ISAAC (i'zak), (Heb. yits-khawk', laugh ter, i. e.. mockery ;r17.ti".., yis-khawk., he will laugh, in Ps. cv:9; Jer. xxxiii:26; Amos vii:9, 16; Gr. 'Iaadtc,ee-sah-ak').
The only son of Abraham and Sarah, born in his parents' old age.
The promise of a son had been made to them when Abraham was visited by the Lord in the plains of Mamre, and appeared so unlikely to be ful filled, seeing that both Abraham and Sarah were 'well stricken in years,' that its utterance caused the latter to laugh incredulously. Being reproved for her unbelief she denied that she had laughed. The reason assigned for the special visitation thus promised was, in effect, that Abraham was pious, and would train his offspring in piety, so that he would become the founder of a great nation, and all the nations of the earth should be blessed in him.
In due time Sarah gave birth to a son, who received the name of Isaac. The reason assigned in Gen. xxi:6 for the adoption of this name, has reference to the laughter occasioned by the an nouncement of the divine intention—and Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, all that hear will laugh with me'—the laugh of incredulity being changed into the laugh of joy (comp. Gen. xxi :6 ; xvii :17 ; xviii :12).
The first fact that we read of in the history of Isaac, is the command given to his father to offer the youth—'thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest'—for a burnt-offering on a mountain in the land of Moriah. Abraham proceeded to obey the divine direction, and was on the point of slaying Isaac, when his hand was withheld by the interposition of God, a ram for sacrifice being provided instead.
(1) Views Regarding the Offering Up of Isaac. This event has found no few detractors. Eichhorn (Bibl. f. Bibl. Lit. i. 45, sq.) regarded the whole as a vision; Otmar (Henkes' Mag. ii. 5t7), as the explanation of an hieroglyph ; Bruns (Paulus illemorab. yin, sq.) finds the source of it in the Phoenician custom of sacrificing chil dren. Some compare (Rosenmiiller, Margenl.
i. 95) with this narrative the Grecian story of Iphigenia, and other fables of a similar kind. The general aim of certain writers has been, as they consider it, to relieve the Bible from the odium which the narrated circumstances are in their opinion fitted to occasion. That the passage is free from every possible objection, it may be too much to assert ; it is, however, equally clear that many of the objections taken to it arise from viewing the facts from a wrong position, or under the discoloring medium of a foregone and ad verse conclusion. The only proper way is to
consider it as it is represented in the sacred page. The command, then, was especially designed to try Abraham's faith. The trial was made, the fact was ascertained, the victim was not slain. What is there in this to which either religion or morality can take exception? This view is both confirmed and justified by the words of God (Gen. xxii:16, sq.), 'because thou bast not with held thy only son, in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and in thy seed shall all the na tions of the earth be blessed.' (2) Marriage. Isaac passed his youthful days under the eye of his father, engaged in the care of flocks and herds up and down the plains of Canaan. At length his father wished to see him married. Abraham therefore gave a commission to his oldest and most trustworthy servant to the effect that, in order to prevent Isaac from taking a wife from among the daughters of the Canaan ites, he should proceed into Mesopotamia, and. tinder the divine direction, choose a partner among his own relatives for his beloved son. Rebekah, in consequence, becomes Isaac's wife, when he was now forty years of age.
In connection with this marriage an event is re corded which displays the peculiar character of Isaac, while it is in keeping with the general tenor of the sacred record regarding him. Probably in expectation of the early return of his father's mes senger, and somewhat solicitous as to the result of the embassy, he went out to meditate in the field at the eventide. While there engaged in tranquil thought, he chanced to raise his eyes, when lo! he beheld the retinue near at hand, and soon con ducted his bride into his mother's tent. In uni son with all this is the simple declaration of the history, that Isaac 'loved her.' Isaac was evident ly a man of kind and gentle disposition, of a calm and reflective turn of mind, simple in his habits, having few wants, good rather than great, fitted to receive impressions and follow a guide, not to originate important influences, or perform deeds of renown.