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In Genesis, Abraham returns from Mount Moriah without Isaac mentioned with him. Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer interprets this as Isaac being killed and then resurrected when God spoke from between the cherubs.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 22:19
Hebrew Bible
18 Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.” 19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor—
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 31:10
Rabbinic
Isaac said to his father Abraham: O my father ! Bind for me my two hands, and my two feet, so that I do not curse thee; for instance, a word may issue from the mouth because of the violence and dread of death, and I shall be found to have slighted || the precept, "Honour thy father" (Ex. 20:12). He bound his two hands and his two feet, and bound him upon the top of the altar, and he strengthened his two arms and his two knees upon him, and put the fire and wood in order, and he stretched forth his hand and took the knife. Like a high priest he brought near his meal offering, and his drink offering; and the Holy One, blessed be He, was sitting and beholding the father binding with all (his) heart and the son bound with all (his) heart. And the ministering angels cried aloud and wept, as it is said, "Behold, the Erelim cry without; the angels of peace weep bitterly" (Isa. 33:7). The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the worlds ! Thou art called merciful and compassionate, whose mercy is upon all His works; have mercy upon Isaac, for he is a human being, and the son of a human being, and is bound before Thee like an animal. "O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast"; as it is said, "Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains; thy judgments are like a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast" (Ps. 36:6). Rabbi Jehudah said: When the blade touched his neck, the soul of Isaac fled and departed, (but) when he heard His voice from between the two Cherubim, saying (to Abraham), "Lay not thine hand upon the lad" (Gen. 22:12), his soul returned to his body, and (Abraham) set him free, and Isaac stood upon his feet. And Isaac knew that in this manner the dead in the future will be quickened. He opened (his mouth), and said: Blessed art thou, O Lord, who quickeneth the dead. || Rabbi Zechariah said: That ram, which was created at the twilight, ran and came to be offered up instead of Isaac, but Sammael was standing by, and distracting it, in order to annul the offering of our father Abraham. And it was caught by its two horns in the trees, as it is said, "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by its horns" (Gen. 22:13). What did that ram do? It put forth its leg and took hold of the coat of our father Abraham, and Abraham looked, saw the ram, and he went and set it free. He offered it up instead of Isaac his son, as it is said, "And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son" (ibid.).
Date: 630-1030 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... In considering the first of the three moments, the aqedah, there is little to help us determine precisely when the idea arose that Isaac was actually sacrificed but resurrected afterward. Hints of this appear in relatively early rabbinic sources, but the idea emerges in full clarity only later. An especially apposite example occurs in the same chapter of the Pirké de-Rabbi Eliezer as our previous midrash: Rabbi Judah says: As soon as the sword reached his throat, Isaac’s soul took flight and left. As soon as he [i.e., God] made his voice audible from between the cherubs and said, “Do not raise your hand against the boy” (Genesis 22:12), his soul returned to his body. He [i.e., his father Abraham] untied him, and he stood upon his feet. Isaac saw the resurrection of the dead from the Torah, that all the dead are destined to be resurrected. At that moment, he opened his mouth and said, “Blessed are You, O Lord, who revive the dead.” (Pirké de Rabbi Eliezer 31). This time, too, Isaac dies, but not because his father has dutifully sacrificed him. Instead, like Israel’s death at Sinai (in one interpretation), he dies of the sheer fright of the experience. ...
Levenson, Jon D.
Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life
(p. 228) Yale University Press, 2006
* 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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