Isaac

Life and work

Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah when Abraham was 100 and Sarah about 90, the long-delayed fulfillment of God's covenant promise; his name, meaning 'he laughs,' recalls both his parents' laughter at the news of his coming birth. He was circumcised on the eighth day, as God had commanded, and a feast marked his weaning (Genesis 21:1-8).

In the narrative's starkest test, God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering on a mountain in the land of Moriah. Isaac, apparently a boy or young man, carried the wood and asked his father where the sacrificial lamb was; Abraham bound him on the altar and raised the knife before an angel stopped him, providing a ram caught in a thicket as a substitute (Genesis 22:1-19).

After Sarah's death, Abraham sent his servant back to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac from his own kindred rather than the Canaanites; the servant's prayer at a well was answered by Rebekah, who returned with him to marry Isaac, who found comfort in her after his mother's death (Genesis 24).

As an adult, Isaac settled in Gerar during a famine, where — echoing his father's earlier deception — he presented Rebekah as his sister out of fear, until King Abimelech discovered the truth. Isaac prospered greatly as a farmer and herdsman in the region, reopening wells his father had dug and redigging others after disputes with local herdsmen, eventually making a covenant of peace with Abimelech at Beersheba (Genesis 26).

In his old age, blind and near death, Isaac intended to give his blessing to his elder son Esau, but was deceived by Rebekah and their younger son Jacob into blessing Jacob instead — a blessing the text treats as binding and irrevocable, provoking Esau's fury and setting Jacob to flight. Isaac died at 180 years old and was buried by both his sons at Machpelah (Genesis 27; 35:27-29).

Dating

Born when Abraham was 100 (Genesis 21:5) and lived 180 years — the longest-lived of the three patriarchs (Genesis 35:28).

Extra-biblical evidence

No extra-biblical inscription or ancient record refers to Isaac as a historical individual; he is known only from the Genesis narrative.

Scripture references

• Genesis 21:1-8 — Birth of Isaac
• Genesis 22:1-19 — The binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah
• Genesis 26:1-33 — Isaac's life in Gerar and disputes over wells
• Genesis 27:1-40 — Deceived into blessing Jacob instead of Esau
• Romans 9:7 — Paul cites 'through Isaac shall your offspring be named'
• Galatians 4:28 — Believers compared to Isaac as 'children of promise'
• Hebrews 11:17-20 — Abraham's and Isaac's faith in the near-sacrifice, and Isaac's blessing of his sons
• James 2:21 — Cites Abraham offering Isaac as evidence of faith completed by works

Further reading

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Isaac

Reflect

Isaac's quiet work was reopening the wells his father had dug — what good inheritance are you responsible for keeping open?