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'Akedah' or the 'Binding of Isaac' (, ''Akedát Yitzhák'') in Genesis 22, is narration from the Hebrew Bible, in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. The Event is remembered on the 1st of Tishrei in the Jewish calendar and from the 10th - 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah in the Muslim calendar.
The narration is referred to as the ''Akedah'' (עקדה) or ''Akedat Yitzchak'' (עקידת יצחק) in Hebrew (the binding of Isaac) and as the ''Dhabih'' in Arabic. The sacrifice is called an ''Olah'' in Hebrew — for the significance of sacrifices, especially in Biblical times, see the korbanot.
According to the narration, Abraham sets out to obey God's command without questioning. The text says that God wishes to test Abraham, which indicates that he does not intend Abraham to actually sacrifice his son. Indeed, after Isaac is bound to an altar, the angel of the Lord stops Abraham at the last minute, at which point Abraham discovers a ram caught in some nearby bushes. Abraham then sacrifices the ram in Isaac's stead.
According to Josephus, Isaac is twenty-five years old at the time of the sacrifice, while the Talmudic sages teach that Isaac is thirty-seven. In either case, Isaac is a fully grown man, strong enough to prevent the elderly Abraham from tying him up had he wanted to resist.
In Genesis 22:14 states that it occurred at "the mount of the LORD",in 2 Chronicles 3:1; Psalm 24:3; Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 30:29; and Zechariah 8:3, the Bible seems to identify the location of this event as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Contents

Jewish responses

Christian responses

Muslim responses

Modern-day interpretations

The near-sacrifice in art

The near-sacrifice in literature

The near-sacrifice in music

The near-sacrifice in film

The near-sacrifice in television

See also

External links

References

Jewish responses

The majority of Jewish Biblical commentators argue that God was testing Abraham to see if he would actually kill his own son, as a test of his loyalty. However, a number of Jewish Biblical commentators from the mediaeval era, and many in the modern era, do not agree with this notion. They read the text in another way.
The early rabbinic midrash ''Genesis Rabbah'' imagines God as saying "I never considered telling Abraham to slaughter Isaac (using the Hebrew
root letters for "slaughter", not "sacrifice")". Rabbi Yona Ibn Janach (Spain, 11th century) wrote that God demanded only a symbolic sacrifice. Rabbi Yosef Ibn Caspi (Spain, early 14th century) wrote that Abraham's "imagination" led him astray, making him believe that he had been commanded to sacrifice his son. Ibn Caspi writes "How could God command such a revolting thing?" But according to Rabbi J. H. Hertz (Chief Rabbi of the British Empire), child sacrifice was actually "rife among the Semitic peoples," and suggests that "in that age, it was astounding that Abraham's God should have interposed ''to prevent'' the sacrifice, not that He should have asked for it." Hertz interprets the ''Akedah'' as demonstrating to the Jews that human sacrifice is abhorrent. "Unlike the cruel heathen deities, ''it was the spiritual surrender alone that God required.''" In Jeremiah 32:35, God states that the later Israelite practice of child sacrifice to the deity Molech "had [never] entered My mind that they should do this abomination".
Other rabbinic scholars also note that Abraham was willing to do everything to spare his son, even if it meant going against the divine command: while it was God who ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, it was an angel, a lesser being in the celestial hierarchy, that commanded him to stop. However, the actions and words of angels (from the Greek for "messenger") are generally understood to derive directly from God's will.
In some later Jewish writings, most notably those of the Hasidic masters, the theology of a "divine test" is rejected, and the sacrifice of Isaac is interpreted as a "punishment" for Abraham's earlier "mistreatment" of Ishmael, his elder son, whom he expelled from his household at the request of his wife, Sarah. According to this view, Abraham failed to show compassion for his son, so God punished him by ostensibly failing to show compassion for Abraham's son.
In ''The Last Trial'', Shalom Spiegel argues that these commentators were interpreting the Biblical narration as an implicit rebuke against Christianity's claim that God would sacrifice His own son.
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.

Christian responses

The Binding of Isaac is mentioned in the New Testament Book of Hebrews among many acts of faith recorded in the Old Testament:
:''By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.'' (Hebrews 11:17-19, NKJV)
The Author of Hebrews here considers Abraham's faith in God to be of such a magnitude that he felt reassured that if God would allow him to perform the task which he'd requested, he would be able to resurrect the slain Isaac, in order that his prophecy (Genesis 21:12) might be fulfilled. Such faith in God's word and in his promise lead this particular Old Testament passage to be regarded by many Christians as an incredibly significant (and exemplary) one.
The majority of Christian Biblical commentators hold this whole episode to be an archetype of the way that God works; this event is seen as foreshadowing God's plan to have his own Son, Jesus, die on the cross as a substitute for humanity, much like the ram God provided for Abraham. And Abraham's willingness to give up his own son Isaac is seen, in this view, as foreshadowing the willingness of God the Father to sacrifice his Son; also contrasted is Isaac's submission in the whole ordeal with Christ's, the two choosing to lay down their own lives in order for the will of God to be accomplished, as no struggle is mentioned in the Genesis account. Indeed, both stories portray the participants carrying the wood for their own sacrifice up a mountain.
There has been speculation within Christianity whether the Binding occurred upon the Temple Mount or upon Calvary, the hill upon which Christ was crucified, which is in the vicinity. Genesis 22:2 states that it occurred "in the region of Moriah" and not necessarily upon the Temple Mount, specifically. Some Christians view Abraham's statement in 22:14, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided," as a prophecy that upon this spot God would provide the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.

Muslim responses

The Qur'an itself does not mention the name of Abraham's son, although the full narrative points to Ishmael (Qur'an 37:99-113). Traditionally, many Muslims believe that it was Ishmael rather than Isaac whom Abraham was told to sacrifice and link many pilgrimage rites with that event, though there are classical commentators who said it was Isaac. The ones who say that it was Ishmael argue from the assumption of coherency of Quranic narrative, and say that God would not have asked for the sacrifice after He has foretold Abraham and Sarah the glad tidings of Isaac and his offspring (Quran 11:71; 15:53, 37:112 etc). Some also note that the text of Genesis as it stands, despite specifying Isaac, appears to state that Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son ("Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac" Genesis 22:2) to God. The mention of Isaac may have been a later interpolation by someone who wished to give this honour to their forefather. And since Isaac was Abraham's second son - younger than Ishamel by 13 years, there was no time at which he would have been Abraham's only son, so they take this to imply that the original text must have meant Ishmael rather than Isaac as the intended sacrifice. The Pentateuch does not imply that Ishmael was an illegitimate son - he's referred to as Abraham's son and his mother as Abraham's wife. However, Ishmael, upon the request of Sarah, was disowned by Abraham. As such Isaac could be considered Abraham's only son at the time of the sacrifice.
What is interesting in the Quranic narrative is that Abraham shares his vision of sacrifice command with the son who was old enough to talk and understand, and the son himself advises Abraham to go ahead and carry out the command:
:"And [one day,] when [the child] had become old enough to share in his [father’s] endeavours, the latter said: “O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee: consider, then, what would be thy view!” He answered: “O my father! Do as you are bidden: you will find me, if God so wills, among those who are patient in adversity!”" (37:102)
Muslims consider that visions experienced by prophets are revelations from God, and as such it was a divine order to Abraham. The entire episode of the sacrifice is regarded as a trial of God for Abraham and his son, and both are seen as having passed the test by submitting to God and showing their awareness that God is the Owner and Giver of all that we have and cherish, including life and offspring. The submission of Abraham and his son is celebrated and commemorated by Muslims on the days of Eid ul-Adha Sacrifice festival. During the festival, those who can afford and the ones in the pilgrimage sacrifice a ram, cow, sheep or a camel. Part of the sacrifice meat is eaten by the household and remaining is distributed to the neighbor and the needy. The festival happens in the pilgrimage hajj season. The well-known site of Marwah (Arabic مروة) may be identified with the biblical Moriah (Hebrew מריה)in Gn 22:2.

Modern-day interpretations

It also figures prominently in the writings of many major modern theologians, such as Søren Kierkegaard in ''Fear and Trembling'' and Shalom Spiegel in ''The Last Trial''.
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's description of Odysseus's scar, as the two paradigmatic models for the representation of reality in literature. Auerbach contrasts Homer's attention to detail and foregrounding of the spatial, historical, as well as personal contexts for events to the Bible's sparse account, in which virtually all context is kept in the background or left outside of the narrative. As Auerbach observes, this narrative strategy virtually compels readers to add their own interpretations to the text.
Some have argued that the narration should be read in the context of ancient Near Eastern culture. In the time and era in which Abraham lived, he was surrounded by cultures where the sacrifice of animals to gods was the normal way of showing devotion and loyalty. Abraham lived among some cultures that sacrificed human beings to their gods - sometimes even their own children.
One understanding of the text is that God inspired Abraham in this episode in order to teach him a lesson, in order to stop human sacrifices from happening.
Readers note that Abraham was put by God into a dilemma with no clear solution.

★ If Abraham had said "No God, I cannot comply! Even for You I could never do such a thing", then Abraham would be shown as disobedient to God, which is normally a bad thing. However, he also would have been shown to be a moral person; in this possibility, he could realize that if he couldn't sacrifice his own child, then no one else should do so.

★ If Abraham had said "I don't want to, but I trust you and will do so" then Abraham would be shown as being obedient to God, which is normally a good thing. In this case (which occurs in the text), God prevents Abraham from following the initial order. The reader may ask why God has done this, perhaps God in effect says "Ah-Ha! You assumed that this was what I wanted. But I now give you a revelation: This is not the way to serve me. Human sacrifice is not allowed".
Whatever the original intent (which may never be totally elucidated) of the text, the episode has quite an effect on Abraham and Isaac; it is clear to them both that human sacrifice is not acceptable.
Many readers have noted Abraham's prophetic "Freudian slip": He says "I and the boy will go there, bow down, and 'we' will return to you". Many classical rabbinic commentators hold that Abraham knew that Isaac wouldn't die, although, since he was addressing his servants, it is possible he was trying to mislead them (or Isaac) about what he intended to do.

The near-sacrifice in art

★ ''The Binding of Isaac'': 6th Century B.C.E. mosaic floor panel at Beit Alpha by Marianos and Hanina. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1401 bronze relief by Brunelleschi. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1418 sculpture by Donatello. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1512-1514 fresco by Raphael. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': painting by Domenichino. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Abraham'': 1520-1525 painting by Sarto. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1526-1532 sculpture by Berruguete. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1582-1647 painting by Giovanni Lanfranco. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1590 painting by Empoli. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1596 painting by Ligozzi.Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1601-1602 painting by Caravaggio. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1607 painting by Cigoli. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1625 painting by Riminaldi. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Abraham'': 1634 painting by Rembrandt. Photo

★ ''Abraham Sacrificing Isaac'': 1650 painting by de LaHire. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1726-1729 fresco by Tiepolo. Photo

★ ''The Sacrifice of Isaac'': 1960-1965 painting by Chagall. Photo

The near-sacrifice in literature

★ ''The Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac'': 14th century English mystery play (Gassner, 1963)

★ ''Fear and Trembling'': 1843 philosophical work by Søren Kierkegaard. Explores the ethical implications of Abraham's act, tries to place it in his contemporary world, and distills from this an admirable picture of how a "knight of faith" is more than just someone who knows the rules of religion. Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, but this submission to the will of God was not where he stopped, for he believed that he would have him back: he trusted the "absurd" — a trust that is a paradox, beyond ethics and intellectual comprehension. It develops the leap of faith, that faith is separate from religious or empirical knowledge, and thus always "absurd".

★ ''The Parable of the Old Man and the Young'': 1920 poem by Wilfred Owen. It used the near-sacrifice, altered to a successful slaughter, as an allusive metaphor for World War I.

★ ''Without Feathers'': 1975 book by Woody Allen. Contains an essay (''The Scrolls'') that humorously re-tells the Binding of Isaac. Excerpt embedded in speech

★ ''Roderick'': 1980 satiric science fiction novel by John Sladek. The title character offends and confuses the teachers at his Catholic school when he creates a flow chart to document the various ways that the Binding of Isaac could have been played out, as well as their possible meanings.

★ ''Hyperion'': 1989 science fiction novel by Dan Simmons. The novel is first in the science-fiction series Hyperion Cantos. One of the characters, Sol Weintraub, ponders the near-sacrifice in relation to his own problem of being told by a voice to take his daughter Rachel to the planet Hyperion and offer her to the Time Tombs, publishing a number of widely-read works on the ethical dilemma. In ''The Fall of Hyperion'', Weintraub concludes (after giving his daughter to the Shrike) that the answer is that Abraham was testing God, not the other way around: if God had allowed the sacrifice, then he would thereby have proven that he was not to be worshipped.

★ ''Testament'': 2005 comic book by Douglas Rushkoff. The binding of Isaac is directly paralleled by a father refusing to implant an RFID chip into his adolescent son and putting it into the family dog instead.

The near-sacrifice in music

★ ''Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, for alto, tenor, and piano, Op. 51'': 1952 song/opera by Benjamin Britten. Text adapted from the medieval Chester Mystery Plays. One voice sings the role of Abraham, the other Isaac. The two voices sing homophonically to create a third voice for God. Lyrics

★ ''Highway 61 Revisited'': 1965 song by Bob Dylan from the album Highway 61 Revisited. Lyrics reference the near-sacrifice. Highway 61 was a highway near Bob Dylan's home. Bob Dylan's father was named Abraham. Lyrics

★ ''Story of Isaac'': 1969 song by Leonard Cohen from the album Songs from a Room. Lyrics

★ ''Isaac and Abraham'': 1992 song by Joan Baez from the album Play Me Backwards. Lyrics

★ ''The Cave'': 1994 opera by Steve Reich. Contains the song ''The Binding of Isaac'' in the third act.

★ ''Abraham'': 2004 song by Sufjan Stevens from the album ''Seven Swans''. Discusses the binding of Isaac from a Christan perspective. Lyrics

★ ''Mr. Shiny Cadillackness'': 2007 song by Clutch from the album ''From Beale Street to Oblivion''. References the near-sacrifice with the lyrics, ''"Will you sacrifice your first born like Abraham would his Isaac?"'' Lyrics

The near-sacrifice in film

★ ''The Sacrifice'': 1986 movie directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Internet Movie Database WWIII threatens nuclear holocaust and the main character offers his son and his home to God if everything is put right again. He is saved, he burns his house and is ultimately prevented from killing his son by external forces.

★ ''The Rapture'': 1991 movie directed by Michael Tonklin. Internet Movie Database Contains a key scene that references the near-sacrifice.

★ ''Abraham'': 1994 TV-movie directed by Joseph Sargent. Internet Movie Database

★ ''Frailty'': 2001 movie directed by Bill Paxton. Internet Movie Database

★ ''The Believer'': 2001 movie directed by Henry Bean. Internet Movie Database The central character has a particularly powerful moment centered around his critique of the kind of God that would expose a father to such torment.

The near-sacrifice in television

★ ''Law & Order'' season 6 episode 8 ''Angel'' (first aired 11/29/1995): loosely based on the story of Susan Smith, but added a religious motive for the murder.

★ ''Family Guy'' season 2 episode 2 ''Holy Crap'' (first aired 09/30/1999): Brian Griffin mentions the Old Testament narration in which "God told Abraham to kill Isaac." In the show's irreverent style, a cutaway then shows President Abraham Lincoln shooting bartender Isaac from the television show Love Boat.

★ ''Lost'' season 3 episode 17 ''Catch-22'' (first aired 04/18/2007): the near-sacrifice is a theme in the episode.

See also

★ Isaac

★ Hebrew Bible

★ Theodicy

★ Free will

★ Iphigeneia

★ Filicide

★ Child sacrifice

★ Vayeira, the Torah portion containing the Binding of Isaac

External links

★ The binding of Issac from a Jewish perspective chabad.org

★ Symposium on the Sacrifice of Isaac in the Three Monotheistic Religions

★ An Islamic Perspective on the Binding of Isaac

★ The Sacrifice of Isaac in Medieval English Drama

★ Binding of Isaac point to the provision Lamb

★ Mystery play texts in the cycles from Chester, Wakefield, York and n-Town

★ Binding of Isaac a one-act opera by Matthew Peterson (2006)

References

★ The Akedah: The Binding of Isaac, Berman, Louis A., , , Rowman & Littlefield, 1997, ISBN 1-56821-899-0

★ The Binding of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah: Seeds of Jewish Extremism and Alienation?, Bodoff, Lippman, , , Devora Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-932687-52-1 (Cloth), ISBN 1-932687-53-X (Paper)

★ The Real Test of the Akedah: Blind Obedience versus Moral Choice, Bodofff, Lippman, , , Judaism, 1993

★ God Tests Abraham - Abraham Tests God, Bodofff, Lippman, , , Bible Review, 1993

★ The Binding and Its Transformations in Judaism and Islam, Caspi, Mishael Maswari and Sascha Benjamin Cohen, , , Mellen Biblical Press, 1995, ISBN 0-7734-2389-3

★ Abraham on Trial, Delaney, Carol, , , Princeton University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-691-05985-3

★ Abraham, Isaac, and Some Hidden Assumptions of Our Culture, Delaney, Carol, , , The Humanist, 1999

★ Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, , Bruce, Feiler, HarperCollins, 2002, ISBN 0-06-083866-3

★ Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis, Firestone, Reuven, , , State University of New York Press, 1990, ISBN 0-7914-0332-7

★ Medieval and Tudor Drama: Twenty-Four Plays, Gassner, John (Ed.), , , Applause, 1963, ISBN 0-936839-84-8

★ Antiquities of the Jews, , Flavius, Josephus, Interhack Digital Library, 93-94 C.E., ISBN 1-58827-612-0

★ The Binding or Sacrifice of Isaac: How Jews and Christians See Differently, Jensen, Robin M., , , Bible Review, 1993

★ The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity, Levenson, Jon D., , , Yale University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-300-06511-6

★ The Torah: A Modern Commentary I. Genesis, Plaut, W. Gunther, , , Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1974, ASIN B0006DJTU8 p. 210.

★ Aviezer Ravitzky of Hebrew University , ''Abraham: Father of the Believers'', (Hebrew)

★ The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis, , Nahum, Sarna, Jewish Publication Society, 1989, ISBN 0-8276-0326-6

★ The Last Trial: On the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Isaac As a Sacrifice: The Akedah, Spiegel, Shalom, , , Jewish Lights Publishing, 1967, ISBN 1-879045-29-X

★ Jew Christian, Muslim: Faithful Unification or Fateful Trifurcation? Word, Way, Worship and War in the Abrahamic Faiths, Vaux, Kenneth L., , , Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2003, ISBN 1-59244-363-X