It’s not easy to produce new readings of a text that has been read, reread, deconstructed and reconstructed as many times and in as many ways as the Hebrew Bible. Far from setting an example in which God intervenes to end human sacrifice, Abraham, the father of monotheism, is revealed as a man who can walk his own son to the altar and even wield the blade himself. In the earliest Biblical narrative, Yoreh believes, Isaac died that day on Mt. “They’re just repeated elements, a recycling of the material.” “It’s hard to characterize as distinct stories,” says Yoreh.
And just as Abraham passes off his wife, Sarah, as his sister to avoid being killed by Avimelech, so does Isaac with his own wife, Rebecca. Worse yet, Isaac’s chapter “is all recycled from Abraham’s life.” Just as Abraham signs a pact with the king Avimelech, so does Isaac. Indeed, Isaac seems to fade after the sacrifice, with his life story told in just one chapter, compared to more than a dozen chapters for both Abraham and Jacob. “Not that the YHWH portions make much of an effort to bring him back to life either,” Yoreh notes. In fact, if you only read the parts of Isaac’s life that use the name Elohim, you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to see the story as one in which Isaac is killed in the sacrifice and disappears completely from the Biblical story. Indeed, Isaac is never again mentioned in an Elohim storyline. ( AV) 24 His concubine, ( AW) whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.These sorts of variations, rampant throughout the Bible, have led scholars to conclude that different names for God are used by different storylines and editors. ( AU) Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. ( AT)” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Nahor’s SonsĢ0 Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: ( AQ) 21 Uz ( AR) the firstborn, Buz ( AS) his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel. ( AL) Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ( AM) 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, ( AN) because you have obeyed me.” ( AO)ġ9 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba.
( AD)”ġ5 The angel of the Lord ( AE) called to Abraham from heaven ( AF) a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, ( AG) declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ( AH) 17 I will surely bless you ( AI) and make your descendants ( AJ) as numerous as the stars in the sky ( AK) and as the sand on the seashore. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided. ( AA) 14 So Abraham called ( AB) that place The Lord ( AC) Will Provide. ( Z) He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ( Y)”ġ3 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.
Now I know that you fear God, ( X) because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. ( S) 11 But the angel of the Lord ( T) called out to him from heaven, ( U) “Abraham! Abraham!” ( V)ġ2 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife ( R) to slay his son. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, ( Q) on top of the wood. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb ( K) for the burnt offering?”Ĩ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide ( L) the lamb ( M) for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.ĩ When they reached the place God had told him about, ( N) Abraham built an altar ( O) there and arranged the wood ( P) on it. ( J) As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” ( H)”Ħ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, ( I) and he himself carried the fire and the knife. We will worship and then we will come back to you. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. ( F)”ģ Early the next morning ( G) Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. ( D) Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering ( E) on a mountain I will show you. He said to him, “Abraham!”Ģ Then God said, “Take your son ( C), your only son, whom you love-Isaac-and go to the region of Moriah. 22 Some time later God tested ( A) Abraham.
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