Isaac

[[File:Philippe de Champaigne - Le sacrifice d'Isaac.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Isaac is saved and old Abe looks disappointed.]]
{{biblenav}}
'''Isaac''' (or Itzhak or Yitzhak) is the son of [[Abraham]] and the father to [[Jacob]], the three being known in [[Jewish]] circles as the "Patriarchs."<ref group=note>''Avot'' in [[Hebrew]].</ref> He is best known for the myth of the binding of Isaac, in which he was nearly killed by his father.<ref>{{wpa|binding of Isaac}}</ref>

==Binding of Isaac==
According to the [[Book of Genesis]], [[God]] instructed Abraham to murder Isaac, as a [[Human sacrifice#Human sacrifice in the Bible|sacrifice]] to Him. The spot where the murder was intended to occur is believed to be the most holy site by both [[Muslim]]s and Jews. Abraham fully intended to carry out this act, but Gabriel, an [[angel|archangel]], controlled a 
[[goat]]
 [[Sheep|ram]], or took the form of a ram in [[pagan]] fashion, and interrupted the murder. Isaac was probably traumatized by the near sacrifice. Abraham is not regarded as a deranged [[sociopath]], but rather as the great hero{{cn}} and founder of the "Abrahamic" faiths. This is despite the fact that, as Jenny Diski wrote, it's inconceivable that Abraham would give up the son he had been promised by God and waited so long for:
{{cquote|The test is beyond reason. You can just see why a megalomaniac and jealous god like Yahweh might demand such a sacrifice and negate his own creation through sheer nihilism, but it’s very hard to understand why Abraham would comply with the destruction of the only possibility of God’s promises coming true.<ref name=diski>[https://www.lrb.co.uk/v20/n24/jenny-diski/the-will-of-the-fathers "The Will of the Fathers: Review of ''Abraham on Trial: The Social Legacy of the Biblical Myth'' by Carol Delaney"], Jenny Diski, ''London Review of Books'', Vol. 20 No. 24 · 10 December 1998, pages 24-26</ref>}}

Carol Delaney sees the myth of Abraham and Isaac as summing up the pernicious authoritarianism and misogyny embedded in monotheistic religion: "Authoritarianism is rooted in paternity, and this underlying assumption in monotheistic religions, Delaney argues, helps to justify the marginalisation of women, parental abuse of children and the right of the state to send its children off to war."<ref name=diski/>

One of the most famous analyses of the story is by [[Søren Kierkegaard]] in ''Fear and Trembling''; in this analysis, Abraham is asked to reject the ethical (i.e. not murdering people) and embrace a higher goal. Kierkegaard sees it as exemplifying the [[existentialist]] principle that each person must choose for themself a commitment to God that goes beyond morality or ethics. However it also functions as a justification for Kierkegaard "sacrificing" his girlfriend Regine by breaking off the engagement because he felt she wasn't good enough for him. <ref>[http://sorenkierkegaard.org/fear-and-trembling.html Fear and Trembling], Anthony Storm, sorenkierkegaard.org</ref><ref name=fandt/> This again makes the story an example of masculine and patriarchal power and the subjection of the other.

It has been suggested that there may be an older version of the story in which Abraham actually kills Isaac, according to biblical scholar Tzemah Yoreh. This is hinted at by [[RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Genesis#Genesis 22:19|Genesis 22:19]], which describes Abraham but not Isaac as returning from the mountain.<ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/when-abraham-murdered-isaac/ When Abraham murdered Isaac], Times of Israel, 28 November 2012</ref><ref group=note>See also Wikipedia, {{wpl|Binding_of_Isaac#Possible_child_sacrifice|Binding of Isaac: Possible child sacrifice}}</ref>

==Later life==
Isaac is the least interesting characters of the three [[Patriarch]]s. His biggest claim to fame is being the sacrificial victim of [[YHWH]]'s test of Abraham. His second biggest claim to fame is being the second name in the praise "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob".

Isaac, as the son to Sara, is the counter to [[Ishmael]], the son of Hagar. Sara, wanting to reserve her biological son's inheritance, cast Ishmael and Hagar from her sight. The two sons of Abraham held strong animosity for each other, however in the end, they stood side-by-side at their father Abraham's funeral. Isaac's descendants would become the Jews and [[Christians]], Ishmael's descendants would produce [[Muhammad]].

==Sons==
Isaac has sons with his wife and cousin Rebekah. He blesses one son, Jacob, and curses the other son, Esau. [[Jacob]] only gets the blessing by deception.

When Issac has his own sons, he sets to bestow a blessing on Esau, who as first born, had birthright to Issac's property.  [[Jacob]] deceives blind old Issac, and receives the blessing and the inheritance instead.

==Did he exist?==
The biblical scholar Thomas L. Thompson wrote in 1975, "Not only has archaeology not proven a single event of the patriarchal traditions to be historical, it has not shown any of the traditions to be likely."<ref>{{wpa|The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives}}</ref> So probably not.

==Other versions==
The story of Abraham and Isaac resembles other myths. In a Classical Greek story, part of the Argonaut epic, King {{wpl|Athamas}} was told by a deceptive Oracle to sacrifice his son {{wpl|Phrixus}}, but the boy was rescued by a ram whose golden fleece was later the object of Jason and the Argonauts.<ref>[https://vridar.org/2011/03/16/argonautica-and-bible/ Greek Myths Related to Tales of Abraham, Isaac, Moses and the Promised Land], vridar.org, March 16, 2011</ref>

Kierkegaard related it to the myth of Agamemnon commanded to kill his daughter Iphigenia to get fair winds; in different versions of the tale, she is sacrificed or rescued by the gods.<ref name=fandt>{{wpa|Fear and Trembling}}</ref>

There's also a 2011 indie video game called <u>The Binding of Isaac</u>, where the player is a young, naked child named Isaac in a monster-filled dungeon trying to flee from his deranged mother who begins hearing the voice of God telling her to kill him, in an obvious parellel to the actual Binding of Isaac.<ref group=note>At least, that's what the player is led to believe at first. The game has a rather convoluted story where it turns out Isaac is pretending to be all the different playable characters and believes himself to be guilty for his parents' divorce after reading the Bible.</ref><ref>{{wpa|The Binding of Isaac (video game)}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
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[[Category:Old Testament]]
[[Category:Christian mythology]]
[[Category:Incest]]

Categories: Old Testament, Christian mythology, Incest