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Jewish historian Flavius Josephus describes Isaac as a 25-year-old who rushes to the altar, knowing that he is to be the victim. In Jewish literature around the turn of the era, Isaac is portrayed as the prototype of the voluntary and joyful martyr, willing to go bravely to his death. In Islam, the son is unidentified and could have been Ishmael (Abraham’s son by Hagar and the ancestor of the Arabs) instead of Isaac, thus extending God’s covenant to the Arab peoples. Isaac, however is variously interpreted according to time and tradition. In Judaism and Christianity ( as well as Islam), Abraham is the paradigm of the man of faith, put to the ultimate test and found to be steadfast. At the last moment, however, an angel calls out to Abraham to do no harm to the lad, and a ram caught in a nearby thicket is substitute for Isaac. Abraham binds Isaac, lays him on the firewood and raises his knife to slay him. Father and son travel three days to Moriah, the place of sacrifice, where they build an altar. Yet, as we shall see, at various times Christians and Jews were aware of each other’s interpretation of the story.Īccording to the narrative in Genesis 22:2–18, God, without any warning, commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son as a burnt offering. For most Christians, the Hebrew word akedah is unfamiliar more often than not, they will refer to the episode as the sacrifice of Isaac rather than the binding of Isaac.

It is even portrayed differently in the pictures they make. For nearly 2,000 years, however, it has been read somewhat differently by Jews and Christians. The Akedah (ah-kay-DAH), or binding of Isaac, is one of the most powerful narratives in the Hebrew Bible. A servant stands at right, and the ram, which Abraham will sacrifice in Isaac’s place, is at left. Abraham stands with the knife (now broken off) in hand, prepared to follow God’s command.

The story of how God tested Abraham by ordering him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Moriah is depicted. Detail of the upper left scene on the marble sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (see the next photo).