Isaac

Overview

• Isaac is the son of Abraham and Sarah, the child of God's promise and the second of the three patriarchs of Israel. By his wife Rebekah he is the father of the twins Esau and Jacob.
• His binding on the altar (the Akedah) is read by the Fathers as a type of the sacrifice of Christ.

His Story

God promised Isaac to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, telling Abraham that Sarah "shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac" (Genesis 17.19; Genesis 18.10-14). He was born as promised, named Isaac ("he laughs"), and circumcised on the eighth day (Genesis 21.1-7); at his weaning Abraham made a great feast, and Sarah had Hagar and Ishmael sent away (Genesis 21.8-14).

Then came the great trial. At God's command Abraham took Isaac to the land of Moriah to offer him as a burnt offering; the boy carried the wood up the mountain and asked, "where is the lamb?", and was bound upon the altar — until the Angel of the Lord stayed Abraham's hand and a ram caught in a thicket was offered in his place (Genesis 22.1-14), and there God swore to bless his descendants (Genesis 22.15-18).

After Sarah's death, Abraham sent his servant back to his kindred to find Isaac a wife, and the servant returned with Rebekah; Isaac brought her into his mother's tent and loved her, and was comforted after Sarah's death (Genesis 24.62-67). Rebekah was barren, but Isaac prayed for her, and she bore the twins Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25.21-26).

When famine came, Isaac sojourned in Gerar, where God appeared to him and renewed the covenant made with Abraham; there, fearing for his life, he called Rebekah his sister (Genesis 26.1-11). He grew rich, re-dug the wells of his father, and at last made a covenant of peace with Abimelech at Beersheba (Genesis 26.12-33).

In old age, his eyes too dim to see, Isaac prepared to give the covenant blessing to his elder son Esau — but Rebekah and Jacob contrived for Jacob to receive it instead, and when Esau came too late Isaac trembled, yet confirmed the blessing he had given (Genesis 27). He then sent Jacob to Paddan-aram to take a wife from Laban's house (Genesis 28.1-5). Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years, and his sons Esau and Jacob together buried him (Genesis 35.27-29).

The Binding of Isaac

The Akedah — the "binding" of Isaac — is among the great types of Christ. The beloved and only son carries the wood of his own sacrifice up the mountain, is laid willingly on the altar, and is received back "as from the dead" (Hebrews 11.17-19); the ram offered in his place points to the Lamb who would take our place. The Fathers read the whole scene as a foreshadowing of the Father's offering of the Son.[^1] See Typology in Scripture.

Sources

[^1]: Genesis 17; Genesis 21–Genesis 22; Genesis 24–Genesis 27; Genesis 35.27-29 — the life of Isaac; the binding read as a type of Christ (Hebrews 11.17-19) in the patristic tradition.