And while they were walking along, Isaac spake unto his father,
"Behold, the fire and the wood, but where then is the lamb for a burnt
offering before the Lord?" And Abraham answered Isaac, saying, "The
Lord hath chosen thee, my son, for a perfect burnt offering, instead of
the lamb." And Isaac said unto his father, "I will do all that the Lord
hath spoken to thee with joy and cheerfulness of heart." And Abraham
again said unto Isaac his son, "Is there in thy heart any thought or
counsel concerning this which is not proper? Tell me, my son, I pray
thee! O my son, conceal it not from me." And Isaac answered, "As the
Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is nothing in my heart to
cause me to deviate either to the right or the left from the word that
He hath spoken unto thee. Neither limb nor muscle hath moved or stirred
on account of this, nor is there in my heart any thought or evil
counsel concerning this. But I am joyful and cheerful of heart in this
matter, and I say, Blessed is the Lord who has this day chosen me to be
a burnt offering before Him."
Abraham greatly rejoiced at the words of Isaac, and they went on and
came together to that place that the Lord had spoken of.[240] And
Abraham approached to build the altar in that place, and Abraham did
build, while Isaac handed him stones and mortar, until they finished
erecting the altar. And Abraham took the wood and arranged it upon the
altar, and he bound Isaac, to place him upon the wood which was upon
the altar, to slay him for a burnt offering before the Lord.[241] Isaac
spake hereupon: "Father, make haste, bare thine arm, and bind my hands
and feet securely, for I am a young man, but thirty-seven years of age,
and thou art an old man. When I behold the slaughtering knife in thy
hand, I may perchance begin to tremble at the sight and push against
thee, for the desire unto life is bold. Also I may do myself an injury
and make myself unfit to be sacrificed. I adjure thee, therefore, my
father, make haste, execute the will of thy Creator, delay not. Turn up
thy garment, gird thy loins, and after that thou hast slaughtered me,
burn me unto fine ashes. Then gather the ashes, and bring them to
Sarah, my mother, and place them in a casket in her chamber. At all
hours, whenever she enters her chamber, she will remember her son Isaac
and weep for him."
And again Isaac spoke: "As soon as thou hast slaughtered me, and hast
separated thyself from me, and returnest to Sarah my mother, and she
asketh thee, Where is my son Isaac? what wilt thou answer her, and what
will you two do in your old age?" Abraham answered, and said, "We know
we can survive thee by a few days only. He who was our Comfort before
thou wast born, will comfort us now and henceforth."
After he had laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac on the altar, upon
the wood, Abraham braced his arms, rolled up his garments, and leaned
his knees upon Isaac with all his strength. And God, sitting upon His
throne, high and exalted, saw how the hearts of the two were the same,
and tears were rolling down from the eyes of Abraham upon Isaac, and
from Isaac down upon the wood, so that it was submerged in tears. When
Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son,
God spoke to the angels: "Do you see how Abraham my friend proclaims
the unity of My Name in the world? Had I hearkened unto you at the time
of the creation of the world, when ye spake, What is man, that Thou art
mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? who would
there have been to make known the unity of My Name in this world?" The
angels then broke into loud weeping, and they exclaimed: "The highways
lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth, he hath broken the covenant.
Where is the reward of Abraham, he who took the wayfarers into his
house, gave them food and drink, and went with them to bring them on
the way? The covenant is broken, whereof Thou didst speak to him,
saying, 'For in Isaac shall thy seed be called,' and saying, 'My
covenant will I establish with Isaac,' for the slaughtering knife is
set upon his throat."
The tears of the angels fell upon the knife, so that it could not cut
Isaac's throat, but from terror his soul escaped from him. Then God
spoke to the archangel Michael, and said: "Why standest thou here? Let
him not be slaughtered." Without delay, Michael, anguish in his voice,
cried out: "Abraham! Abraham! Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither
do thou any thing unto him!" Abraham made answer, and he said: "God did
command me to slaughter Isaac, and thou dost command me not to
slaughter him! The words of the Teacher and the words of the
disciple—unto whose words doth one hearken?"[242] Then Abraham heard it
said: "By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed
as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou
hast obeyed My voice."
At once Abraham left off from Isaac, who returned to life, revived by
the heavenly voice admonishing Abraham not to slaughter his son.
Abraham loosed his bonds, and Isaac stood upon his feet, and spoke the
benediction, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead."[243]
Then spake Abraham to God, "Shall I go hence without having offered up
a sacrifice?" Whereunto God replied, and said, "Lift up thine eyes, and
behold the sacrifice behind thee."[244] And Abraham lifted up his eyes,
and, behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket, which God had
created in the twilight of Sabbath eve in the week of creation, and
prepared since then as a burnt offering instead of Isaac. And the ram
had been running toward Abraham, when Satan caught hold of him and
entangled his horns in the thicket, that he might not advance to
Abraham. And Abraham, seeing this, fetched him from the thicket, and
brought him upon the altar as an offering in the place of his son
Isaac. And Abraham sprinkled the blood of the ram upon the altar, and
he exclaimed, and said, "This is instead of my son, and may this be
considered as the blood of my son before the Lord." And whatsoever
Abraham did by the altar, he exclaimed, and said, "This is instead of
my son, and may it be considered before the Lord in place of my son."
And God accepted the sacrifice of the ram, and it was accounted as
though it had been Isaac.[245]
As the creation of this ram had been extraordinary, so also was the use
to which all parts of his carcass were put. Not one thing went to
waste. The ashes of the parts burnt upon the altar formed the
foundation of the inner altar, whereon the expiatory sacrifice was
brought once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the day on which the
offering of Isaac took place. Of the sinews of the ram, David made ten
strings for his harp upon which he played. The skin served Elijah for
his girdle, and of his two horns, the one was blown at the end of the
revelation on Mount Sinai, and the other will be used to proclaim the
end of the Exile, when the "great horn shall be blown, and they shall
come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that
were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord in
the holy mountain at Jerusalem."[246]
When God commanded the father to desist from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham
said: "One man tempts another, because he knoweth not what is in the
heart of his neighbor. But Thou surely didst know that I was ready to
sacrifice my son!"
God: "It was manifest to Me, and I foreknew it, that thou wouldst
withhold not even thy soul from Me."