I was recently teaching Genesis 22:1–19, the so-called Akedah
passage. Verse 19 has often interested me in that it records that only Abraham
returns from Mount
Moriah to his servants. This
stands in contrast to Abraham’s statement in verse 5 to his servants that, “We [Abraham and Isaac] will worship and then we will come
back to you.” Yet verse 19 does not mention that Isaac returns with his father. Now, I think that we can assume that Isaac did indeed return with Abraham. Then what is the point
of omission? I would suggest that it is possible that Isaac’s absence from the
narrative is not a oversight but is rather intentional. The omission serves to
highlight Abraham’s obedience. That is, from a narratival standpoint, it is as
if Isaac was truly offered as a burnt offering to God even though the reader
knows that a ram had taken his place. Abraham coming down alone symbolically leaves
Isaac on Moriah as a picture of the Patriarch’s absolute faithfulness.
No comments:
Post a Comment