“The” Message of the Akedah?

Interpretations of the binding of Isaac all suffer from a common fault: they fail to consider the ambiguities and unanswered questions of the story. Rather than a simple lesson or theological conclusion, the story leaves us with a deep and abiding perplexity, even anxiety.

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"“The” Message of the Akedah?." TheTorah.com, November 3, 2023. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-message-of-the-akedah.

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"“The” Message of the Akedah?" (2023, November 3). TheTorah.com. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-message-of-the-akedah

Prof. Kenneth Seeskin
“The” Message of the Akedah?

Binding of Isaac (detail). Andrea Mantegna, circa 1490-1495. Wikimedia

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Vayera

Published: November 3, 2023

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Last Updated: September 7, 2026

  1. When an animal was given as an olah, the entire carcass was consumed by fire and in that sense “went up” (Heb. alah) to God.

  2. Biblical translations follow NJPS, with modifications.

  3. For a more extended critique of the evolutionary interpretation, see Louis Jacobs, “The Problem of the Akedah in Jewish Though,” in Kierkegaard’s “Fear and Trembling”: Critical Appraisals, ed. Robert L. Perkins (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1981), 1–9.

  4. Editor’s note: See Aaron Koller, “Abraham Passes the Test of the Akedah But Fails as a Father,” TheTorah (2019).

  5. Editor’s note: See Tzemah Yoreh, “The Sacrifice of Isaac in Context: Recovering a Lost Ending of the Akedah,” TheTorah (2014).

  6. Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed, 3.24. For further discussion of Maimonides’ view, see Chaim Trachtman, “The Maimonidean Akedah,” TheTorah (2014).

  7. Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, trans. Alastair Hannay (New York: Penguin, 1985), 54. Editor’s note: See Diana Edelman, “Was Abraham Really a Man of Faith?” TheTorah (2022).

  8. שמות כב:כח מְלֵאָתְךָ וְדִמְעֲךָ לֹא תְאַחֵר בְּכוֹר בָּנֶיךָ תִּתֶּן לִּי. כב:כט כֵּן תַּעֲשֶׂה לְשֹׁרְךָ לְצֹאנֶךָ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים יִהְיֶה עִם אִמּוֹ בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי תִּתְּנוֹ לִי.
    Exod 22:29 You shall not put off the skimming of the first yield of your vats. You shall give Me the first-born among your sons. 22:29 You shall do the same with your cattle and your flocks: seven days it shall remain with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

  9. Editor’s note: On traditional and source critical interpretations of this requirement, see Eve Levavi Feinstein, “Giving Your Firstborn Son to God,” TheTorah (2016); and Eve Levavi Feinstein and Zev Farber, “Relegating Redemption of the Firstborn to a One-time Event in the Wilderness,” TheTorah (2015).

  10. ‏דברים יב:לא לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה כֵן לַי־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כִּי כָּל תּוֹעֲבַת יְ־הוָה אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵא עָשׂוּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם כִּי גַם אֶת בְּנֵיהֶם וְאֶת בְּנֹתֵיהֶם יִשְׂרְפוּ בָאֵשׁ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם.
    Deut 12:31 You shall not act in this way toward YHWH your God, for they perform for their gods every abhorrent act that YHWH detests; they even offer up their sons and daughters in fire to their gods.

  11. Nahum M. Sarna, Understanding Genesis (New York: Schocken Books, 1970), 161.

  12. This point is made by Isaac Kalimi, “Mitigating the Akedah,” TheTorah (2015).

  13. Caravaggio painted Isaac as an adolescent crying out in terror as a dominant and abusive father subdues him. By contrast, Rembrandt painted him as a muscular adult who apparently has consented to be bound by an aged father. Based on the text, either depiction is possible. If, as the midrash suggests, he willingly submits to the sacrifice, then he deserves at least as much credit as Abraham.

  14. For example:

    ‏דברים יג:ד ...כִּי מְנַסֶּה יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֶתְכֶם לָדַעַת הֲיִשְׁכֶם אֹהֲבִים אֶת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בְּכָל לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁכֶם. יג:ה אַחֲרֵי יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֹתוֹ תִירָאוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֹתָיו תִּשְׁמֹרוּ וּבְקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹדוּ וּבוֹ תִדְבָּקוּן.
    Deut 13:4 …For YHWH your God is testing you to see whether you really love YHWH your God with all your heart and soul. 13:5 Follow none but YHWH your God, and fear none but Him; observe His commandments alone, and heed only His orders; worship none but Him, and hold fast to Him.

  15. דברים ו:ה וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ.
    Deut 6:5 You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
    דברים ו:יג אֶת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד וּבִשְׁמוֹ תִּשָּׁבֵעַ.
    Deut 6:13 Revere only YHWH your God and worship Him alone, and swear only by His name.

  16. Chumash with Rashi’s Commentary, vol. I, p. 98; cf. Pirke of Rabbi Eliezer 32, pp. 233–234.

  17. On Abraham’s failure as a father, see Koller, “Abraham Passes the Test of the Akedah but fails as a Father.”

Prof. Kenneth Seeskin is Professor of Philosophy and Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor of Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. He received his Ph.D in Philosophy from Yale University in 1972 and has been at Northwestern… Read More
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