The Binding of Isaac: Jewish and Christian Appropriations of the Akedah (Genesis 22) in Contemporary Picture Books

The Akedah, or “Binding of Isaac,” is the Genesis account of Abraham—at the command of God—attempting to sacrifice his son on Mt. Moriah. In sum, Abraham fastens Isaac to an altar and prepares to incinerate him before an angel commands him to stop. A potentially gory story where a father binds his only son to an altar may be suitable for canonical fairy tales, but it seems an unlikely contender for contemporary picture books since it directly contrasts the tender notions often ascribed to contemporary American childhood. Indeed, if asked to list the most popular Bible stories for American children today, we likely would include the narratives colloquially known as “Noah’s Ark,” “Joseph and His Coat of Many Colors,” “Daniel and the Lion’s Den,” and “David and Goliath” before considering this story of interrupted filicide. Nevertheless, the Akedah in Genesis 22 is routinely appropriated into Jewish and Christian picture books, and in what follows, I compare contemporary Jewish adaptations that emphasize Abraham’s submission to God with Christian adaptations that instead focus on American middle-class family values, particularly the relationship between father and son.

An integral story for Judaism and Christianity alike, these traditions understand and interpret the Akedah in strikingly different manners.¹ Before further considering the importance of the Akedah within these religions and this particular discussion, it is worth recounting the event in its entirety:

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went up to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

(Gen. 22: 1–13)²

At their theological core, Jewish traditions record a historical event on Moriah that teaches the importance of unimpeded obedience to God whereas Christianity identifies the sacrifice of Isaac as a prefiguration of God’s sacrifice of Jesus...