Atheist Bible Study 1: Genesis

[Yonadav]

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.

Or it could be he was out in the fields taking care of the sheep or something, and then he went to the tent to check up on what had happened. An account appearing immediately after another account in Genesis does not mean there isn't an implied significant gap in time between the two accounts. Additionally, the start of the next passage clearly states that some time had passed anyway, so Abraham would've already been back home by the time of his wife's death.

And as Bucky said, the OT doesn't shy away from sanctioning child sacrifice. I also think there is something weak (from a storytelling point of view) about having an adult Isaac being sacrificed in the Binding story instead of a helpless and vulnerable child/adolescent. So I don't think your interpretation of the passage is reasonable much.

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Oh and before a Christian jumps on me to say that this story is meant to foreshadow the ultimate sacrifice of Christ (represented by the ram here), I am totally aware of this interpretation. As an atheist, I just don't buy it as the original intended interpretation.

 
I wasn't trying to persuade you of anything. I was just telling you some things about the Jewish tradition in regard to the Akeida.