Did Abraham really sacrifice Isaac?

[John Kesler]

It is not clear how Abraham can be regarded as the father of Israel in a version of the story in which Isaac ends up dead on Mount Moriah.

The same scholar quoted in the linked article, Dr. Tzemah Yoreh, answers that question in footnote 33 of this article: http://thetorah.com/the-sacrifice-of-isaac-in-context

The reader may be wondering at this point, if Isaac is killed, how do we get from Abraham to Jacob? My answer is that we do not. In my view, E sees Jacob, not Abraham, as the father and founder of the Israelite nation. Abraham is an ancient hero and role model, not an ancestor.

IMO E has Isaac as the father of Jacob. Genesis 31:53b

And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

is generally assigned to E.

Dr. Yoreh is consistent, for in his book Genesis: Israel's Origins, he assigns Gen. 31:53b--as well as v:42a, which also uses the term "the fear of [his father] Isaac"--to the J source.

[andrewcriddle]

IMO E has Isaac as the father of Jacob. Genesis 31:53b

And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

is generally assigned to E.

Dr. Yoreh is consistent, for in his book Genesis: Israel's Origins, he assigns Gen. 31:53b--as well as v:42a, which also uses the term "the fear of [his father] Isaac"--to the J source.

There is an element of subjectivity in detailed source analysis.

However, the Fear of Isaac as a title of God is usually regarded as a very archaic element of the narrative.

Andrew Criddle

[semiopen]

Maybe the Documentary Hypothesis is starting to show its age.

Fear of Isaac occurs a few times, but I haven't found anything that suggests that it is old. It certainly wasn't popular.

פַ֤חַד

must be the word which is old, which means "terror", "dread" and probably more importantly "thigh." The word occurs a bunch of times in the bible but not in anything that would suggest it's an ancient word.

Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God took notice of my plight and the toil of my hands, and He gave judgment last night."
(Gen 31:42 TNK)

is part of Jacob's kvetch to Lavan. My guess is that Jacob/Lavan to the end of Genesis (Joseph/Egypt) is part of sort of an integrated work and quite late. All the people who are sure of the truth aren't hanging around here anymore. but it's very hard to build a case that something this late in Genesis is old.

וּפַ֤חַד יִצְחָק

פַ֤חַד is a popular word in Job.

Among it's appearances we see

He scoffs at fear; he cannot be frightened; He does not recoil from the sword. (Job 39:22 TNK)

יִשְׂחַ֣ק לְ֭פַחַד scoffs at fear, using the alternate spelling of Isaac.

A guy could have read that line in Job, liked the double entendre, and decided to write it into Jacob/Lavan. It's not like it would be out of place. Just a wild possibility, but much more likely one than some E guy thinking Isaac was killed off.

[andrewcriddle]

Fear of Isaac is an interesting discussion.

Andrew Criddle

[Secret Alias]

Yet another example of an Adamson in the Pentateuch. I wonder if Ibn Ezra counted this one. Thanks again Andrew. Fascinating stuff

[semiopen]

Thanks for the link Andrew.

While the subject is quite interesting, a lot of the commentary isn't better than my own sophomoric ramblings.

For example, I just threw in (without thinking a whole lot) my comment about thigh being an important interpretation, and noticed in your link that this was refuted in 1920. Initially, I was pleased that the idea was important enough to gain academic attention, but on looking a little deeper noticed that the death of this was exaggerated.

Of course, weiner grabbing (or whatever it was) is well known with the Patriarchs -

And Abraham said to the senior servant of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Put your hand under my thigh (Gen 24:2 TNK)

יְרֵכִֽי - my thigh

More on paḥad yiṣḥāq (Genesis XXXI 42, 53) and the Oath by the Thigh
Meir Malul
Vetus Testamentum
Vol. 35, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1985), pp. 192-200

goes into this subject.

He points out that Yarekh which is generally used for thigh is the normal word in the Hebrew lexeme. Pahad is a loan word from Aramaic.

He further notes that the entire chapter 31 of Genesis is "replete with Aramaic words and forms."

He gives this line as the most obvious Aramaic example -

Laban named it Yegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Gal-ed. (Gen 31:47 TNK)

Of course, there is room for disagreement, but I just don't see any concrete justification for saying that Pahad Yitzhak is old.