Isaac, Isaac

He is regarded as one of the three patriarch of the Jewish people. According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. Isaac died when he was 180 years old, which made him the longest-living patriarch. He was also the only one whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not leave Canaan (although he once tried to leave and God told him not to do so). Compared to Abraham and Jacob, his story is less colorful, relating few incidents of his life.

Isaac was born when Abraham was 100, and Abraham circumcised Isaac when the boy was eight days old (). Isaac was Sarah's first and only child, but Abraham had had another son, Ishmael, thirteen years earlier, borne by Sarah's maidservant, Hagar (). After Isaac had been weaned, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking, and urged her husband to banish Hagar and Ishmael so that Isaac would be Abraham's only heir. Abraham was hesitant, but at God's order he listened to his wife's request ().

Eliezer chose Rebekah for Isaac. After many years of marriage to Isaac, Rebekah had still not given birth to a child and was believed to be barren. Isaac prayed for her and she conceived (). Rebekah gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when his two sons were born (). Isaac favored Esau, and Rebekah favored Jacob.

Like Abraham, Isaac deceived Abimelech about his wife, and Isaac built his business by digging wells, unstopping those that his father had dug and the Philistines had stopped up. Isaac had a vision of God at Beersheba and made a treaty with Abimelech there.

Isaac sent Jacob into Mesopotamia to take a wife of his own family. After 20 years working for Laban, Jacob returned home, and he and Esau buried Isaac when Isaac died at the age of 180 ().

Rabbinic tradition gave the explanation that Isaac was almost sacrificed and anything dedicated as a sacrifice may not leave the Land of Israel.

The other parties held that the promise to Sarah was of a son, Isaac, and a grandson, Jacob (), excluded the possibility of a premature death of Isaac.

Al-Masudi, for example, reports a Persian poet (902 C.E.) who claimed superiority over Arabs through descent from Isaac.

It is also dependent on the Testament of Abraham. In this testament, God sends the angel Michael to Isaac in order to inform him of his impending death. Isaac accepts God's decree but Jacob resists. Isaac in his bed-chamber tells Jacob of the inevitability of death. Isaac has a tour of heaven and hell shortly before his death in which God's compassion to repentant sinners is emphasized. In this testament, Isaac also talks with the crowds on the subjects of priesthood, asceticism, and the moral life.

Source: Wikipedia > Isaac