Akedah Or Sacrifice Of Isaac: A History of Interpretation

The Akedah or Sacrifice of Isaac is a history of how the Old Testament passage at Genesis 22:1 to 19, called the Akedah or the Sacrifice of Isaac, has been interpreted over time in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This study begins with an analysis of human sacrifice in the ancient world, followed by human sacrifice elsewhere in the Bible and a close reading of the Hebrew text of Genesis 22. The remainder of this study is a careful summary of views on the Akedah over time: in early Judaism, early Christianity, in the Jewish medieval period, in the tradition of Islam, and more modern perspectives including those of Soren Kierkegaard, the Akedah in the holocaust, and the Akedah in contemporary life. This study also includes three helpful appendices on classical Hebrew words and phrases, Greek and Latin words and phrases, and other foreign words and phrases.