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The sacrifice of Isaac in Qumran literatureAuthor(s): Joseph A. FitzmyerSource: Biblica, Vol. 83, No. 2 (2002), pp. 211-229Published by: GBPress- Gregorian Biblical PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/42614365.
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The sacrifice of Isaac
in
Qumran
literature
The
story
f Abraham's
willingness
to sacrifice saac
is well
known
because of the account of it n Genesis 22. Well knowntoo is the
way
allusion is made to this
story
n
some
writings
f
the New Testament
(e.g.,
Jas
2,21-23;
Heb
6,13-14; 11,17-19;
possibly
Rom
8,32).
Even
morewell known
s the
understanding
f that ccount n therabbinical
traditionmongtheJewishpeople, where t is known as the 'Aqdat
Yishaq
'Binding
of
Isaac',
or
simply
he
Aqedah
or Akedah. It is not
surprising,
hen,
hat
Qumran
text
might
be found that heds some
light
on the
understanding
f that famous account in
the
Book of
Genesis.
The name
Aqedah
however,
s used with different
onnotations
today,
nd so it s
necessary
o be
clear from he outset bout
the sense
in
which it is
being
used. Sometimes it is used to
denote
only
the
vicarious
xpiation
f the acrifice f
saac,
i.e. the
offering
f saac on
behalfofotherspeople of srael); sometimes t means thestory fthe
sacrifice f Isaac as it
developed
in
the Jewish raditionn
contrast o
the bare account n
Gen
22;
and sometimes t
connotesthe
totality
f
events
depicted
n
art nd
literature hat uilds on
Gen
22,1-19
*).
The
noun
mpi?
does not
appear
n
the
biblical account of
Genesis or
in
the
0)
See J.
wetnam,
esus nd saac. A
Study
f he
pistle
o
theHebrews
in
the
Light
f the
Aqedah
AnBib
4;
Rome
1981)
75. Also
R.J.
Daly,
"The
Soteriologicalignificance
f the
acrifice f
saac",
CBQ
39
(1977)
45-75;
J.
Danilou,
"La
typologie
'Isaac dans e
christianisme
rimitif',
ib 28
(1947)
363-393; .Ginzberg,he egends f he ewsPhiladelphia,A1909-1938) ,
218,
n.
52;
L.
Jacobs,
Akedah",
ncyclopaedia
udaica
Jerusalem
970-1971)
II, 480-484;
R. Le
Daut,
"La
prsentation
argumique
u sacrifice
'Isaac et a
sotriologie aulinienne",
tudiorumaulinorum
ongre
sus
internationalis
catholicus 961
(AnBib
17-18;
Rome
1963)
II, 563-574;
D.
Lerch,
saaks
Opferung
hristlich
edeutet.
ine
uslegungsgeschichtliche
ntersuchung
BHT
12;
Tbingen
950)
0-42;
.
Lvi,
Le sacrifice
'Isaacet a mort
e
Jsus",
EJ
64
(1912)
161-184;
A. Mdeb
elle,
U
Expiation
ans
'Ancien t e
Nouveau
Testament
SPIB
42;
Rome
1923)
264-265;
RA.
Rosenberg,
Jesus,
saac and
the
Suffering
ervant'",
BL84
1965)
381-388;
H.-J.
choeps,
TheSacrifice
of
saac
n
Paul's
Theology",
BL 5
1946)
385-392;
.
Spiegel,
he astTrial:
on theLegends nd LoreoftheCommando Abraham oOffersaac as a
Sacrifice.
he
Akedah.
ranslatedrom
he
Hebrew,
with n
introduction
y
Judah
Goldin
New
York
1967);
J.E.
Wood,
"Isaac
Typology
n the
New
Testament",
TS
14
1967-1968)
83-589.
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3/20
212
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
Qumran ext obe discussed. tfirstppears ntherabbinic radition f
the
third-fourth
entury
f the
Christian ra. For this
reason shall not
use it
again
until
come to discuss that
radition. shall be
speaking
of
the sacrifice of
Isaac
in
a sense that
mediates between the first nd
second senses
ust
mentioned,
ecause
I
am concerned
to determine
how much of
the first
meaning
can
really
be found in
the Jewish
traditionthat
develops
out of Gen
22,1-19
in
the
pre-Christian
Palestinian
Jewish radition
rior
o the New
Testament.
My
further
emarkswill be made under four
headings:
(1)
the
Genesis account in its originalHebrew formand in the Old Greek
version;
2)
the
understanding
f the account n
the Book of
Jubilees;
(3)
the
Qumran
ext hat
nterprets
t;
and
(4)
later
developments
f the
understanding
f
the sacrifice f saac.
I. The
Genesis Account n Its
Original
Hebrew
Form
and in
the Old Greek Version
The Hebrew narrative f the
sacrifice f saac is recounted n
Gen
22,1-19,which can be summarized hus:
1
Afterhese vents od
put
Abrahamothe est. 2. Take
your
on,
your nly
on
saac,
whom
ou
ove,
nd
go
to the and f
Moriah nd
offer
im
here s a burnt
ffering
n one ofthemountainshat shall
point
ut o
you'.
3
Abraham
ose
arly
henext
morning,
addledhis
donkey,
nd ookwith
im
wo fhis ervantsndhis on saac. He cut
woodfor he urnt
ffering
nd et ut o
go
tothe
lace
ofwhich
God
had told
him.
On the hird
ay
Abraham aisedhis
eyes
nd saw the
place
from
far.
6
Abraham ook he
wood
for heburnt
ffering
nd
put
n
on his son saac's
shoulders;
e himselfarried hefire ndthe
knife;
nd the woof themwent n
together.
Isaac
said to his
father
Abraham,Father 'Abrahamnswered,Yes,my on?' He continued,
'Here
are
thefire nd the
wood,
butwhere s the ambfor heburnt
offering?'
Abraham
nswered,
God
himself ill
provide
he amb or
theburnt
ffering, y
on'. Thenthe
wo
of themwent
n
together.
9When
hey
ame to the
place
of which
God
had
told
him,
Abraham
built here n altar nd
arranged
hewood
upon
t);
then
he bound
("ipjn)
his son saac and
placed
him
pon
he ltar n
top
fthewood.
10
Then
Abraham eached ut ndtook he
knife
o
slay
his son.
11
The
angel
fthe ord ried ut
ohim rom
eaven,Abraham,
braham '
He answered
im,
Yes?'
12
'Do not
ayyour
and n the
oy;
do not o
anything
o
him,
ecause
nowknow hat
ou
rea
God-fearer,
ince
youhavenotwithheldrommeyouron,your nly on'.13As Abraham
raised
his
eyes,
he saw a ram
caughtby
its horns
n
the
thicket.
Abraham
went,
ookthe
ram,
nd offeredt
up
as a burnt
ffering
instead f
his on.
14
Abrahamalled
hat
lace
Yahweh-Yir'eh'.
o it
is called o this
ay:
On
themount fthe
ord twillbe
provided'.
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The
sacrifice f Isaac
in
Qumran
iterature 213
The striking etails in the Genesis account are theage of Isaac,
who is no
longer
a mere infantbut a
youth
who understandswhat
sacrifice s and can
carry
wood,
and the
place
fromwhich Abraham
starts nd to which he
returns,
iz.
Beer-sheba.
Only
two
noteworthy
differences re found n
the
Septuagint
version of this
account.
First,
the
way
it translatesHebrew mon as
ei
tt|v
yfjv t|v
j'|/r|Xiv,
to the
high
land',
in v.
2;
and
second,
how
tit,
'only',
the
description
of
Abraham's
son,
as
yatrix,
beloved',
in vv.
2, 12,
16.
Elsewhere
n
the
Septuagint
it
is sometimes endered s
|o.ovoyevrj
Judg
1
1,34
n
MS B [2];also Ps 22,21). Although Moriah' turns p again only n 2
Chr
3,1,
as the
place
where
Solomon built the
Temple,
the
site
in
Genesis is
usually regarded
as
otherwise unknown.
Moreover,
this
narrative
mphasizes
that Isaac is Abraham's
'only'
son
(MT)
or
'beloved' son
(LXX),
because
Abraham has
already
abandoned
and
sent off o the
wildernessof Beer-sheba both
shmael and his mother
Hagar
(Gen
21,8-21),
so that shmael no
longer
counts as a son. In
Genesis
itself,
one
eventually
learns that Abraham
had six other
children
y
Keturah
25,2),
but
they lay
no
role n thisnarrative
bout
Isaac, who is Abraham's 'only' son and heir (3). The testto which
Abraham s
subjected:
the child bornto him
after
long delay,
who is
to be the ink
to the
promised
numerous
rogeny
Gen 15,4-6),
s now
to be
given up
at
God's
request
s a
sacrifice.
II. The
Understanding
f the
Account n the Book of
Jubilees
The narrative f the
sacrifice f saac was
reproduced
n the
Book
of
Jubilees,
nd it
reveals how the
Genesis
story
was
being
understood
in thesecond pre-Christian enturyn PalestinianJudaism.Although
the
details of the
narrative emain
basically
the
same,
five
mportant
(2)
n MS A one
finds
xovoyevfi
YCMtiT
s the
ranslation.
(3)
See further
. von
Rad,
Genesis.A
Commentary
London
966)
232-
240; d.,
Das
Opfer
es
Abraham
KT
6;
Munich
971);
H. Graf on
Reventlow,
Opfere
einen ohn. ine
Auslegung
onGenesis 2
BSt
53;
Neukirchen-Vluyn
1968);
C.
Westermann,
enesis 2-36.A
Commentary
Minneapolis,
N
1985)
351-365;
G.W.
Coats,
"Abraham'sacrifice
fFaith:A
Form-Critical
tudy
f
Genesis
2",
nt
7
1973)
389-400;
.
Kundert,
ie
Opferung/Bindung
saaks
(WMANT 78; Neukirchen-luyn 998) , 95-107;G. Steins,Die "Bindung
Isaaks"
im Kanon
Gen 22).
Grundlagen
nd
Programm
iner
kanonisch-
intertextuellen
ektre. it
Spezialbibliographie
u Gen 22
(Herders
iblische
Studien
0;
Freiburg
mB.
1999);
R.
Brandscheidt,
Das
Opfer
es Abrahams
(Genesis
2,1-19)",
TZ
110
2001)
1-19.
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214
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
elements were introduced nto it as it became part of Jub 17,15-
18,16(4).
The
first s the role of
'prince
Mastemah'.
Whereas
God's
command
given
to Abraham
n
Gen
22 to offer is son is
simply
tated
without
ny
reason
for t other han hatGod
would 'tes
Abraham,
n
Jubilees
prince
Mastemah
is used to
supply
the motivation or t. He
functions
n
the
heavenly
court as Satan
does in
Job
1-2,
for he
challenges
God to
put
Abrahamto the test:
The princeMastemah ame and said in God's presence,Look,Abraham oves his son Isaac and is more
pleased
withhimthan
anything
lse;
command
im o offer
im s a burnt
ffering
n an
altar
nd see whether e will
carry
ut his rder. hen
you
willknow
whether e is faithful
n
every
est o
which
you
subject
him'
Jub
17,16).
Second,
the account
in
Jubilees
gives
a list of tests to
which
Abraham
was
subjectedby
God
prior
o the
great
estof the sacrifice
of
saac.
God's
answer
to Mastemah's
challenge
runs
s follows:
The
Lord knew thatAbraham
was faithful
n
all
his
afflictions,becausehe had tested imwith commando eavehiscountry,nd
with
amine;
e tested
imwith hewealth
f
kings,
ndhe tested
im
again
withhis
wife,
when
he was taken
way
from
im;
and with
circumcision;
nd he had tested
him
with
shmael nd
Hagar,
his
slave-girl,
hen
he sent hem
way.
n
every
est o which he
Lord
subjected
im,
Abraham
ad been
found aithful.
is soul was
not
impatient,
r slow to act.
For he was
faithfulnd oved
theLord
Jub
17,17-18).
In this
passage
we learn about
six tests
to which
Abraham
was
subjectedby
God
(5): (a)
the command
to leave
his
country=
Gen
12,1); (b)
the famine n Canaan thatmakeshim
go
down to
Egypt
to
get
grain
=
Gen
12,10); (c)
the wealth
of
booty
retrieved
rom he
defeat f the
eastern
kings
thatAbraham
did
not
keep
from
he
king
of
Sodom
(=
Gen
14,21-23); (d)
the abduction
of
Sarah
by
Pharaoh
=
Gen
12,14-15); (e)
thecommand
o circumcise
himself nd
all his men
as a
sign
of the covenant
=
Gen
17,10-12);
and
(f)
the
sending
way
of
Hagar
and
his son
Ishmael
(=
Gen
21,9-14).
(4)
See
J.C.
VanderKam,
heBook
of
Jubilees
Guides
o
Apocrypha
nd
Pseudepigrapha;heffield001)52-53.
(5)
The
ater abbinic
radition
umbered
he
ests s
ten,
ut
nly
ix are
mentioned
nJub
7,17.
he
ten ests re
isted
n
Pirqe
eRabbi
li'ezer
6-31;
see
also Jub
9,8,
nd J.
Bowker,
The
Targums
nd
Rabbinic
iterature.
n
IntroductionoJewish
nterpretations
f
Scripture
Cambridge
969)
228-229.
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The sacrifice f Isaac in
Qumran
iterature 215
Third, fter he ix tests,Jubilees ecounts he tory f the acrifice
of
Isaac,
the
great
test n Abraham's life
18,1-16).
The
story epeats
the details of the
account
in
Gen 22 rather
closely,
but it
again
introduces he
prince
Mastemah at two
points,
a)
As Abraham
s about
to use the knife o
slay
Isaac,
it
records:
I
was
standing
n the Lord's
presence,
nd
the
prince
Mastemah was there oo.
And the Lord
said,
"Tell him not to
lay
his
hand
on
the child. '"
(Jub 18,9).
(b)
Later on
it
records,
after God
has found Abraham faithful:
The
prince
Mastemah was
put
to shame'
(18,11).
Thereupon
Abraham
spies
the
ram. n thisway,whatthe theangel of the Lord' does in theGenesis
account
becomes one of the tasks of Mastemah.
Fourth,
Jubilees
may
connectthe
sacrifice f Isaac with
Passover,
but
only
ndirectly.
t dates
the
approach
of Mastemah to
God on the
twelfth
ay
of the
firstmonth
17,15),
and the
reader s left o add the
three
ays
that hetext
mentions,
when
t notesthatAbraham nd
Isaac
approach
the mountain f their
destination on the third
ay'
(18,3).
That would have
been the fifteenth
ay,
when
Passover was
being
celebrated
6).
Finally,Jubilees dentifies the mount'called inHebrew Yahweh-
Yir'eh as Mount Zion
(18,13),
i.e. Jerusalem.
III. The
Qumran
Text
That
nterprets
he
Account
Among
the
many fragmentary
extsretrieved
rom
Qumran
Cave
4,
which rewrite
the Hebrew
Scriptures,
one in
particular
is
noteworthy,
Q225
or
4QPseudo-Jubileesa(7).
It
is
noteworthy,
because it reveals that
the sacrifice of
Isaac was not
passed
over
in
silence among theEssene Jews at Qumran,as has been thought t
times
8).
The
text s extant n
only
three
fragments,
nd its account
(6)
See further
.C.
VanderKam,
The
Aqedah,
Jubilees,
nd Pseudo-
Jubilees",
he
Quest
or
Contextnd
Meaning.
tudiesn
Biblical
ntertextuality
in Honorof James
A. Sanders
ed.
C.A. Evans
-
S.
Talmon) (Biblical
Interpretation
eries
8;
Leiden
997)
241-261,
sp.
245-248;
lso P.R.
Davies,
"Passovernd he
Dating
fthe
Aqedah",
JS 0
1979)
59-67.
(7)
See J.C.
VanderKam J.T.
Milik,
225.
4QPseudo-
ubilees'",
umran
Cave4. VIII.
Parabiblical
exts,
art
ed.
H.
Attridge t
l.) DJD
13;
Oxford
1994)141-155.
(8)
See R. Le
Daut,
La Nuit
ascale
AnBib
2;
Rome
1963)
184,
n.
134:
'Il est rs
emarquable
u'tant
onnea
popularit
u
sacrifice'Isaac dans e
Judasme
ncien,
l
soit
pass
sous silence ans
e
que
nous
onnaissonse la
littrature
umrnienne'
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216
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
resemblesthatof Jubilees.Although tsvocabularyand phraseology
are similar to that of
Jubilees,
t differs
learly enough
so
that one
cannot call it
simply copy
of
Jubilees;
hence Pseudo-Jubilees. his
fragmentary
exttells
of
an
heir
to be born of
Abraham,
he
birth f
Isaac,
and God's reward of Abraham for
being willing
to
spare
this
only
son.
Fragment
,
columns and ii are
important
or his
discussion,
nd
thetextof col. i runs s follows:
[ro],i
]
7
p[ n]n p "rinp-rc aorrrnf-nji^a ornan] 8
noQ[o]on
o Kim
pno-
oo n
mp-i
[mat]
9
nom
pnera
rna
n
nwi
D'm^R *?]
0
[io ro]Trr
i
pno'
ns nan na
np
on
nas
11
'[man onnn
n bo
riab mbrm
n[an n]
12
[min i]n
ba rman
G Di]p'i
na1?
im -kok]
3
n
[on-i]aK ri[ ]*?[ ]
14
7 And
Abraham]
8
be[lieved]
God,
and
righteousness
as reckoned
o
him(9).
A son
was born
f[ter]
his
9 [toAbraha]m,ndhe named im saac. Butthe rinceMa[s]temah
came
10
[toG]od,
ndhe
odged
complaintgainst
braham bout saac.
[G]od
said
11
[to
Abra]ham,
Take
your
on
saac,
[your] nly
ne,
whom]
12
[you
o]
ve,
and offer im o me as a burnt
ffering
n one of the
[hig]h
mountains,
13
[which
shall
point
ut]
to
you'.
He
aro[se
and
w]en[t]
rom
he
wells
10)
p
to
Mo[untMoriah].
14
[ ]And
Ab[raham]
aised
Column ii continues hetextof col. i directly:
[nrr
a'n m
prar
ba d'sot
n]
n["]i
eanam
]"3[-iJ]
[non
rw rsrm an
nn
ra]
orna
pne
-on 2
[non
nu nsT ua
pne
f*
nma -nam bsh 3
[
ns' tiis
ms]a
ra
pric
-m
ft
4
[
naton
bv
D'aia o'iquj
o>p
Dsbo 5
[
nano]on
tftoi
n ]D
via ntc 6
O
For
an
interpretation
f this
part
f
the
ext,
ee J.A.
Fitzmyer,
The
Interpretation
f
Genesis
5,6:
Abraham'saith nd
Righteousness
na
Qumran
Text"forthcoming).
(I0)
n Gen
22,19
Beer-sheba
rato ta)
is
given
s the
dwelling-place
f
Abraham.
he author f this ext eems
o have
nterpreted
hename o mean
'seven
wells',
s itwasunderstood
ometimesater
n
see
T.
Nldeke,
Sieben
Brunnen",
RW7
1904]340-344).
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The
sacrifice f
Isaac
in
Qumran
iterature
217
[ornormenn r nrTon] ntr edjjonoimdtt 7
[-ip-1
vrfrtf?
ma]
pw
rcarv
dm
btd rcar
8
[
-dtot
nn]j>
on
-on
arra
nn-QR
9
[n
rn
^
ta
pnjzr
na
mm
?
pm
an
mm
10
pro
rm
(v^cfl) "i]ri
na mVn
mpjn
mpjr
11
[
"]-f7)
pm
prron
rra "ir
12
[
ipn
OtfjQ
n^]l?
TIOK
7CDD101
3
[
nocHDDn
HB]
?
roctn
i[0]on
KB 4
1
[his
y]es,
and
herewas
a]
fire;
nd he
pu[t
he
wood on
his son
Isaac,
and
they
went
ogether.]
2 Isaac saidtoAbraham,hisfather,Herearethe ire ndthewood,
but
where s the
amb]
3 for
the burnt
ffering?'
braham
aid to
[his
son
Isaac,
'God
himself ill
provide
he
amb'.]
4
Isaac
said to
his
father,
B[ind
me
fast
]
5
Holy
ngels
were
tanding,
eeping
ver he
altar
]
6 his
sons
from he
arth.
he
angels
f
Mas[temah
]
7
rejoicing
nd
saying,
Now
he will
perish'.
And
[in
all
this he
Prince
Mastemah
was
testing
hether]
8 he
would
be found
eeble,
r
whether
[braham]
ouldbe
found
unfaithful
to
God. He
cried
ut,]
9 'Abraham, braham 'Andhe said, Yes?' So He said, N[ow I
know
hat
]
10 he will
notbe
loving'.
The
LordGod
blessed
s[aac
all the
days
f
his
ife.He
became he
ather
f]
11
Jacob
n),
and
Jacob
became
the
father f
Levi,
[a
third]
generation
12).
vacai) All]
12
the
days
of
Abraham,
saac,
Jacob,
nd
Lev[i
were
]
13 The
prince
Mastemah
bound
on
ac[count
f
them.
Holy
angels
were
14
The
prince
Ma[s]temah,
nd
Belial
listened to
[the
prince
Mastemah
?)
(13) ]
Unfortunately,
hetext s
fragmentaryust
atthe
points
whereone
finds he
different
istinctive
lements,
.g.
the
reactionof
the
angels
of
heaven to
Abraham's
willingness
o
sacrifice
saac. In
any
case,
six
points
may
be
singled
out as
significant:
(1)
In
2 i
9-10,
'The
Prince
Mastemah
came to
God
and
lodged
a
complaint
against
Abraham
about
Isaac'.
Here
we
find
an
angelic
figure
iving
up
to
his
name,
since riosmn
s a
feminine
bstract
noun
(n)For he estorationf he nd f ine10, ee4Q226 4QPseudo-Jubileesb)
7,2-3,
which
verlaps
ith
he
nd f
ine
10 and
he
eginning
f
ine11
(12)
or
the
estoration
ere,
ee
4Q226
4QPseudo-Jubileesb)
,3-4,
which
overlaps
ith
his
ine.
(I3)
ee
4Q226
4QPseudo-Jubileesb)
,7.
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218
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
meaning opposition'. It is difficult o determinewhether ne should
translate otocon s 'the Prince of the
Mastemah',
as VanderKam
and Milik take it in
the editio
princeps,
or as a
name,
'Prince
Mastemah',
as
it
often
appears
in Jubilees
e.g.,
17,16;
18,9).
The
name denotes
opposition'
of a
legal
or
udicial
nature,
nd the
verb
taos used in the
uridical
sense
of
lodging
a
complaint
with
higher
authority
r in a court of law. Hence
just
as
)oto,
Satan',
in Job
1,6
comes into God's
heavenly
court and lives
up
to his
name,
'Adversary',
s he
lodges
a
complaint gainst
blameless and
righteous
Job' (1,1), so too nooco, '(judicial) Opposition', is depicted as
Abraham's court-roomrival or
prosecutore4).
Whereas the
only
angelic figure
hat
ppears
in Gen 22 is
mrr
'the
angel
of the
Lord'
(vv.
11,
15),
who at times
cannot be
distinguished
rom
God
Himself,
his
Qumran
rewriting
f
the
biblical
account
has introduced
a further
eavenlyfigure,
s did Jubilees.
(2)
In 2 ii
1,
Abraham raised his
eyes,
and therewas a fire'. This
detail about the fire emains
unexplained
n
the
Qumran
text,
but
t s
probably
meant to mark the
high
mountainto which Abraham was
proceeding15).
(3)
In
2 ii
4,
in
a
saying
thathas no
counterpart
n either
Gen
22 or
Jub
18,
saac
surprisinglyegs
his
father,
B[ind
me
fast]'.
That
might
seem like a
gratuitous
reconstruction f
the
fragmentary
ext,
but
VanderKam nd Milik note that hewords that
recede
the nitial
kaph
of the ast extantword of the ine matchthe
developed paraphrase
f
Gen
22,10
in
Targum
seudo-Jonathan,
which reads:
'Qt
na-
oen
pmpa
ioBnorn arn au'?
mai an toss
p
cms] tTtw rr ran
And saac said to hisfather,Bind mewell that maynot trugglen
the
gony
f
my
oul and be
pitched
nto he
pit
of
destructionnd a
blemish e found
n
your ffering'
l6).
04)
The verbal oot
iic s
actually
elatedo
pto
the
oot f
Satan'),
ince
both f hem
mean
oppose',
be
adversary
f,
and
differ
nly
nthe inal
iquid
consonant.
(")
The
paraphrase
f Gen
22,4
n the ater
argum
seudo-Jonathan
ay
explain
t,
which
eads: nnobv
"rop
K~p'R a
am,
and he saw the loud
of
glory
moking
n the
mountain',
.e. themountainoward
hich e was
going.
Pirqe eRabbi li'ezer 05 s evenmorexplicitn tsversionf he acrifice:He
sawa
pillar
ffire
rising)
romarth oheaven'.
(")
VanderKam nd
Milik restore he ine
n the editto
rinceps
hus:
[ns"
ils
re]D,
utG.
Vermes,
New
Light
nthe acrificef saac
from
Q225",
JJS
l
[1996]
140-146,
sp.
142,
.
12,
onsidershe
estoration,
T
n
msD,
bind
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The sacrifice
f Isaac in
Qumran
iterature
219
SimilarlyTargumNeofiti and theFragmentary argum 7),and also
Genesis
Rabbah
56,8.
This
Qumran
addition
to the biblical account
thus
becomes
important
or he
developing
Jewish
radition,
ecause
it
reveals an
aspect
of Isaac's
cooperation
withhis own sacrificialdeath
that
igures
ften
n
Jewish
writings
f a laterdate.
(4)
In 2 ii
5,
it
s
recorded
hat
holy angels
were
standing,
weeping
over the
[altar]
-
or
possibly
'over
[Isaac's
coming
death]'.
This
Qumran
addition thus introduces
other
heavenly figures beyond
notooQ
i.
They
are
ttnp
Ofc,
holy angels',
and
being plural,
hey
re
notmerely substitute or the angel of the Lord' of Genesis. Their
standing
and
weeping
are
again unexplained
because of the
fragmentary
tateof the
text(18).
(5)
In 2 ii
6,
'the
angels
of
Mastemah',
who are
probably
the
attendants f narro
n
o,
re
depicted rejoicing
and
saying,
Now he
will
perish',
.e.
gloating
ver the
coming
death
of
saac. These
angels
thus stand
in
contrast o the
'holy angels'
of line
5.
Their
rejoicing
becomes
part
of the
testing
f Abraham to see whether e would be
foundfeeble or
strong
nd faithful.
(6) Finally, n 2 ii 13 theprinceMastemah s said to be 'boundon
ac[count
of
them]'(19).
ecause of the
fragmentary
tateof the
text,
t
is
hard to
explain
the
detail,
but it could refer to the
binding
of
Mastemah mentioned ater n
Jub
48,15.
my
ands',
o
be more
ikely, eferring
othe
Targums'.
Whereas isrestoration
does
agree
with
the
Fragmentary
argum
of
Gen
22,10,
whichreads
m" NT
nED,
bind
my
ands
well',
VanderKam
ndMilik's estorations found
not
nly
n
Targum
seudo-
onathan,
ut lso
n
Targum eofiti
. In either
ase,
the estorationust eright,ven fnsD s a rareHebrew ord, ot ppearingn
Biblical
Hebrew r
otherwise,
t
eems,
n
Qumran
ebrew
exts;
t
occurs ften
in
ater
almudic exts nd
rabbinic
ritings.
(17)
See A. Dez
Macho,
Neophyti
.
Targum alestinense
s de la
Biblioteca aticana. omo :
Gnesis
Textos
y
estudios
;
Madrid
968)
127.
AlsoM.L.
Klein,
The
Fragment-Targumsf
he
entateuch
ccording
o Their
Extant
ources
AnBib
6;
Rome
1980)
, 54; II,
16.
08)
Their
resence
t the
vent
may
be similar o
that ecordedn the ater
Tg.
Ps.-J.: qi-idDtibnb
pniri
"inn
piwr
-nr-m
^non
nrratn
irr,
'the
yes
of
Abraham ere
gazing
t the
yes
of
saac,
but saac's
eyes
were
gazing
t
the
ngels
fthe
Heights'Tg.
Ps.-J.Gen.
22,10).
The
weeping
fthe
angelss notmentionedn the argum,ut t at east ecordsheirresence.ee
further
J.
Bernstein,
Angels
t the
Aqedah:
A
Study
n
the
Development
f
a
Midrashic
otif',
SD
7
(2000)
263-291.
(19)
s
VanderKam
otes,
no
ould e read s
'
asur the
assive articiple,
'bound',
ut lso as ysr
the
mperative,
bind '
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220
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
These are the main differences roughtto the account of the
sacrifice of Isaac in this
Qumran
text,
which reveals new
ways
in
which the basic biblical account
was
already being developed
within
the Jewish
raditionn
pre-Christian
alestinian
Judaism.
Beforewe
pass
on to other ncient orms f
the
ccount,
we should
take
note of how this
Qumran
text
has been
interpreted
n addition
o
the editio
princeps.
I have cited
already
another article of J.C.
VanderKam,
in which he discusses
further
spects
of
the
text,
especially
ts relation
o Passover
20).
Geza
Vermeshas also
interpreted
thisQumrantext, nd I have to comment n his treatment.
Before
the
Qumran
extwas
published,
Vermeshad
written arlier
on the
Aqedah,
"Redemption
nd Genesis
xxn: The
Binding
of Isaac
and
the Sacrificeof Jesus"
2I).
There he
analyzed
the Jewish radition
that
grew
out of Gen 22 and found
ts
simplest
development
n the
oldest Palestinian
targumic
tradition
found
in the
Fragmentary
Targurn
nd
TargumNeofiti
).
The main features
f that
development
he maintained o be
the
following:
1. Abraham
ells saac about
hisrole s a sacrificial
ictim.
2. Isaac giveshisconsent.
3. Isaac
asksto be bound
o that is sacrifice
may
be
perfect.
4. Isaac
is
accorded
heavenly
ision f
angels.
5. Abraham
rays
God to remember
is own obedience
nd saac's
willingness
n
behalf f saac's
descendants.
6. His
prayer
s answered
22).
Vermes also
noted an
expanded
form f this
tradition n what
he
called
'Tannaitic nd
Amoraic
sources',
whichdo notconcern
us now.
More
important,
owever,
s the
way
in which Vermes
nterprets
he
fragmentaryumrantext, Q225, when he sees it as a refutation f
the thesis
of P.R. Davies and
B. Chilton
23).
They
restricted
he term
Aqedah
to the first
meaning
mentioned
at the
beginning
of
my
introductory
emarks,
iz. the sense
of the vicarious
expiation
of the
sacrifice f
saac.
They sought
o ascribe
the invention'
f the
Aqedah
in this ense
to 'the Rabbis'
(mostly
Amoraic),
who
'went so far
s to
(-")
ee J.C.
VanderKam,
The
Aqedah"
in
n. 6
above).
(2I)
Chapter
in G.
Vermes,
cripture
nd Tradition
nJudaism.
aggadic
studiesStudia ost-biblica; Leiden 961; epr. 973)193-227.
(")
See
Vermes,
cripture
nd
Tradition,
95-197.
hey
reformulated
little
ifferently
nhis
rticle,d.,
New
Light",
43.
(")
p.R. Davies
-
B.
Chilton,
The
Aqedah:
A Revised
radition
istory",
CBQ
40
(1978)
514-546.
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The sacrifice f Isaac in
Qumran
iterature 221
appropriate etails of the Passion [ofJesusfrom he New Testament]
to
heighten
he
drama of Isaac's
Offering
nd to
deny thereby
he
uniqueness
of Jesus'
offering'
24).
Their
understanding
f the
Aqedah
in this sense was
not
new,
for a formof it was
proposed already
in
1872
by
A.
Geiger(25).
Exaggerations
n the
thesisof Davies and Chiltonhave been noted
by
others,
which I shall not
rehearse
26).
The real
question
now,
however,
s whether he
Qumran
fragment
eveals 'the
pre-Christian
skeletonof
the
Targumic-midrashic
epresentation
f the sacrificeof
Isaac', andwhether t renders thehypothesis f anAmoraicorigin f
the
Aqedah
at least
highly mprobable'
27).
In his
article,Vermes,
fter
iscussing
ertain
spects
of
the
newly
published
Qumran
ext,
oncludes with
'Synoptic
Table',
which ines
up
twelve elements that he
considers the
pre-Christian
keleton'. I
reproduce
he
table here
28):
B.C.E. 1st
.E.
F
Tan
Amor/Later
1. Isaac dult
Jos
PsJ/FT/N
GenR
2. Fire/brightloud 4Q225 PsJ GenR,RE
3. Isaac nformed
Jos/LAB
FT/N
GenR
4. Isaac
onsents
4Q225?
Jos/LAB/4Macc
GenR
5. Asks obe
bound
4Q225?
PsJ/FT/N ifDt
6. Presencef
ngels
4Q225
FT/N
GenR
7.
Cryingngels
4Q225
GenR
8. Meritf saac
4Q225?
LAB
Mekh
GenR
9.
Temple
ount
2Chr,
ub
Jos
FT/N
GenR
10. assover
Jub
FT/N Mekh
GenR
1 . amb
acrifice
FT/N/PsJ
12. saac's
lood/ashes
LAB
Sifra
GenR/y/bTaan
(24)
bid.,
16-517.
(25)
ee A.
Geiger,
Erbsndend
Vershnungstod:
erenVersuch
n
das
Judenthums
inzudringen",
discheeitschrift
rWissenschaft
ndLeben10
(1872)
166-171.
(26)
ee R.
Hayward,
The
Present tate f
Researchnto
he
Targumic
Account f
he
acrificef
saac",
JJS 2
1981)
127-150.
(27)
ermes,
New
Light",
45.
(28)
T
=
Palestinian
argums;
an
=
Tannaitic
Writings;
mor/Later
Amoraic rLaterWritings;os Josephus;sJ Tg.Pseudo- onathan',T =
Fragmentary
argum
N
=
Tg.
Neofiti
;
LAB
=
Pseudo-Philo,
iber
ntiquitatum
biblicarum'
ub
Jubilees;
ifDt Sifre
euteronomium;
ekh
Mekhilta;
GenR
=
Genesis
Rabbah;
PRE
=
Pirqe
de Rabbi
Eli'ezer;
LevR
=
Leviticus
Rabbah;
/bTaan
Jerusalem/Babylonian
almudic
ractate,
aanith.
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222
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
To be noted in thisTable, first f all, is thequestionmark that
Vermes
dds to
4Q225
on three lements:
, 5,
8.
If
one looks
again
at
col. ii of the
Qumran
fragment,
here s not the east traceof a
word or
phrase
about Isaac's consent
(element
4),
which Vermes
separates
from saac's
request
to be bound. That
is,
there s
nothing
n
the
Qumran
text imilar o
what one
finds,
or
nstance,
n
Josephus,
Ant.
1
232: 'Isaac . receivedthesewords
of
his
father]
with
oy,
declaring
thathe was not
worthy
o be born
t all
if
he were to
reject
hedecision
of God and of his
father';
or even as
implied
n 4 Macc
16,20; 13,12;
7,14; or in Pseudo-Philo, LAB 32,2-4 29).That 'consent' mightbe
implied
n Isaac's
asking
to be bound
(element 5),
which s found n
4Q225
2 ii 4
(as
correctly
econstructed
y
the
editors);
but
then
why
make a distinct lement of it in this
Qumran
text? Here Vermes is
reading
nto he
Qumran
ext
notion ound
n
other exts
oming
from
thefirst
hristian
entury
t the
arliest,
uthow does he know that he
'consentof Isaac' was
alreadypart
of the
pre-Christian
keleton'
Second,
there s not a trace of the merit f
Isaac'
in
the
Qumran
fragment
element
8).
Not even the
words,
his sons from he earth'
(line 6) can be said to refer o such an idea, because thefragmentary
textdoes not tell us whose 'sons' are meant.
Being plural,
the word
most
likely
does refer to
Isaac,
since this embellishmentof the
Abraham
tory
n Gen 22 knows
nothing
s
yet
of thechildren ornto
Abraham fromKeturah
25,2).
Yet even if
they
are Isaac's
sons,
the
phrase
from he earth' s
quite
differentrom
ny
of the
phraseology
of the ater radition bout saac's merit. o that
ragmentary
ine
6
can
hardly
efer o such a
topic.
Third,
why
should elements
1
(Isaac's
adult
age),
9
(relation
o the
Temple Mount), 11 (Lamb sacrifice),and 12 (Isaac's blood/ashes)
even be listed n the Table?
They
do not
appear
in
4Q225,
and even if
they
are attested n
first-century
.D.
writings
such
as
Josephus
or
Pseudo-Philo,
LAB),
they
re not
part
of the
pre-Christian
keleton'.
They appear
for he first ime n theChristian ra.
Fourth,
even if 2 Chr
3,1
mentions Solomon's
building
of the
house of theLord on 'Mount
Moriah,
wheretheLord had
appeared
to
his father
avid',
there s not the
slightest
onnection n that
passage
of
thatmount
with
the sacrifice
f Isaac
("').
Why
is
it, then,
given
as
evidence for he pre-Christiankeleton'
(29)
ontrast
hemuchater mbellishmentnGenR
6,4:
I
acceptmy
ate'.
Note lso the ormalonsent
xpressly
educed romhe
inding
n
56,8.
(30)
.F.
Segal,
"He whodidnot
pare
isown on...':
Jesus, aul,
nd he
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The
sacrifice f Isaac in
Qumran
iterature 223
In Jub 18,13, 'Mount Zion' is named by Abraham as theplace
where he sacrifices he
ram.
n
Ant.
1.224,
226
Josephus
recordsthat
Abraham
went withhis son alone to that
mount,
n which
king
David
[sic]
afterwards uiltthe
temple',
whichhas
already
been identified s
'the Morian Mount'
3I).
In
any
case,
the dentification f
Mt. Moriah
withthe
Temple
Mount is a minor
detail and of little
ignificance
or
the
developing
doctrine
f the
Aqedah.
One wonders
why
Vermeshas
introduced t nto the
discussion
of
the
Qumran
text?The same
has to
be said about element 11
(relation
f the sacrifice f saac to
the amb
sacrificed in the Temple as Tamid), and element 12 (Isaac's
blood/ashes).
Fifth,
he
crucial element n the
Table is the so-called merit
of
Isaac.
Vermesclaims that
t is attested
n
Pseudo-Philo,
LAB.
In LAB
18,5,
however,
he sacrifice f
Isaac is said to be
'acceptable'
to
God,
and for hat eason
God 'has chosen'
Israel
to
be His
people
(facta
est
oblatio eius in
conspectu
meo
acceptabilis
et
pro sanguine
eius
elegi
istos)C2).
The divine
decision about Israel as the
Chosen
People
is
Akedah",
rom
esus oPaul. Studiesn
Honour fFrancis
Wright
eare
ed.
P.
Richardson
J.C.
Hurd) Waterloo,
nt.
1984)
169-184,
sp.
173,
eeking
o
establishhe
pre-Christian
oot f the
Jewish
eaching
bout
saac,
says,
The
history
f
nterpretation
f the acrifice f
saac
begins ight
n
theBible. n
2
Chronicles t.
Moriah,
cene f the
acrifice,
s identified
ith he
Temple
Mount
2
Chron.
,1);
o an
explicit
onnection
etweenhe
tory
f he
acrifice
of saac and the
acrificialult n
Jerusalems
established'There
may
be an
explicit
onnectionetween
MountMoriah ndthe
Jerusalem
emple,
ut he
verse f
Chronicleso which
egal
refersoesnot
ay
word bout
acrificer
about saac.
Segal
has
extrapolated
nd
nachronistically
ntroduced
reference
to he acrificef saac nto non-committaltatementbout olomon's uilding
the
Temple
n
Mt.Moriah.
he mere act hat
Mt.Moriah s
mentioned
n
the
Bible
only
n
Gen 22
and
2
Chr
3 does not o
ipso
mean hat
Chronicless
alluding
othe
acrificef saac.
(31)
Thackeray
otes
that the
locality
here
ntendeds
unknown;
ts
identification
yJosephus
226)
and
by
he
Rabbinicalradition
ith he
emple
mount
annot e
sustained';
ee
Josephus.
ith n
English
ranslation
y
H.St. .
Thackeray.
Edition]
n
Eight
Volumes. V:
Jewish
ntiquities,
ooks -IV
(LCL;
London
NewYork
1930)
111.
(32)
ee
D.J.Harrington
t
al.,
Pseudo-Philon
SC
229-230;
aris
1976)
,
150.The
editorsf
his ext
omment:Dans LAB
XVIII,5,
l
n'est
as
question
du rachatespchs pr ar e sang 'Isaac- lamanire e Hebr. ,22 et
T.b.Yoma
a)
sans
ffusion
e
sang
l
n'y
pas
de
rmission.
ci,
e
sang
'Isaac,
considr
omme n
vritable
acrifice,
celle
'lectiont
'alliance e
Dieu avec
son
peuple'
ibid.,
I,
126).
See
further.N.
Fisk,
Offering
saac
Again
nd
Again:
seudo-Philo'
Use of
he
Aqedah
s
Intertext",
BQ
62
2000)
481-507.
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224
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
quitedifferentrom heexpiatory alue of thesacrifice f saac. Why
is this
passage
cited?
In LAB
32,3,
Isaac does
speak
to
his father
Abraham,
omparing
his
coming
death to
that
of
animals to be killed
because of human
iniquities:
.
pro niquitatibus
ominum
ecora
onstitutaunt
n
occisionem
et
in
me
annunciabuntur
enerationes
t
per
me
intelligentopuli
quoniam
ignificavit
ominus nimam ominisn
sacrificium,
...generations
will be
instructed
y my
case and
peoples
will
understandecause of me that heLord hasconsidered he ifeof a
human
eingworthy
to
be
offered]
n
sacrifice.
Here Isaac concludes
that his death would have
a
vicarious,
expiatory
ffect.
imilarly
perhaps
n LAB
40,2,
the same
might
be
implied
quis
est
qui
tristetur
oriens,
idens
opulum
iberatum and
who would be
sorry
to
die,
seeing
a
people
freed'),
if
that
iberty
means freedom rom ins
or
iniquities.
This
text,however,
s
usually
dated between A.D.
70 and 100.
Even if it
does formulate he sense of Isaac's
meritorious eath
n
at
least one passage, on whatgroundsmayone extrapolate hat vidence
and
say
that t builds
up
the
pre-Christian
keleton'.
Sixth,
n
the Mekhiltaon Exod
12,13,
the
words,
When
I
see the
blood'
(12,13),
are related o Gen
22,
I
see theblood of
the acrifice f saac
(priT
bv
nipr
en).
For t s
said: And
Abraham alledthename fthat
lace
Adonai-jireh'
The
lord
will
ee),
etc.
Gen.22.14)
What idhe behold?
He beheld he
blood of the acrifice f
saac,
as it said: God Himselfwill see the
lamb',
tc.
Gen. 22.8).
Yet even theeditor, .Z.Lauterbach dds in a notethatactuallyno
blood of saac was offeredn sacrifice' nd
according
to
Gen.
Rab. on
Gen.
22. 12
Abrahamwas
not
allowed
to
shed even one
drop
of saac's
blood'
(33).
Consequently,
here s in this
passage
no
question
of the
'merit'of Isaac.
Similarly,
ater on
in
Mekhilta,
the same midrash
s
repeated
34),
gain
without
ny
reference
o Isaac's 'merit'.
Still
ater,
the Mekhilta
quotes
R. Jose the Galilean as
saying:
At
themoment hen
he hildren f sraelwent nto he
ea,
mount
Moriah
egan
o movefromts
place
with he ltar or saac that ad
beenbuilt n t ndthewhole cene hat adbeen rrangedpon t
(33)
ee J.Z.
auterbach,
Mekilta e-Rabbi
shmael
Philadelphia,
A
1976)
I, 57,
n. 7.
(34)
bid., ,
88.
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The sacrifice f Isaac in
Qumran
iterature 225
Isaac as ifhe werebound ndplacedupon he ltar, braham s ifhe
were
tretching
orth ishand nd
taking
heknife o
slay
his on.God
then aidtoMoses:
Moses,
My
childrenre n
distress,
he ea
forming
a barand the
nemy
ursuing,
nd
you
tand o
long
praying?
oses
said before im:
What hen hould be
doing?
Then
He said to him:
'Lift hou
p thy
od',
etc.
you
should e
exalting,
lorifying
nd
praising.
Him n whosehands rethe
fortunesf war'
35).
This
passage may
indeed relate the sacrifice of
Isaac to Mt.
Moriah,
meaning
the
Temple
Mount,
but it
scarcely says
anything
about the
meritorious r
expiatory
value
of Isaac's sacrifice. It is
relating
Abraham's
willingness
osacrifice saac to the
crossing
of
the
Red
Sea,
with
scarcely
a word about the
iniquities
of Israel or
any
expiation
of ts
sins.
In the
fifth-century
.D. Genesis
Rabbah
56,7
God does
ascribe
merit
o Abraham: for
ndeed
I
ascribe merit o
thee as
though
had
bidden thee sacrifice
thyself
nd thou
hadst not refused'
36).
Yet
no
indication s
given
of what thatmerit
might
e,
and it
says nothing
f
merit ue to
Isaac himself.
The
upshot
of this
discussion s that
Vermeshas amassed dubious
evidence for he
nterpretation
f thisQumrantext. t is clear that his
pre-Christian
Qumran
fragment
reveals
important
steps
in the
developing
tradition bout
the sacrificeof
Isaac,
especially
in
(1)
the
testing
f
Abrahamat the Prince
Mastemah's
request;
2)
the mention
of fire'
that dentifies he
mountain o which
Abrahamwas
going;
3)
Isaac's
request
that
Abraham bind' him
fast;
4)
the mention
f
holy
angels
standingby, weeping
over
(the
altar or Isaac's
death); (5)
the
mention f
'angels
of Mastemah'
rejoicing
and
saying,
Now he will
perish';
and
(6)
an unclear
reference o the
binding'
of Mastemah.
That,however,means that here s no mention n theQumrantext
of six of the
elements hatVermes
has
put
n his
'Synoptic
Table' : no
mention
of Isaac's
adult
age,
of Isaac
being
informed
y
Abraham
about
his status as a
victim,
of
Isaac's consent
separate
from his
request
to
be
bound,
of the
connection
with the later
Temple,
or
Passover,
or the
Tamid lamb
sacrifice,
r
Isaac's blood or
ashes,
and
especially
of the
merit f saac'.
One wonders
why
the xtra
lements
have been
put
ntothat
able,
because
they
have
nothing
o do with
he
(3S)
bid., ,
222-223.
(36)
ee
Midrash abbah.
Translatednto
nglish
with
otes,
lossary
nd
indices nder he
ditorship
f
RabbiDr.H.
Freedmannd
Maurice imon.
With
a
foreword
y
RabbiDr
.
Epstein.
ol : Genesis
(London 939)
97.
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226
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
Qumran ext nd,apartfrom he east-relevant lements ftheTemple
Mount and
Passover,
which are mentioned
n
Jubilees,
he others re
not attested
n
any pre-Christian
writing,
r even in a
writing
f the
first
entury
A.D.
The six extra
elements,
which
may
have
some
pertinence
o the later tradition
bout the
Aqedah, provide
only
a
camouflage
for he
understanding
f the
Qumran
ext,
n whichwe still
have not even
found he term
Aqedah
Although
ne must
agree
withthe
methodologicalprinciple
with
whichVermes
nterprets
hese
texts,
s
he
expressed
t n his
book,
to
follow thedevelopment fexegeticaltraditions ymeansof historical
criticism'
37),
ne must lso
heed the criticism
f Vermes'
application
of that
methodology iven
by
A.F.
Segal:
We must ake
his
arguments
uch
more
lowly,
o
as to see
exactly
what he radition
ftheAkedah
was
ustprior
o the ime f
Jesus,
o
definewhatweretheChristian
dditions
o that
ext,
nd
finally
o
definewhat
may
have been the Jewish
eaction o
the
Christian
interpretation
38).
Or
again,
Although e [Vermes] oteswheremportanthemes remissingn
each
document,
n sum he
operates
s
if thewhole constellation
s
always resent
nce the
arts
fthe radition
re ttested
39).
That s
why
one must
ry
o
distinguish
learly ust
what
elements
of the
Aqedah
tradition re
indeed
pre-Christian
nd
what
may
have
been
contemporary
ith
herise of
Christianity
nd
its New Testament
(37)
ermes,
cripture
nd
Tradition
1.
(38)
egal,
"He whodid
not. 171-172.
I
citehere
egal's
criticism
f
Vermes,greeing itht;but findtdifficulto greewith he hrustfSegal's
argument
ibid.,
74),
when
e cites hilo
heElder
in
Eusebius,
raeparatio
Evangelica
.20.
),
Demetriusnd
Alexander
olyhistor
ibid.
.
19.4),
ir
4,
9-
21,
ndJdt
,25-27
s instances
f
popular
ermeneutical
ctivity
efore
esus'.
When ne scrutinizes
he
assages
mentioned,
hey
re t
most llusions
o the
story
n Gen
22 and
hardly
ver eveal
trace
f embellishment
r
exegetical
development
f the
text,
ot
to mention
hat
egal
calls a
'martyrological
analogy'.
imilarly,
hen read
hilo f
Alexandria,
e
Abrahamo
5.198-199,
I find
here o
concept
f
giving
ne's
ife or thers'
enefit',
hich e
finds
'clearly' xpressed.
For
Philo he
lder,
ee C.R.
Holladay,
Fragments
rom
ellenisticewish
Authors. ol. II: Poets (SBLTT 30/12;Atlanta, A 1989) 234-237.For
Demetrius,
ee C.R.
Holladay,
Fragments
rom
Hellenistic
ewish
uthors
Vol. : Historians
SBLTT
20/10;
hico,
A
1983)
62-63.
(39)
Segal
"'He
who did
not...
,
179.
See also
L.
Kundert,
Die
Opferung/Bindung
saaks
96.
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The sacrifice
f Isaac
in
Qumran
iterature 227
writings40).To thispurposewe must urn o the aterdevelopment f
the
tradition.
IV. Later
Developments
of
the
Understanding
of the
Sacrificeof Isaac
The
question
of
themeritorious
alue of Abraham's
willingness
o
sacrifice
Isaac,
although
it is
not
expressed
in
the
pre-Christian
Qumran
text,
s
clearly
mentioned n the
Palestinian
targums.
shall
cite
only
the
Fragmentary
Targum
P,
which
has
preserved
a few
importanterses ofGen 22 (41):
8
And
Abraham aid: From
heLord a
lamb will be
prepared
or
burnt
ffering,
y
on;
and
f
not,
hen
ou
re
the amb'
andthe wo
of
them
walked
ogether
holeheartedly,
braham o
slay,
nd saac
to be slain.
10
Abraham
xtended ishand
ndtook he
knife o
slay
saac his son.
Isaac
spoke
up,
aying
o
Abraham is
father:
Father,
ind
my
hands
well,
that
may
not
truggle
n
thehour f
my
distress
nd confuse
you,
nd
your
ffering
ouldbe found
lemished
nd we
wouldbe
pitched
nto he
pit
of
destructionn
the
world o
come'. Abraham's
eyeswere azing tthe yes f saac,but he yesof saac were azing
at the
ngels
f the
heights.
saac
saw
them,
ut
Abraham id
not ee
them.At
thatmoment
voice
came forth
rom
heaven and
said,
'Come,
ook at two
unique
ighteous
en
who are n
the
world,
ne
who is
slaying
nd one who
is
being
slain;
he
that
lays
has no
compassion,
nd
he that s
being
lain
xtends is
neck'.
11
The
angel
f
the ord
alled ohim
rom
eaven,
aying,
Abraham,
Abraham '
Abraham
nsweredn the
anguage
f the
Holy
Temple,
saying,
Here am '
14
Abraham
worshiped
nd
prayed
here
n
the
name
of the
word f the
Lord,
aying,
You
are the
Lord
God,
Who
sees
but s
invisible;
verything
s
manifest
nd
known
efore ou:
that here as nodivisioni.e.hesitation]tthemomenthat ou said:
'Offer
p your
on
saac in
My
presence'.
mmediately
arose
arly
n
the
morning
nd did
whatYou
commandednd
kept
Your
decree.
Now,
beg mercy
rom
ou,
Lord
God,
that
when he
children
f
Isaac
my
on
enter n
hour f
oppression,
hat
ou will
rememberor
their
ake the
binding
f
saac
their
ather,
nd
release
nd
forgive
(40)
egal,
"'He who
idnot.
176,
indssaac's
sacrifices the
xample
par
excellence
f
martyrdom'
n 4
Maccabees,
ated o
the
arly
0s but
evoid
of
Christian
nfluence',
s
the est
vidence
that
omekind
f
tradition
ormed
the
basisof
the]
hristian
iewof
Jesus s
a
type
f
saac'.
Yet
Segal
has to
admithateven ntheGreek araenesisf4 Maccabees,saac's sacrificetself
is
never
irectly
inked ith
icarious
tonement'
ibid.,
77).
(41)
he text
f
Tg.
Neof
and
Tg.
Ps.-J. s
fuller,
ut t
contains
nly
few
points
hat
re
pertinent
o
this
iscussion
f he
ater
evelopments;
hey
illbe
mentioned
elow.
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228
Joseph
A.
Fitzmyer
their ins and save them romvery istress. orfutureenerations
destined
o arise
will
say:
On theMount f the
Holy Temple
f the
Lord,
Abraham ffered
p
his son
Isaac;
and on thismountain he
glory
fthe
Dwelling
ftheLordwas revealed"
42).
Here one
notes the
explicit
use
of
prrcr"rrrnpy,
the
binding
of
Isaac',
the
Aramaic
counterpart
f the
phrase
used above in the
Mekhilta.
Other
noteworthy
eatures of this
developed
version of
Gen
22
are the
following:
1. Isaac is informed
y
Abraham f his role s the acrificial ictim
(v. 8)(43).
2. Isaac asksto be bound
v. 10) C").
3. Isaac is accorded vision
f
angels
v. 10) 45).
4. Both Abraham nd Isaac
are declared
righteous y
heaven
(v. 10)H.
5.
Abraham nswersGod
in
the
language
of the
Holy Temple'
(v. 11).
6. Abraham's
rayer,ecalling
is obedience
v. 14) 47).
7. Abraham
egs
God to remember
the
binding
f saac' whenhis
descendants nter
an hourof
oppression'
nd to 'release and
forgive
heir ins nd save
them rom
very
istress'
v. 14) 48).
8. Theofferingf saac is relatedotheMount f heHolyTemple f
theLord
v. 14) 49).
9.
Only
n
Tg.
Ps.-J.
s Isaac's
age
given
37
years).
10.
Only
n
Tg.
Ps.-J.
Abraham uilds he ltar
tthe
pot
where dam
hadbuilt ne andwhere
Noah rebuiltt after he
deluge.
In
this
targumic
radition ne
thusfinds clear statement
f what
Vermes alls the
merit f
saac',
and
t s whatone would
expect
by
the
time his
developed
tradition
merges.
None of t s earlier
han he hird
century
.D.,
and some
of
these
targumsmay
come
from still ater
date, speciallyTg.
Ps.-J.
and
Tg.Neof. 50).
t
shows,however,
ow the
(42)
ee
M.L.
Klein,
The
Fragment-Tar
umsof
the Pentateuch
I,
54.
Fragmentary
argum
is MS Paris
Bibliothque
ationale
br.110.
Very
similaro tforGen
2 s
Fragmentary
argum
whichs MS
Vatican br.
40;
its ext an
be found
n
Klein, ,
140-141.
(43)
lso
n
Tg.Neof.
butnot
n
Tg.
Ps.-J.
C*4)
lso n
Tg.Neof.
nd
Tg.
Ps.-J.
(45)
lso
n
Tg.Neof.
nd
Tg.
Ps.-J.
46)
lso n
Tg.Neof.
nd
Tg.
Ps.-J.
(47)
lso
n
Tg.Neof.
nd
Tg.
Ps.-J.
(48) lso nTg.Neof.ndTg.Ps.-J.
(49)
lso n
Tg.Neof.
(50)
his oo
s a
problem
ith ermes'
reatment
f he
exts,
hich
egal
has
noted,
ollowing
avies
Chilton,
The
Aqedah",
14-515.
egal,
"'He
who
id
not...'",
172-173writes:
...it
has so farbeen
almost
mpossible
o
develop
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The sacrifice f Isaac
in
Qumran
iterature
229
traditioneflectedn thefragmentaryext Q225 developedstillfurther
and
gradually
ecame theclassic
topic
of the
Binding
of saac'.
In
conclusion,
then,
ne realizes how
important
he
Qumran
text,
fragmentaryhough
t
be,
is not
only
for
the
background
of New
Testament eferences o the sacrificeof
Isaac,
but
especially
for the
later
targumic
nd rabbinic
eaching
bout the
Aqedah
as
the Jewish
expression
of that acrifice s
an
expiatory
nd
redemptive
ct for ll
Israel.
Department f Biblical Studies
Catholic
University
f America
Washington,
C 20064
JosephA. Fitzmyer,S.J
SUMMARY
Gen
22,1-19
he ccount f
Abraham's
illingness
o sacrifice is
son
saac,
s
discussed irst
n
tsHebrew nd
Old Greek
orm;
hen s itwas
developed
nthe
Book fJubilees
7,15-18,16,
nd
specially
nthe ormf
Pseudo-
ubilees,
s it
ispreservedn4Q2252 i and i 4QPs-Juba27-14, ii 1-14),nordero scertain
how much f
the
development
f the ccount an
be traced o
pre-Christian
Palestinian
ewishradition
rior
otheNew
Testament.
inally,uilding
n such
evidence,
he
rticle races he
development
n other
exts f thefirst hristian
century
nd
n
the ater
argumic
nd abbinicraditionbout
he
Aqedah.
consistentriteriaor
solating
he
irst
entury
raditionsn
he
argumim.
n such
a
case,
hough
e can
appreciate
he
reativity
fthe
argum
ndmust ome o
some
understanding
f ts
method,
e must rackethe
argumic
vidence f
Vermes o
bring
he
historical
roblem
o the
fore
gain: ust
what an
be
establisheds the ommonlynderstoodext f Gen. 22 in thefirstentury?
Vermes'
methodologicaluestion
bout he
meaning
f the
biblical ext omes
back o
haunt imwhen ne
akes
way
he
argumic
videncen which ebuilds
his wn
ase'.
At ssuehere
s the
dating
f the
Palestinian
argums.
hen ez
Macho,
Neophyti
,
95*,
published
he ext f
Tg.Neof.
he claimed hat
t
pertinece
a
la
poca
neotestamentaria';
the
PT
[=
Palestinian
argum],
ven f t n
ts
present
ecension,
reserved
n theMs
Neofiti
seems o
belong
o the irstr
second
entury
.D.,
s on
thewhole
prechristian
ersion'
A.
Dez
Macho,
The
Recently
iscovered alestinian
argum:
ts
Antiquity
nd
Relationship
ith he
Other
argums",ongress
olume,
xford
959
VTS
7;
Leiden
960]
36).
That
claim,of course, s an exaggeration.lein, n publishingheFragmentary
Targums
wasmore
ircumspect;
ee
Klein,
The
ragment-Tarums,
,
23-25. ee
further.D.
York,
"The
Dating
f
Targumic
iterature",
SJ
(1974)
49-62;
J.
Heinemann,
Early
alakha
n
the
alestinian
argumim",
JS 5
1974)
114-
122,
sp.
122.
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