08 Mar '06 17:16>2 edits
Originally posted by lucifershammerWell, Genesis 22:15-18 are the problematic verses. I haven't "d'rashed" them, but I will. One spin would be that God recognized Abraham's faith even in his error, and basically was saying; "Okay, okay already..."
Does the story support such an interpretation? Seems to me that God was pleased with his willingness to go through with a command he didn't understand.
Note: Abraham hears two commands: one from ha’elohim (literally “the gods,” or “the god;” the verb-form for “tested” appears to be singular). The second from (an angel of) YHVH, commanding him not to harm Isaac. So there seems to be an interplay here between either two deities or two aspects of the same deity. In that time and culture, Abraham’s real “faithfulness” may have been in rejecting the type of child sacrifice that may have been expected of a tribal chieftain—to satisfy ha’elohim—in favor of listening to, even being able to hear, the voice of YHVH. Hence, it may have been his willingness to obey the second command that he didn't understand that is important. (Lawrence Kushner offers a psychological interpretation here, on the kinds of thoughts we “hear” in our heads, and which “voices” we listen to; he attributes Abraham’s virtue to being able to hear—or even imagine—the second voice).
Most (if not all) Jewish readings of this story that I’ve come across read it as doing away with child sacrifice.