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Why does the Scripture say that Abraham sacrificed his "only-begotten son" (Heb. 11:17, Gen. 22:2) despite the fact that Isaac had a step-brother Ishmael who was 14 years older than Isaac and was in fact the first-born son of Abraham?

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This probably has something to do with Ishmael being the child of Hagar, and not Sarah. – Kyle Willey Mar 10 '12 at 17:35
There is one more explanation: The sacrificial son was Ishmael. – user827 Oct 26 '12 at 10:44

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up vote 8 down vote accepted

The text in Genesis does not say "only-begotten" but does say "only". The beginning of the verse is:

וַיֹּאמֶר קַח-נָא אֶת-בִּנְךָ אֶת-יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר-אָהַבְתָּ, אֶת-יִצְחָק

My literal translation:

And he said: please take your son, your only [one], whom you love, Yitzchak

The word translated "your only [one]" is יְחִידְךָ . The same root, yud-chet-dalet, also gives us "yichud", which is the state of being alone with one other person. I don't know how much that bears on this, but I found it interesting.

In this context I think this could mean "only" in the sense of "only son remaining" (Yishmael has been banished already). Proximity to "whom you love" could suggest that while Avraham had two sons, he loved one and not the other (by the time of this event), though that's just one interpretation and I'm about to contradict it.

The rabbis recorded a midrash about this, with the conversation going roughly like this

God: Take your son.
Avraham: I have two sons.
God: Your only one.
Avraham: Each is the only child of his mother.
God: The one you love.
Avraham: I love both my sons.
God: Yitzchak.

(Babylonian talmud, Sanhedrin 89b.)

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5  
Most people I've talked to don't realize there is humor in the Talmud. I have had literal LOLs at times (like the above). – Frank Luke Mar 13 '12 at 13:37
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@Frank: Religion is SERIOUS! DON'T JOKE ABOUT GOD! (I kid, but I think that's the mentality that people bring to the Bible sometimes.) – Jon Ericson♦ Mar 14 '12 at 18:23
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@JonEricson, I know people like that. But God's humor is everywhere. So is Jesus'. I once estimated the amount of money owed by the unjust steward in Matt 18:24ff. He owed multiple times more money than the entire region paid in taxes to Rome in a year. And Jesus says (with a perfectly straight face, I imagine), "and as he could not pay..." Snort! Chortle! Leg slap! Then there's the rabbinic idiom for "dumbfounded" I found in Genesis Rabbah. A Samaritan challenges R. Jonathan with a dumb question. "And at that moment, all of R. Jonathan's learning in law left him." – Frank Luke Mar 14 '12 at 20:35
@FrankLuke, thanks for that laugh -- "if he could not pay". :-) BTW, one of my favorite humorous passages in talmud, which depicts God as laughing, is Bava Metzia 59b. – Monica Cellio Mar 15 '12 at 1:17
up vote 3 down vote

It's a translation issue. A better translation would say his "only-begotten male heir". Ishmael had been sent away and was illegitimate, and so was not in line to inherit anything from Abraham after his death.

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I don't see anything about status as an heir in the Genesis text. It says son, not heir. – Monica Cellio Mar 13 '12 at 3:22
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Can you explain a little why "only-begotten male heir" is a better translation? Is the word for 'son' the same as the word for 'heir'? – Jack Douglas♦ Oct 11 '12 at 20:57

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