The Sacrifice Of Yitschaq

 (Bereshith 22)

It seems indeed as if YAHWEH had heaped kindnesses upon Abraham -repeated promises, the assurance confirmed on several occasions of an immense posterity, repeated blessings; he seemed to lack nothing, for the moment. Abraham had benefited by the loftiest spiritual revelations and, indeed, material blessings of the most desirable kind for a just and wise man.

And now quite unexpectedly he had to undergo a formidable trial. There is nothing surprising in this, for as history tells us those chosen by YAHWEH at certain times undergo moral sufferings which seem destined, at least from the human point of view, to take the measure of the soul, to weigh its spiritual worth; to determine, in short, whether the person in question is equal to the superhuman task awaiting him.

There came the summons from the Most High, 'Abraham, Abraham !' 'Here I am,' Abraham replied. Thereupon YAHWEH gave him a terrible and entirely unforeseen order: 'Take your son, your only child Yitschaq, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you' (Bereshith 22:2).

Human sacrifice is a novel and strange idea occurring here in the Scriptural narrative. Where did it come from? From Sumer, Abraham's country of origin, or from Canaan where for many years now his flocks and people had been leading a wandering life?

It does not appear that the Sumerians of the valley of the Euphrates ever practiced the horrible ceremonies during which a human being was put to death in honour of one or other of their deities. On leaving Ur Abraham took with him a number of Sumerian religious traditions and Akkadian legends but he certainly did not obtain from this Mesopotamian civilization the notion of ritual murder.

In modern times historical research and archaeological discoveries enable us to see the problem more clearly.

We know that human sacrifice was practiced in the polytheistic religion of the land of Canaan. Moreover, even before the arrival of the Canaanites in the region bordering the Mediterranean (and this occurred in about 3000 B.C.), the native inhabitants practiced such rites.

It is important to emphasize here that it was sacrifice of the first born that appears to have been especially common. The Phoenicians of Canaan jealously preserved in their colonies and Sicilian trading posts this religious practice of sacrificing the first-born of a family to one of the gods of their pantheon. And this continued until a fairly late period.

In the southern part of the land of Canaan (modern Palestine) archaeologists have found proof of these quasi-systematic massacres of the first-born. Thus at Gezer excavations have unearthed a considerable number of earthenware jars. In each of them was the skeleton of a child whose age seems not to have exceeded eight days. The victim had been suffocated in the jar itself, as appeared from the fact that fine earth had been packed around it and above it.

In the Canaanite rite sacrifice of the first-born seems to have been the rule. The reason for the practice was this: just as the first-fruits of the fields and the first offspring of an animal, born on the farm, were burnt on the altar, so the first child of a woman also 'belonged' to the god, the owner of the soil and the ruler of all life in his domain. By this offering, so painful for the parents, it was hoped to obtain from the god to whom the sacrifice was offered full protection and many blessings.

Of course, not all the bones of children that have been unearthed can be regarded as the result of sacrificial offerings. The archaeologists have sometimes been a little hasty in their generalizations. It should be added that occasionally (and this has been confirmed by excavation) the child to be sacrificed was replaced by a substitute victim -a Iamb, a pigeon, or a kid. And at an early date the cruel rite was reduced to this 'redeeming' of the human victim by substituting a sacrificial animal.

These were the ideas on the putting to death of a child, whether new born or adolescent, accepted in the Canaanite cities near the steppes where Abraham grazed his flocks, at the time when YAHWEH gave him the order to sacrifice his son, his 'only' son, Yitschaq, as the Scriptures says (and he could correctly so be called since the casting out of Ishmael), the son of his old age, the offspring on whom the promise rested.

Early next morning

Rising early next morning Abraham saddled his ass (Bereshith 23:3). The ass, the beast best suited for this kind of journey of moderate length, is reddish brown in colour and higher and more solidly built than its European cousin. It is capable of going at the same, unflagging pace, almost without stopping from dawn until dusk. And in stony country it is very surefooted for its long hooves are hollow with sharp edges. In ancient times of course there were no metal shoes. The saddle mentioned was just a blanket kept in place by a belly-band. A curious detail is provided by some Egyptian representations, especially that of the scribe Urchu (fifth dynasty) astride his mount, which show the ass with its master on it. preceded by a slave with a cudgel, and followed by a second with another cudgel. It can only be supposed that the ass of the Near East, like its European cousin, required a certain amount of exhortation to make it proceed. That is probably the explanation of the two servants accompanying Abraham sitting on his beast while Yitschaq, with great respect. went on foot beside his father. Before leaving Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering; dry boughs for burning the body might not be found on arrival.

For three days the expedition traveled towards Moriah, the land designated by YAHWEH as the destination of this strange journey. He had clearly stated the place of sacrifice -'on a mountain I will point out to you'. Obviously the Yisraelites would be concerned to know the geographical situation of this place. The author of Chronicles identifies Moriah with the rock where later (about 967 B.C.) King Solomon was to build the Temple of Yerusalem. The trouble is that the Book of Chronicles is of relatively recent composition. All the same this tradition has been accepted for thousands of years, but nowadays Hebrew scholars show considerable reserve in identifying this place.

Abraham called his men to a halt at the foot of the mountain, and ordered his servants to remain there until his return; carrying in his own hands the fire and the knife he began the ascent of the slope. The wood for the burnt offering he loaded on Isaac's shoulders. Symbolist commentators have pointed to the parallel between the material circumstances of this sacrifice and that other one which was to take place eighteen hundred years after these events, namely, YAHSHUA going up to Calvary carrying on his shoulders the wood of the cross, the wood intended for HIS own sacrifice.

Surprised by these mysterious preparations Yitschaq spoke to his father Abraham, 'Father,' he said. 'Yes, my son' he replied. 'Look,' he said, 'here are the fire and the wood, but where is the Iamb for the burnt offering l' Abraham answered, 'My son YAHWEH himself will provide the Iamb for the burnt offering.' Then the two of them went on together (Bereshith 22:7).

After building an altar, a rudimentary affair no doubt, made of two or three large stones piled together, Abraham made ready the wood on top of this altar. Then he bound his son, but just as he 'stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son' YAHWEH intervened to give a different and unexpected turn to the event: the malak of YAHWEH called to him from heaven. 'Abraham,  Abraham,' he said. 'I am here,' he replied. 'Do not raise your hand against the boy,' the malak said. 'Do not harm him for now I know you fear YAHWEH. You have not refused ME your son your only son.' At this moment Abraham saw near the altar a ram, caught by its horns in a bush, unable to free itself. He at once understood that this beast had been sent by the Most High as a substitute victim. So he sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead and in place of his son.

At once YAHWEH informed HIS faithful servant of the reward for HIS heroic obedience, unwavering faith and complete generosity. HE renewed the promises, but there was one new feature: 'I swear by MY own SELF -it is YAHWEH who speaks.' That was the highest form of guarantee, YAHWEH's oath. But notice that all the spiritual gifts from which Abraham benefited hitherto must be regarded as gratuitous, and the testimony of heavenly goodwill. Now, after the dramatic events on Mount Moriah, YAHWEH appears to bind HIMSELF by a kind of contract which is no longer strictly speaking unilateral. 'Because you have done this [as a return for your obedience] I will shower blessings upon you.' The sacrifice of Yitschaq, prevented just in time, appears as the source of very great unmerited love and favours for the patriarch and his descendants.

'All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.' Through the patriarch's faith, the dramatic event of Moriah opens the way for the history of the Chosen People. Henceforward there is open to man the path whereby he could rise from the depths of polytheist materialism. The sacrifice of Yitschaq, halted at the last moment was to show the way to a slow ascent towards another sacrifice, a sacrifice which this time was to go on to the end, for there would be no ram to take the place of the victim, who indeed was irreplaceable. This was the sacrifice which took place eighteen hundred years after the scene on Moriah which for Messianic followers is the prefiguring of the tragedy of Golgotha.

On coming down from Moriah, accompanied by his son, Abraham found his servants awaiting him. The small party set out again for Beersheba where for the time being the camp was established.

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