Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 41:8 calls Abraham God's friend, or the one God loves. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Sotah interprets this actively, as Abraham loving God, and uses the verse to show that Abraham served God out of love and not only fear.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 41:8
Hebrew Bible
7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith, the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil. He says of the welding, ‘It is good’18, and nails it down so it won’t fall over. 8 “You, my servant Israel, Jacob, whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend, 9 you whom I am bringing back from the earth’s extremities and have summoned from the remote regions—I told you, ‘You are my servant.’I have chosen you and not rejected you.
Sotah 31a
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
It is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 6:1) that Rabbi Meir says: It is stated with regard to Job that he was “God-fearing” (Job 1:1), and it is stated with regard to Abraham that he was “God-fearing” (Genesis 22:12). Just as the description “God-fearing,” which is stated with regard to Abraham, is referring to Abraham’s fearing God out of love, so too, the description “God-fearing” that is stated with regard to Job indicates that Job feared God out of love. The Gemara asks: And with regard to Abraham himself, from where do we derive that he acted out of a sense of love? As it is written: “The offspring of Abraham who loved Me” (Isaiah 41:8). The Gemara asks: What difference is there between one who performs mitzvot out of love and one who performs mitzvot out of fear? The Gemara answers: There is that which is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: Greater is the one who performs mitzvot out of love than the one who performs mitzvot out of fear, as with regard to this one who acts out of fear, his merits endure for one thousand generations, and with regard to that one who serves God out of love, his merits endure for two thousand generations.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Tags:
Search:
Notes and References
"... 2:23 B: He was called “friend of God.” Abraham is called “my (God’s) friend” ohavi in Isaiah 41:8; targum: rechimi “my beloved” or “my friend”; the Septuagint actively: hon ēgapēsa. — On the basis of Isaiah 41:8, Abraham is called “your (God’s) friend” ohavkha also in 2 Chronicles 20:7; targum: rechemakh; the Septuagint: tō ēgapēmenō sou. Babylonian Talmud Soṭah 31A: R. Meir (ca. 150) said, “It says of Job, ‘He was god-fearing’ (Job 1:1), and likewise of Abraham (see Genesis 22:12). As the fear of God in Abraham’s case arose from love, so too the fear of God in Job’s case. How do we know this about Abraham? Because it says, ‘The seed of Abraham, my friend’ (’hby in Isaiah 41:8 is interpreted as ‘who loved me’).” ..."
Strack, Hermann L., and Paul Billerbeck
A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, Volume 3: Romans through Revelation
(p. 1510) Lexham Press, 2023
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.