Binding of Isaac

Not to be confused with The Binding of Isaac.

The Binding of Isaac (עֲקֵידַת יִצְחַק ʿAqēḏaṯ Yīṣḥaq), or simply "The Binding" (הָעֲקֵידָה hāʿAqēḏā), is a story from Genesis 22 of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac at Moriah. Abraham complies, but is stopped at the last moment, and a ram is sacrificed instead.

"And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son." (Genesis 22:10)

Quotes

Hebrew Bible

"'Abraham! Abraham!' And he answered, 'Here I am.'" (Genesis 22:11)

"'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.'" (Genesis 22:12)

• וַיְהִ֗י אַחַר֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וְהָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים נִסָּ֖ה אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ וַיֹּ֡אמֶר קַח־נָ֠א אֶת־בִּנְךָ֨ אֶת־יְחִֽידְךָ֤ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַ֙בְתָּ֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֔ק וְלֶ֨ךְ־לְךָ֔ אֶל־אֶ֖רֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּ֑ה וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה עַ֚ל אַחַ֣ד הֶֽהָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֹמַ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ׃
  • Genesis 22:1–2 (MT)
  • Translation:
    • Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test, saying to him, "Abraham." He answered, "Here I am." "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."
      • JPS translation

• וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יִצְחָ֜ק אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֤ם אָבִיו֙ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אָבִ֔י וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֶּ֣נִּֽי בְנִ֑י וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנֵּ֤ה הָאֵשׁ֙ וְהָ֣עֵצִ֔ים וְאַיֵּ֥ה הַשֶּׂ֖ה לְעֹלָֽה׃ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אַבְרָהָ֔ם אֱלֹהִ֞ים יִרְאֶה־לּ֥וֹ הַשֶּׂ֛ה לְעֹלָ֖ה בְּנִ֑י
  • Genesis 22:7–8 (MT)
  • Translation:
    • 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?" And Abraham said, "It is God who will see to the sheep for this burnt offering, my son."
      • JPS translation

• וַיָּבֹ֗אוּ אֶֽל־הַמָּקוֹם֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָֽמַר־ל֣וֹ הָאֱלֹהִים֒ וַיִּ֨בֶן שָׁ֤ם אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ וַֽיַּעֲרֹ֖ךְ אֶת־הָעֵצִ֑ים וַֽיַּעֲקֹד֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֣ק בְּנ֔וֹ וַיָּ֤שֶׂם אֹתוֹ֙ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ מִמַּ֖עַל לָעֵצִֽים׃ וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח אַבְרָהָם֙ אֶת־יָד֔וֹ וַיִּקַּ֖ח אֶת־הַֽמַּאֲכֶ֑לֶת לִשְׁחֹ֖ט אֶת־בְּנֽוֹ׃
  • Genesis 22:9–10 (MT)
  • Translation:
    • 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. And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son.
      • JPS translation

• וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֵלָ֜יו מַלְאַ֤ךְ יְהֹוָה֙ מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֣ם ׀ אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אַל־תִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָֽדְךָ֙ אֶל־הַנַּ֔עַר וְאַל־תַּ֥עַשׂ ל֖וֹ מְא֑וּמָה כִּ֣י ׀ עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֗עְתִּי כִּֽי־יְרֵ֤א אֱלֹהִים֙ אַ֔תָּה וְלֹ֥א חָשַׂ֛כְתָּ אֶת־בִּנְךָ֥ אֶת־יְחִידְךָ֖ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃
  • Genesis 22:11–12 (MT)
  • Translation:
    • Then a messenger of יהוה called to him from heaven: "Abraham! Abraham!" And he answered, "Here I am." "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."
      • JPS translation

Rabbinic literature

• When God commanded the father to desist from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham said: "One man tempts another, because he knoweth not what is in the heart of his neighbor. But Thou surely didst know that I was ready to sacrifice my son!"

  God: "It was manifest to Me, and I foreknew it, that thou wouldst withhold not even thy soul from Me."

  Abraham: "And why, then, didst Thou afflict me thus?"

  God: "It was My wish that the world should become acquainted with thee, and should know that it is not without good reason that I have chosen thee from all the nations. Now it hath been witnessed unto men that thou fearest God."

  • Louis Ginzberg: The Legends of the Jews, vol. I: Satan Accuses Abraham (PDF). Translated by Henrietta Szold. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. Retrieved 2018-02-14.

Quran

• فَلَمَّآ أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُۥ لِلْجَبِينِ وَنَـٰدَيْنَـٰهُ أَن يَـٰٓإِبْرَٰهِيمُ قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ ٱلرُّءْيَآ
  • Quran 37:103–105
  • Translation:
    • Then when they submitted ˹to Allah's Will˺, and Abraham laid him on the side of his forehead ˹for sacrifice˺, We called out to him, "O Abraham! You have already fulfilled the vision."
      • The Clear Quran by Dr. Mustafa Khattab
  • Comments:
    • The Quran does not mention the name of the son. In some readings of the Quran, the son is understood to be Ishmael, not Isaac.

Quotes about the Binding of Isaac

• The preferred Shofar of Redemption is the Divine call that awakens and inspires the people with holy motivations, through faith in God and the unique mission of the people of Israel. This elevated awakening corresponds to the ram's horn, a horn that recalls Abraham's supreme love of God and dedication in Akeidat Yitzchak, the Binding of Isaac.
  • Abraham Isaac Kook: 1933 Sermon: "The Call of the Great Shofar"

• Abraham decided to trust his god. He and Isaac set off on a three-day journey to the Mount of Moriah, which would later be the site of the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaac, who knew nothing of the divine command, even had to carry the wood for his own holocaust. It was not until the very last moment, when Abraham actually had the knife in his hand, that God relented and told him that it had only been a test.
  • Karen Armstrong: A History of God, p. 18

• A critical event in Isaac's life occurred when God's command came that he should be offered as a sacrifice on a mountain in the land of Moriah (Gen. xxii. 2). Isaac showed himself in this trial to be worthy of his father. Without murmuring he suffered himself to be bound and laid upon the altar. But Abraham was prevented by God from consummating the sacrifice, and a ram that happened to be near was offered instead.
  • "Isaac", Jewish Encyclopedia

• The account of Abraham our father binding his son, includes two great ideas or principles of our faith. First, it shows us the extent and limit of the fear of God. … The second purpose is to show how the prophets believed in the truth of that which came to them from God by way of inspiration.
  • Maimonides: Guide for the Perplexed, part 3, 24:8–10

See also

• Isaac
• Jephthah's daughter