Isaac
The anglicized name Isaac is a transliteration of the Hebrew word that literally means he laughs or will laugh. Ugaritic texts dating from the 13th century BCE refer to the benevolent smile of the Canaanite deity El. Genesis ascribes the laughter to Isaac's parents Abraham and Sarah instead. According to the biblical narrative Abraham fell on his face and laughed when God imparted the news of their son's eventual birth. He laughed because Sarah was past the age of childbearing. Both she and Abraham were advanced in age. Later when Sarah overheard three messengers of the Lord renew the promise she laughed inwardly for the same reason. Sarah denied laughing when God questioned Abraham about it.
After God changes Abram and Sarai's names to Abraham and Sarah he tells Abraham that he will bear a second son by Sarah named Isaac. With whom a new covenant would be established. In response Abraham began to laugh as both he and Sarah were well beyond natural child-bearing age. Some time later three men who Abraham identifies as messengers of God visit him and Sarah. They repeat the prophecy that Sarah would bear a child promising Isaac's birth within a year's time at which point Sarah laughs in disbelief. Now afraid they futilely deny ever having laughed at God's words. Time passes as Isaac is born. Isaac was Abraham's second son and firstborn of Sarah who was then Sarai. Sarai had been barren for a long time and sought a way to fulfill God's promise that Abram would be father of many nations especially since they had grown old so she offered Hagar to Abram to be his concubine. On the eighth day from his birth Isaac was circumcised as was necessary for all males of Abraham's household in order to be in compliance with the Jewish covenant.
At some point in Isaac's youth his father Abraham took him to Mount Moriah. At God's command as the last of ten trials to test his faith Abraham was to build a sacrificial altar and sacrifice his son Isaac upon it. After he had bound his son to the altar and drawn his knife to kill him at the last moment an angel of God prevented Abraham from proceeding. Instead he was directed to sacrifice a nearby ram that was stuck in thickets. The sacrifice of Isaac is cited in appeals for the mercy of God in later Jewish traditions. According to a version of these interpretations Isaac died in the sacrifice and was revived. According to many accounts of Aggadah unlike the Bible it is Satan who is testing Isaac as an agent of God. Isaac's willingness to follow God's command at the cost of his death has been a model for many Jews who preferred martyrdom to violation of the Jewish law.
While the Book of Genesis does not tell the age of Isaac at the time of binding some Talmudic sages take it to be thirty seven likely based on the next biblical story which is of Sarah's death at 127 years being 90 when Isaac was born. Rabbinic literature also linked Isaac's blindness in old age as stated in the Bible to the sacrificial binding. Isaac's eyes went blind because the tears of angels present at the time of his sacrifice fell on Isaac's eyes. The early Christian church continued and developed the New Testament theme of Isaac as a type of Christ and the Church being both the son of the promise and the father of the faithful. Tertullian draws a parallel between Isaac's bearing the wood for the sacrificial fire with Christ's carrying his cross. There was a general agreement that while all the sacrifices of the Old Law were anticipations of that on Calvary the sacrifice of Isaac was so in a pre-eminent way.
Some scholars have described Isaac as a legendary figure or as a figure representing tribal history or as a seminomadic leader. Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Römer have proposed that Isaac might be the ancestor worshipped in Beersheba and the oldest tradition about him might be an ancestor myth dating back to at least 8th century BCE as shown in Amos 7:9. They propose that the story about him conflicting with Abimelech king of Gerar and Philistines which is the story that has possibility that Abraham cycle could have vampirized or vice versa could have been originated and have background in 7th century BCE. It could be made to aim at justifying and legitimizing the claim of Judah over the Judahite territories that are transferred to the Philistine cities by Sennacherib because of several reasons. It was time when Gerar had the special importance and fortified Assyrian administration center. The Kingdom of Judah could have gotten back parts of Judahite territories while Judah was a compliant vassal of Assyria under Manasseh.
The earliest Christian portrayal of Isaac is found in the Roman catacomb frescoes. Excluding the fragments Alison Moore Smith classifies these artistic works in three categories. Isaac is mentioned seventeen times by name in the Quran often with his father and his son Jacob. The Quran states that Abraham received good tidings of Isaac a prophet of the righteous and that God blessed them both. In a fuller description when angels came to Abraham to tell him of the future punishment to be imposed on Sodom and Gomorrah his wife Sarah laughed and We gave her good tidings of Isaac and after Isaac of a grandson Jacob. Several verses speak of Isaac as a gift to Abraham. Isaac is commemorated in the Catholic Church on the 25th of March or on the 17th of December. His feast day is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church on the Second Sunday before Christmas under the title the Sunday of the Forefathers.
Common questions
What does the name Isaac mean in Hebrew?
The anglicized name Isaac is a transliteration of the Hebrew word that literally means he laughs or will laugh. Ugaritic texts dating from the 13th century BCE refer to the benevolent smile of the Canaanite deity El.
When was Isaac born and what happened on his eighth day?
Isaac was Abraham's second son and firstborn of Sarah who was then Sarai. On the eighth day from his birth Isaac was circumcised as was necessary for all males of Abraham's household in order to be in compliance with the Jewish covenant.
How old was Isaac when Abraham took him to Mount Moriah?
Some Talmudic sages take it to be thirty seven likely based on the next biblical story which is of Sarah's death at 127 years being 90 when Isaac was born. Rabbinic literature also linked Isaac's blindness in old age as stated in the Bible to the sacrificial binding.
Who proposed that Isaac might be the ancestor worshipped in Beersheba?
Israel Finkelstein and Thomas Römer have proposed that Isaac might be the ancestor worshipped in Beersheba and the oldest tradition about him might be an ancestor myth dating back to at least 8th century BCE as shown in Amos 7:9.
On which dates does the Catholic Church commemorate Isaac?
Isaac is commemorated in the Catholic Church on the 25th of March or on the 17th of December. His feast day is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church on the Second Sunday before Christmas under the title the Sunday of the Forefathers.