Difference between revisions of "Isaac" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | '''Isaac''' or '''Yitzchak''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: '''יִצְחָק''' ''{{Unicode|Yiẓḥaq}}'' [[Arabic language|Arabic]]: '''إسحٰق''', ''{{Unicode|ʾIsḥāq}}'' ; "he will laugh") is the son and heir of [[Abraham]] and the father of [[Jacob]] and [[Esau]], as described in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. His story is told in the [[Book of Genesis]]. The half-brother of [[Abraham]]'s son [[Ishamel]], Isaac was born miraculously when his mother was 90. He is primarily famed for his role as a the faithful son who did not complain when Abraham prepared to offer him as a burnt sacrifice to God. Later, he married the beautiful [[Rebekah]], whom he deeply loved. He was the father of the twin sons, [[Esau]] and [[Jacob]], and thus the ancestor of both the [[Edomites]] and the [[Israelites]] in the biblical narrative. | + | [[Image:Isaac-with-Abraham.jpg|thumb|250px|Isaac, the faithful son of Abraham.]] |
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| + | '''Isaac''' or '''Yitzchak''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: '''יִצְחָק''' ''{{Unicode|Yiẓḥaq}}'' [[Arabic language|Arabic]]: '''إسحٰق''', ''{{Unicode|ʾIsḥāq}}'' ; "he will laugh") is the son and heir of [[Abraham]] and the father of [[Jacob]] and [[Esau]], as described in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. His story is told in the [[Book of Genesis]]. The half-brother of [[Abraham]]'s son [[Ishamel]], Isaac was born miraculously when his mother was 90. He is primarily famed for his role as a the faithful son who did not complain when Abraham prepared to offer him as a burnt sacrifice to God. Later, he married the beautiful [[Rebekah]], whom he deeply loved. He was the father of the twin sons, [[Esau]] and [[Jacob]], and thus the ancestor of both the [[Edomites]] and the [[Israelites]] in the biblical narrative. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The historicity of Isaac's story in the Bible has come under serious challenge among recnet current scholars. Also, Isaac's role in Islam is significantly different than Juedo-Christian tradition. | ||
==Isaac in the Hebrew Bible== | ==Isaac in the Hebrew Bible== | ||
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Isaac and Hagar are banished to the desert, and we are told that his mother eventually finds a wife for him in Egypt. | Isaac and Hagar are banished to the desert, and we are told that his mother eventually finds a wife for him in Egypt. | ||
| − | ===The Binding=== | + | ===The Binding of Isaac=== |
| + | [[Image:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 035.jpg|thumb|225px|[[Rembrandt]]'s version of the angel hindering the sacrifice of Isaac.]] | ||
| − | An unspecified time elapses, and Isaac, now a young man, faces a tremendous test. God commands Abraham to offer him as a burnt offering. | + | An unspecified time elapses, and Isaac, now a young man, faces a tremendous test. God commands Abraham to offer him as a burnt offering. Abraham obeys and takes Isaac, together with two slaves, to the place "the Lord would show him. On the third day, discerning the place (identified elsewhere as Mount [[Moriah]]), Abraham cuts wood as for a burn-offering. As they go together toward the mount, the bewildered Isaac asks, "We have the fire and the wood, but where is the sacrifice for the burnt-offering?" Whether merely placating his victim or perhaps uttering an unknowing prophecy, Abraham tells Isaac that God himself will provide the sacrifice. He then places the wood on Isaac, and prepares to slay him with a knife. |
At this point an angel of Yahweh intervenes and damatically prevents the slaughter saying "do nothing to the lad, for now I know that you fear God." Abraham then discovers a ram caught in a nearby thicket, and this becomes the sacrifice in Isaac's place. | At this point an angel of Yahweh intervenes and damatically prevents the slaughter saying "do nothing to the lad, for now I know that you fear God." Abraham then discovers a ram caught in a nearby thicket, and this becomes the sacrifice in Isaac's place. | ||
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"I swear by myself.... that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen. 16-18) | "I swear by myself.... that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen. 16-18) | ||
| − | Besides being one of the most dramatic scenes in the Bible, the incident is also one of the most discussed (see below). | + | Besides being one of the most dramatic scenes in the Bible, the incident — known as the Binding of Isaac — is also one of the most discussed (see below). |
Isaac's family now move to Beersheba. However, his mother is reported to have died, at age 127, at Hebron. (Gen. 17:1-2) | Isaac's family now move to Beersheba. However, his mother is reported to have died, at age 127, at Hebron. (Gen. 17:1-2) | ||
==Midlife== | ==Midlife== | ||
| + | [[Image:Rebekeh-Camels.jpg|thumb|350px|Rebekah meets Eliezer, who has been sent to find a wife for Isaac.]] | ||
Isaac now establishes himself in the [[Negev]]. Abraham sends his steward, Eliezer, into Mesopotamia to procure a wife for him, from the family of Abraham's his brother-in-law. Isaac, now 40, thus receives [[Rebekah]], who arrives dramatically on a camel train with her slave-girls while Isaac meditates in a field. (Gen. 24:62-67) The two fall in love at first sight. Isaac honors her by providing her with his mother's tent. "She became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." | Isaac now establishes himself in the [[Negev]]. Abraham sends his steward, Eliezer, into Mesopotamia to procure a wife for him, from the family of Abraham's his brother-in-law. Isaac, now 40, thus receives [[Rebekah]], who arrives dramatically on a camel train with her slave-girls while Isaac meditates in a field. (Gen. 24:62-67) The two fall in love at first sight. Isaac honors her by providing her with his mother's tent. "She became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." | ||
Revision as of 04:58, 24 January 2007
Isaac or Yitzchak (Hebrew: יִצְחָק Yiẓḥaq Arabic: إسحٰق, ʾIsḥāq ; "he will laugh") is the son and heir of Abraham and the father of Jacob and Esau, as described in the Hebrew Bible. His story is told in the Book of Genesis. The half-brother of Abraham's son Ishamel, Isaac was born miraculously when his mother was 90. He is primarily famed for his role as a the faithful son who did not complain when Abraham prepared to offer him as a burnt sacrifice to God. Later, he married the beautiful Rebekah, whom he deeply loved. He was the father of the twin sons, Esau and Jacob, and thus the ancestor of both the Edomites and the Israelites in the biblical narrative.
The historicity of Isaac's story in the Bible has come under serious challenge among recnet current scholars. Also, Isaac's role in Islam is significantly different than Juedo-Christian tradition.
Isaac in the Hebrew Bible
Birth and Youth
The biblical story of Isaac begins with a prediction from God that Abraham's wife will bear a son named Isaac. Although Abraham already has a son, Ishamel, through Sarah's Egtyptian slave-woman, it is through Isaac that will inherit God's covenant. (Gen. 17:19) Isaac would be the longest lived of the three great patriarchs. His name, meaning to laugh, is related to various verses in which either Sarah or Abraham laugh at the idea that they could have a son at such an old age (she was 90, he 100).
Sarah suckled the child herself and Abraham gave a great feast on his weaning day. During the festivities, however, Hagar's son Ishmael, adopted a mocking attitude (21:9). As there was already bad blood between the two women, Sarah attempted to convince Abraham to be rid of the slave woman and her son. Abraham restists, be the biblical authors inform as that God intervenes on Sarah's behalf, saying:
- Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring." (21:12-13)
Isaac and Hagar are banished to the desert, and we are told that his mother eventually finds a wife for him in Egypt.
The Binding of Isaac
An unspecified time elapses, and Isaac, now a young man, faces a tremendous test. God commands Abraham to offer him as a burnt offering. Abraham obeys and takes Isaac, together with two slaves, to the place "the Lord would show him. On the third day, discerning the place (identified elsewhere as Mount Moriah), Abraham cuts wood as for a burn-offering. As they go together toward the mount, the bewildered Isaac asks, "We have the fire and the wood, but where is the sacrifice for the burnt-offering?" Whether merely placating his victim or perhaps uttering an unknowing prophecy, Abraham tells Isaac that God himself will provide the sacrifice. He then places the wood on Isaac, and prepares to slay him with a knife.
At this point an angel of Yahweh intervenes and damatically prevents the slaughter saying "do nothing to the lad, for now I know that you fear God." Abraham then discovers a ram caught in a nearby thicket, and this becomes the sacrifice in Isaac's place.
Apparently deeply relieved, God immediately renews his covenant with Abraham, saying:
"I swear by myself.... that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen. 16-18)
Besides being one of the most dramatic scenes in the Bible, the incident — known as the Binding of Isaac — is also one of the most discussed (see below).
Isaac's family now move to Beersheba. However, his mother is reported to have died, at age 127, at Hebron. (Gen. 17:1-2)
Midlife
Isaac now establishes himself in the Negev. Abraham sends his steward, Eliezer, into Mesopotamia to procure a wife for him, from the family of Abraham's his brother-in-law. Isaac, now 40, thus receives Rebekah, who arrives dramatically on a camel train with her slave-girls while Isaac meditates in a field. (Gen. 24:62-67) The two fall in love at first sight. Isaac honors her by providing her with his mother's tent. "She became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."
Like her mother-in-law before her, however, Rebekah is apparently barren. Isaac prays for her, God responds, and when Isaac is 60, she conceives. She struggles with her pregancy, for "two nations" are warring in her womb. She is delivered of twins, named Esau and Jacob. Isaac favors the hairy Esau, a hunter, while Rebekah loves Jacob, a homebody.
If the biblical chonology is correct, Abraham dies when Isaac is 75 years old. Although he has taken several additional wives and provided both them with susbtantial property, he leaves everything he owns at his death to Isaac. The banished Ishamael now breifly reappears, and the two brothers join together in peace to bury their father. (Gen. 25:9)
Some years afterwards, a famine obliges Isaac to retire to the Philistine town of Gerar, where Abimelech was king. God now appears to Isaac and established His covenant with him (Gen 26:2) Fearing that the men of the town will kill him in order to take the beautiful Rebekah for their own, Isaac does exactly as his father had done previously. He tells the king that his wife, Rebekah, is actually his sister. (She is, in fact, his cousin.) Abimelech, looking out his window, sees the two making love, and reproves Isaac for the deception.
Abimelech plances Isaac under his protection. Isaac gows very rich and his flocks multiply. Others among the Philistines, however, become envious and fill up the wells which Isaac's slaves have dug. Fearing the outbreak of hostilities, Abimelech orders Isaac to leave the city. After more troubles with nearby heardsmen, he finds a good, safe well at Rehobeth. At length, he returns to Beersheba where he establishes a more pernament habitation. Here the Lord appears to him again, and renews the promise of blessing him. Isaac also establishes a tribal altar at Beersheba. Later, Abimelech and company make a formal visit, and the two leaders form an alliance.
Old Age and Death
Isaac, having grown very old (137 years) has now become nearly blind. He calls Esau, his eldest and favorite son, to him to receive his blessing. Isaac directs Esau to procure some venison for him. However, Rebekah has other plans. She conspires with Jacob, and while Esau was hunting, Jacob pretends to be Esau. Isaac suspects, but Rebekeh has disguised Jacob very cleverly, and the old man is deceived. He gives the blessing meant for Esau to Jacob, saying:
- May God give you of heaven's dew
- and of earth's richness—
- an abundance of grain and new wine.
- May nations serve you
- and peoples bow down to you.
- Be lord over your brothers, and
- may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
- May those who curse you be cursed
- and those who bless you be blessed.
Having thus spoken, Isaac is powerless to reverse course once he discovers what has happened. "I have made him lord over you," he tells Esau, "and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?"
Esau determines to slay Jacob, but Rebekah counsels her favorite to flee. Since both she and Isaac are unhappy with Esau's choice of Hittite women as wives, she convinces Isaac to send Jacob to her relatives in Haran. He does so, giving him another blessing, this time intentionally:
- May God give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.
Esau, not being a bad son so Isaac, now realizes that he has displeased his parents by not marrying a relative. He thus goes the Ishmaelites, where he takes Mahalath, a daughter of Ishmael, as a bride, in addition to his other wives.
Jacob would return 21 years later and make peace with Esau. But we do not hear again of Isaac until his death notice:
- Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. (Gen. 35:27-29)
Isaac in the New Testament
In the New Testament, reference is made to his having been "offered up" by his father (Heb. 11:17; James 2:21), and to his blessing his sons (Heb. 11:20). As the child of promise, he is contrasted with Ishmael (Rom. 9:7, 10; Gal. 4:28; Heb. 11:18).
Isaac, many Christians have come to believe, is a representation of us, who were condemned to death by our evil deeds. And it was by his faith that Abraham saved his child from death, and God provided a worthy sacrifice for himself, a sheep, symbolizing Christ.
Isaac in Qur'an
Isaac was given to Sarah, when she and Abraham were old. It is recorded that she laughed when God gave her good tidings of Isaac's birth (14:39)(11:71-72)(37:112-113).
According to the Qur'an, the God (Arabic:Allah) whom Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac worshipped was the same God the sons of Jacob worshipped and surrendered to. They were called neither Jewish nor Arabs in that time, but were considered righteous. Isaac and Jacob were made chiefs who guided by the command of God, and God inspired in them to do good deeds and establish worship and the giving of alms. Isaac and Jacob were worshippers of God alone.
Isaac and Jacob are descendants of Abraham, who is called from a place where people were worshipping idols. Isaac and Jacob are both considered prophets and were given the mercy of God. He assigned to them a high and true renown.
God established the prophethood and the Scripture among the seed of Isaac and Jacob, and they were rewarded in the world (19:49-50)(21:72-73)(29:27).
The Qu'ran states that it makes no distinction between which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which other prophets received from God (2:133-140)(3:84)
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are called the forefathers of Joseph, upon whom God had perfected His grace. Joseph followed the same religion as his father (12:6)(12:38).
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are called bondmen of God and were purified with a pure thought ('remembrance of the Home/Hereafter') and were in the sight of God of the elect and the excellent (38:45-47).
According to Islamic beliefs, it was Ismael and not Isaac whom Abraham nearly sacrificed in the name of Allah {al-Saaffaat 37:99-113}. A modern debate on this topic may be found at: [1].
Critical View
Three explanations for Isaac's name are given: the first is that his mother Sarai(Sarah) laughed when told by God that she would have a son in her old age (Genesis 17:16-17); in the second, it is Sarah who laughs (Genesis 18:10-12); and in the third, Sarah exclaims following the birth that "God has made laughter for me; every one who hears will laugh over me." (Genesis 21:6-7). The name is also translated as "He will rejoice."
Some commentators believe that in the Book of Amos there is some suggestion that Israel may actually be another name for Isaac (Amos 7:9, 16) despite the Bible stating that Israel is the later name given to Isaac's son Jacob (Genesis 32:22-28, especially 28).
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