Atheist Bible Study 1: Genesis

[Yonadav]

According to Jewish theology, it was Sarah who died from the trauma of learning that Abraham was sacrificing Isaac. That would have made Isaac something like 37 years old at the time (subtracting the age she died at from the age when she had Isaac). Isaac knew that he was to be sacrificed and could have refused. He went willingly.

These are new facts to me. Thanks for the theology lesson. One thing that jumps to mind here, though, is that the passage itself doesn't seem to imply that Isaac had any idea he was going to be sacrificed until the moment of binding. Otherwise, why would he ask Abraham where the lamb was for the sacrifice? It's also not clear to me how it's been calculated that Isaac must have been around 37 years old at the time. I understand 37 is supposed to be the upper limit here, but he could've been way younger at the time.

Also, the point of theology is not comfort, despite popular misconceptions. The text is perplexing. The situations are perplexing. We are supposed to be perplexed. Explaining perplexing biblical situations in comforting ways sort of misses the point. In our struggle with perplexity, we encounter ourselves. We raise our children to be strong and brave and possibly even heroic. Mothers and fathers have proudly sent their sons off to war for all of human history. We raise them to answer when the king calls for them.

Thanks for providing this interesting perspective. I, at least partly, agree with this.

It has been a long time since I studied the Akeida (the binding of Isaac). I remember that there were several answers to your question about what Isaac was asking when he asked where the lamb was. But I do not remember them. I'm sorry about that. I have books that would answer this question, but they are in storage in Chicago.

Sarah is said to have died at the time of the Akeida because she dies immediately after the telling of the Akeida, and the verse says something like, "and Abraham came and mourned her." Where did he come from? He came from the mountain where he had bound Isaac. So if Sarah was 90 when Isaac was born and she died at 127, and her death was at the time of the Akeida, then Isaac would have been 37.