances of the fourth form are: “And the Lord said unto Abraham” (ibid. 18:13);