Texts in Conversation
Jubilees and Genesis Rabbah reshape the story of Abraham by changing the origin of the test from God to other figures. In Jubilees, it is the adversary Mastema who questions Abraham’s loyalty, and in Genesis Rabbah other angels challenge him.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 22:1
Hebrew Bible
1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. 2 God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” 3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Jubilees 17:16
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
15 And it came to pass in the seventh week, in the first year of it, [2003] in the first month in this jubilee, on the twelfth of this month, there were voices in heaven regarding Abraham, that he was faithful in all that He told him, and that he loved the Lord, and that in every affliction he was faithful. 16 And the prince Mastêmâ came and said before God, 'Behold, Abraham loves Isaac his son, and he delights in him above all things else; tell him to offer him as a burnt-offering on the altar, and You will see if he will do this command, and You will know if he is faithful in everything in which You try him. 17 And the Lord knew that Abraham was faithful in all his afflictions; for He had tried him through his country and with famine, and had tried him with the wealth of kings, and had tried him again through his wife, when she was torn (from him), and with circumcision; and had tried him through Ishmael and Hagar, his maid-servant, when he sent them away.
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis Rabbah 55:4
Aggadah
Rabbinic
a bull nor a ram.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘[I do not require your gifts. I know that] even if I would make a condition with you requiring that you sacrifice your son you would not refuse.’ According to the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, who said: [When, instead of] “God,” [it is written] “and God” – it refers to Him and His court, the ministering angels had said: ‘This Abraham rejoiced and caused everyone else to rejoice, but he did not set aside anything for the Holy One blessed be He, neither a bull nor a ram.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘[I do not require his gifts. I know that] even if I would make a condition with him requiring that he sacrifice his son, he would not refuse.’ [Another interpretation,] Isaac and Ishmael were arguing with one another. This one [Yishmael] was saying: ‘I am more beloved [to God] than you are, as I was circumcised at the age of thirteen years.’ And the other one [Isaac] was saying: ‘I am more beloved [to God] than you are, as I was circumcised at eight days.’ Ishmael said to him: ‘I am more beloved because I had the
Date: 500 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Jubilees 17:15–18 forms the beginning of a history of interpretation of Genesis 22:1. A comparable interpretation occurs in 4Q225, Philo Biblical Antiquities 32:1–4; b. Sanhedrin 89b, and Genesis Rabbah 55:4. These texts describe the events that precede the binding of Isaac, which is the direct cause for the test of Abraham. From several sides, doubts are cast upon Abraham’s true loyalty. In Jubilees 17:15–18 and 4Q225 prince Mastema doubts; according to him, Abraham is not willing to offer his only son. In Biblical Antiquities 32:1–4, all the angels were jealous of Abraham, and all the worshipping host envied him. In b. Sanhedrin 89b, Satan puts forward objections. According to him, Abraham has prepared many feasts, but he had not even a turtledove or a young bird to sacrifice to God. In Genesis Rabbah 55:4, objections against Abraham are put forward, first by Abraham himself, then by the ministering angels, and finally by the nations of the world. Although Abraham caused everyone to rejoice, he did not set aside a single bull or ram for God. Thus, in the course of the tradition, several instigators of the test of Abraham are mentioned, although the reasons why they object to Abraham are diverse ..."
Jacques T. A. G. M. van Ruiten, Abraham in the Book of Jubilees: The Rewriting of Genesis 11:26–25:10 in the Book of Jubilees 11:14–23:8, JSJSup 161 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 211–212.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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