Yitzchak was Sacrificed, Just Not How You Think

Avraham’s willingness to bring his son, Yitzchak, as a sacrifice in the story of the akeidah is the quintessential act of faith in Judaism. It is therefore understandable that celebrating it as ideal divine service necessarily requires some perspective manipulation to obscure the obvious ethical quandaries. It is also not surprising that rabbinic literature (midrash) would want to convert the story into a more positive perspective. According to midrash the only significant consequence was Sarah’s death from shock upon hearing what transpired (Leviticus Rabbah 20:2). However, beyond that the rabbinic literature does not articulate any other negative consequences upon the life of Avraham, Yitzchak or Sarah. This is particularly surprising as a careful reading of the text very clearly articulates how the akeidah did in fact successfully sacrifice Yitzchak. At least in the familial sense, in that he never again saw Avraham. Estranging their relationship seemingly out of fear of what he was willing to do in the name of God.

The first obvious hint to this effect occurs immediately following the akeidah. The reader is not informed of Yitzchak’s reaction to any of the events following the akeidah. The text informs us that Avraham returns to his servants waiting for him but does not include Yitzchak in the accounting of that departure. Every event in the story until this point specifically details Yitzchak’s presence (22:3,5,6,7,8,9), yet now he is not even mentioned despite the text detailing Avraham’s exit. The reason for this absence is because Yitzchak was no longer ‘together’ with his father. Not because he was physically sacrificed, rather he was emotionally sacrificed. 

The reader must remember that everyone else is ignorant of the communication between Avraham and God. Only Avraham knew of God’s communications with him. Yitzchak and Sara knew Avraham was a devoted servant of God who was willing to do literally anything for God and he was clearly blessed by God in return. Before Avraham put Yitzchak on the altar he only knew one thing. God was going to tell him what to sacrifice when they got there (22:7-8). Now Yitzchak understood he was the intended sacrifice. Whether Yitzchak believed Avraham knew this all along and had deceived him the whole three day journey or whether his father only learned of his murder at the last minute is really just a matter of degree. Either way, his father was willing to kill him to retain the good favor of God.

Child sacrifice was not an uncommon feature of the ancient world, nonetheless it is obviously a horrendously traumatizing experience as well as shocking for Yitzchak to learn that his father, whom he thought adored him, was willing to murder him for his God. Yitzchak now knew beyond a doubt that his father’s love for him was eclipsed by his fear of God. One can only imagine the nightmarish scene of a young boy being bound by his own father to be sacrificed. Yitzchak survived the event but is now scarred with the vision of his father clutching a knife a hair’s breadth away from his neck with clear intent to murder him (22:10). From Yitzchak’s perspective Avraham was immune to his tears and pleas for mercy. Then suddenly Avraham takes pause with the knife pressed against Yitzchak’s neck, seemingly reconsidering his actions at the last moment. However, Yitzchak soon learns that it wasn’t Avraham’s love for Yitzchak that made him stop, rather God had actually stopped Avraham who was in fact willing to go through with the act (22:12,14). Yitzchak now knew he was not safe with Avraham. This doesn’t make Yitzchak evil nor does it mean he is not a devout servant of God. He simply doesn’t want to die and he knows that being around his father is dangerous. 

Yitzchak spends the rest of his life obedient to God, albeit never truly tested. However, the text reveals how Yitzchak never wanted to have anything to do with his father ever again. Following the akeidah Yitzchak is only found in be’er l’chai roi (24:62,67 and 25:11), never again in Hebron which is where Abraham lived. This is the same place where Hagar went when fleeing Avraham’s home (16:14) from the persecution at the hands of Sara by Avraham’s permission (16:6). The contextual connection is clearly implying that Yitzchak fled from Avraham lest he suffer further from his father’s religious zealotry. Avraham never again speaks or interacts with Yitzchak after the Akeida. Even when marrying off Yitzchak, Avraham has to send a proxy to serve as match maker and inform and convince Yitzchak of the arrangement (24:2-4).  Yitzchak never visits Avraham again until his death. Even when he is gifted all of Avraham’s estate, the text glosses over this transition as if it was merely legal and not personal (25:5). This is in contradistinction to the pomp with which Yitzchak attempts to create when planning to endow his estate on Esav (27:1-3) or the emotional final moments between Yaacov and his sons. Avraham seemingly dies alone.

Avraham’s willingness to murder his son did in fact sacrifice him as it effectively ended their relationship. Yitzchak likely fully believed that his father acted with pure intention to follow the will of God, rather than seeking his blood out of madness or rage. Nonetheless, Yitzchak justifiably would forever now fear Avraham who is clearly willing to cause him harm and also had to question just what kind of love they shared. Not to mention, Yitzchak was a child at the time of the akeidah and most likely did not have any of those mature thoughts and simply may have been furious that his father tried to kill him and never wanted to have anything to do with a person capable of murder ever again, regardless of Avraham’s intention or divine relationship. 

The text makes this even more clear as we learn that Yitzchak was mortified by the death of his mother (24:67) but does not grieve the death of his father. Ultimately Yitzchak only returns to bury his father. What might seem like a gesture of forgiveness is tempered by the fact that we are also informed that Yishmael, the exiled first born son, also returns to bury him (25:9). Yishmael justifiably must have despised his father for his exile and the text gives the reader no hint that the relationship was reconciled. Both Yishmael and Yitzchak are present for Avraham’s burial but the text is conspicuously silent regarding the absence of their mourning. Nonetheless, both Yitzchak and Yishmael return upon Avraham’s death. This was clearly a difficult but expected gesture by his children or it was merely the means by which they could claim their inheritances (25:5-6), the only thing that ever truly mattered to Avraham and the only thing his children might think worthwhile salvaging from that damaged relationship. 

The text never informs the reader if Sara is directly informed of the events of that day. The next story is Sara’s death some 30 years later in Hebron with Avraham (23:2). One would expect that had she known what had happened to her beloved son then she too would have left Avraham. It is not surprising that Avraham would have kept this information from her, whether merely to shield her from the horror or simply to prevent her from estranging from him as Yitzchak had immediately done. The reader is aware that Avraham is comfortable keeping information from her as he doesn’t inform her when he learns that she will be blessed to bear a son (18:12), he doesn’t reveal his divine knowledge that she laughed and instead lets her lie to him (18:13-15), nor does he reveal his command to sacrifice Yitzchak. Therefore, it seems entirely reasonable to conclude that the events of that day were kept from Sara the rest of her life. The only other sources of information were the servants who attended Avraham during the trip but they never saw what happened. Only Yitzchak could have revealed the events of that day but probably didn’t either out of respect to his father or because he literally fled never to return. Yitzchak did ultimately possess his mother’s tent after her death and kept it with him in be’er l’chai roi (24:67) which means he either got it as consolation for her death or she would spend time with him there. However, it seems unlikely she ever knew what had happened. 

Avraham did in fact start another family following the akeidah with Ketura but those children are treated as second to Yitzchak, and exiled to the lands of the east away from Yitzchak (25:1-6). Avraham truly was willing to sacrifice everything for God. Ultimately leaving him blessed with ‘everything’ he had been promised (24:1) however the sacrifice it demanded meant that he had estranged himself from all of his children. He grew old with Sara until her death but living with the dark secret of why Yitzchak refused to return home. Dying with only the wife of his old age with whom he owed no inheritance to her children. Paradigmatic of faith, sure, but exemplar of love and kindness, the text clearly disagrees.