Texts in Conversation
Jubilees and Pseudo-Philo present an interpretation of the binding of Isaac where God declares that Abraham’s faith has been revealed, not discovered, to avoid the natural reading of Genesis that suggests God learns something through the test.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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 seed As the stars of heaven, And as the sand which is on the seashore. And your seed shall inherit the cities of its enemies, 16 And in your seed 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 arose and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt by the Well of the Oath [2010].
Pseudo Philo, Biblical Antiquities 32:4
Classical
4 “And when his father had placed him upon the altar and had bound his feet to kill him, the Almighty quickly sent forth his voice from above, saying, ‘Do not kill your son, nor destroy the offspring of your body: for now I have made myself known to those who are unaware of me, and have silenced those who constantly speak ill of you. And your memory shall be before me forever, and your name and the name of this your son from one generation to another.’
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Notes and 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 ..."
* 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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