You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The Biblical Story (Genesis 22) relating to Abraham being called upon by God to sacrifice his son Isaac is perplexing and full of dramatic tension. Various scholars have discussed, from different points of view, the meaning and purpose served by that test (Buber, 1953; Goodenough, 1954; Kierkegaard, 1909; Schoeps, 1950; Woolley, 1936). Psychological interpretations have been given by Reik (1919), Wellisch (1954) and Westmann (1961). I dealt with this subject in my diploma thesis for the C. G. Jung Institute (Dreifuss, 1958) discussing the different aspects of the Jewish legends, such as the figure of Satan, the virtue of Abraham, the vicarious sacrifice (the ram). This paper deals with Isaac's merit, his readiness for self-sacrifice, his lamb aspect.
In Judaism, this Biblical story is usually called the ‘Akedah’ or ‘Akedath Yitzhak’, the ‘binding’ or ‘the binding of Isaac’, because Isaac was only bound on the altar and not actually sacrificed. In his stead, a ram was vicariously sacrificed. Joseph Marcus (1948) comments with regard to the general meaning of the ‘Akedah’ that ‘the willingness of the aged patriarch to make this sacrifice and the readiness of the son, Isaac, to offer up his life at God's command, were regarded as virtuous actions and as claims for forgiveness of sin, which God would always remember to the credit of the Jewish people’.
There is, however, contrary to the Biblical story, an aggadic tradition of legends that relates the actual death, self-sacrifice and rebirth of Isaac. This will be discussed under the heading of ‘The Isaac-Christ Parallel’ (page 73).
The main protagonists in the Biblical story are God and Abraham, whereas Isaac, although chosen to be sacrificed, does not take a conscious part in the