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Jubilees

About this book

The Binding of Isaac

Chapter 18

1 And God said to him, 'Abraham, Abraham'; and he said, Here I am.' 2 And he said, Take your beloved son whom you love, (even) Isaac,⁠ and go to the high country, and offer him on one of the mountains which I will point out to you.' 3 And he rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took his two young men with him, and Isaac his son, and split the wood of the burnt offering, and he went to the place on the third day, and he saw the place far off. 4 And he came to a well of water, and he said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy shall go (over there), and when we have worshipped we shall return to you.' 5 And he took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and they went both of them together to that place. 6 And Isaac said to his father, 'Father;' and he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said to him, 'Here are the fire, and the knife, and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt-offering, father?' 7 And he said, 'God will provide for himself a sheep for a burnt-offering, my son.' And he came close to the place of the mountain of God. 8 And he built an altar, and he placed the wood on the altar, and bound Isaac his son, and placed him on the wood which was upon the altar, and reached out his hand to take the knife to kill Isaac his son. 9 And I stood before him, and before the prince Mastema, and the Lord said, 'Tell him not to lay his hand on the boy, nor to do anything to him, for I have shown that he fears the Lord.' 10 And I called to him from heaven, and said to him: 'Abraham, Abraham;' and he was terrified and said: 'Here I am.' 11 And I said to him: 'Do not lay your hand upon the boy, neither do anything to him; for now I have shown that you fear the Lord, and have not withheld your son, your firstborn son, from me.' 12 And the prince Mastema was put to shame; and Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it for a burnt-offering in place of his son. 13 And Abraham called that place 'The Lord has seen', so that it is said in the mountain the Lord has seen: that is Mount Zion. 14 And the Lord called Abraham by his name a second time from heaven, as he caused us to appear to speak to him in the name of the Lord. 15 And he said: 'By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, Because you have done this thing, And have not withheld your son, your beloved son, from Me, That in blessing I will bless you, And in multiplying I will multiply your descendants As the stars of heaven, And as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall inherit the cities of their enemies, 16 And in your descendants all nations of the earth shall be blessed; Because you have obeyed My voice, And I have shown to all that you are faithful to Me in all that I have said to you:⁠ Go in peace.'

The Return and the Commemorative Festival

17 And Abraham went to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham lived by the Well of the Oath [2010]. 18 And he celebrated this festival every year, seven days with joy, and he called it the festival of the Lord according to the seven days during which he went and returned in peace. 19 And accordingly it has been ordained and written on the heavenly tablets regarding Israel and its descendants that they should observe this festival seven days with the joy of festival.

Texts in conversation

Compare Jubilees 18:16 and Augustine, City of God 16.32

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions · Early Christian

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Summary

The Christian theologian Augustine explains the binding of Isaac as a test that showed Abraham’s faith to others, not to God. In Genesis, God learns that Abraham fears him; Jubilees already has God say he has shown everyone Abraham’s faithfulness.

Passages

Jubilees 18:16

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
15 And he said: 'By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, Because you have done this thing, And have not withheld your son, your beloved son, from Me, That in blessing I will bless you, And in multiplying I will multiply your descendants As the stars of heaven, And as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall inherit the cities of their enemies, 16 And in your descendants all nations of the earth shall be blessed; Because you have obeyed My voice, And I have shown to all that you are faithful to Me in all that I have said to you: Go in peace.' 17 And Abraham went to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham lived by the Well of the Oath [2010].
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

Augustine, City of God 16.32

Early Christian · On the City of God Against the Pagans
Among other things, all of which it would take too long to mention, Abraham was tested over the offering up of his beloved son Isaac, to prove his pious obedience, and so make it known to the world, not to God. Now not every testing is blameworthy; it may even be praiseworthy, because it provides proof. And, for the most part, the human mind cannot attain to self-knowledge otherwise than by making trial of its powers through testing, by questioning itself in experience and not merely in words; and then, if it has acknowledged the gift of God, it is pious, and is made firm by steadfast grace and not puffed up by vain boasting. Of course Abraham could never believe that God delighted in human sacrifices; yet when the divine commandment thundered, it was to be obeyed, not disputed.
426 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Augustine, City of God 16

References

"... in interpreting in this way, these writers seemed to contradict what the Bible itself says explicitly later on. For in the biblical account, after Abraham has demonstrated his willingness to offer up his beloved Isaac, God says to him: 'Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me' (Genesis 22:12). 'Now I know' seems to imply 'I did not know before.' How then could the author of Jubilees and other interpreters maintain that God did know all along? The answer lies in yet another ambiguity in the Hebrew. For the same consonants that spell the Hebrew word 'I know' can also be read in such a way as to mean 'I have made known' or 'I have notified.' This is apparently how some interpreters chose to understand the text ... Thus, God's great test of Abraham took place in response to a challenge and was carried out in order to prove Abraham's virtues not to God, but to others—Satan, the other angels, or the world at large ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 172–173.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Jubilees 18:16 and Augustine, City of God 16.32

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