Showing posts with label Abraham's Silence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abraham's Silence. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 01, 2022

Counter-factual

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Suppose Abraham had not been silent. Suppose he had been so sure of the mercy of God that he could wrestle with God, arguing back, challengi...
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

A make-up exam

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Yet Abraham finally did come to understand that God didn’t want him to sacrifice his son. If we consider his sacrificing the ram as analogous ...
Friday, May 27, 2022

Did he pass?

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Yet the fact that he did eventually look around could be taken as a point in his favor. Perhaps Abraham is to be commended not simply for lo...
Thursday, May 26, 2022

Speak up!

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If I were to construct a hierarchy of possible responses that Abraham might have made to God’s request to sacrifice his son, I would put prot...
Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Too task oriented

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Let us understand what is going on. A ram is a male goat or sheep, and for its curled horns (from which a shofar is made) to be long enough ...
Monday, May 23, 2022

But, what if…

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Prior to the Aqedah, the promise was stated in terms of the nations blessing one another by Abraham (12:3; 18:18). But here for the first ti...
Friday, May 20, 2022

A blessing missed

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Later, we are told by Abraham’s servant (24:36) and by the narrator in a genealogy (25:5) that Abraham gave all he had to Isaac (possibly as...
Thursday, May 19, 2022

Silence speaking volumes

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Whereas Abraham became silent at the end of his intercession in Genesis 18 (he stopped the conversation earlier than he needed to and so nev...
Wednesday, May 18, 2022

And he was shown wanting

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It is possible that Abraham was merely accommodating his speech to the presumed polytheism of the pagan king (which was unnecessary, since G...
Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Beyond what we can ask or think…

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…It is as if YHWH is looking for an excuse to save Sodom (and Lot). YHWH’s instructions to Jeremiah might be relevant here. In 5:1 God tell...
Monday, May 16, 2022

Unquestioning obedience? Not so much!

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I am going to suggest that Abraham was being tested not for his unquestioning obedience (that is not something God wants) but rather for his...
Friday, May 13, 2022

We might have it all wrong

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Given that it isn’t clear at all that Abraham is attached to Isaac, could it be that Abraham is being given a chance in chapter 22 to prove ...
Thursday, May 12, 2022

How not to treat a promise (and your wife!)

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But there is a second problem with the traditional reading of the Aqedah—namely, that it is unclear why this test is needed at all. The Abra...
Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Why the silence?

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But we should also note that the accounts of Abraham’s intercession (on behalf of Sodom and Abimelech) come before the Aqedah, at which time...
Monday, May 09, 2022

Is the beginning treated like the end?

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I wonder about the contrast between Abraham and Job. After all, Job moves beyond his initial praise of God (chap. 1), followed by his passi...
Friday, May 06, 2022

Where did he go?!

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But perhaps the most important datum within Genesis 22 that supports a critical reading of Abraham’s response is that Isaac is missing at th...
Wednesday, May 04, 2022

Is it exemplary? Maybe not…

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Throughout the first ten verses of the Aqedah the narrator has skillfully conveyed a series of rhetorical signals that suggest tension, stre...
Tuesday, May 03, 2022

Why didn't he??

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Scripture provides normative precedent for speaking one’s mind directly to God, even challenging God over the injustice or wrongness of any ...
Monday, May 02, 2022

What if we have the purpose all wrong?

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The midrash in Genesis Rabbah 55:7, where God reveals step-by-step the identity of the one to be sacrificed, goes on to interpret this as Go...
Friday, April 29, 2022

YHWH or Elohim? Why the switch?

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Although we cannot be sure of the reason for the narrator’s switch from YHWH to hā’elōhîm in 22:1, 3, and 9, my hunch is that we are thereb...