Joseph A. Fitzmyer, «The sacrifice of Isaac in Qumran literature», Vol. 83 (2002) 211-229

Gen 22,1-19 the account of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, is discussed first in its Hebrew and Old Greek form; then as it was developed in the Book of Jubilees 17,15–18,16, and especially in the form of Pseudo-Jubilees, as it is preserved in 4Q225 2 i and ii (4QPs-Jub^a 2 i 7-14, 2 ii 1-14), in order to ascertain how much of the development of the account can be traced to pre-Christian Palestinian Jewish tradition prior to the New Testament. Finally, building on such evidence, the article traces the development in other texts of the first Christian century and in the later targumic and rabbinic tradition about the Aqedah.

their sins and save them from every distress. For future generations destined to arise will say: ‘On the Mount of the Holy Temple of the Lord, Abraham offered up his son Isaac; and on this mountain the glory of the Dwelling of the Lord was revealed’’ ⁴².

        Here one notes the explicit use of qxcyd hytdq(, ‘the binding of Isaac’, the Aramaic counterpart of the phrase used above in the Mekhilta. Other noteworthy features of this developed version of Gen 22 are the following:

1. Isaac is informed by Abraham of his role as the sacrificial victim (v. 8)⁴³.
2. Isaac asks to be bound (v. 10)⁴⁴.
3. Isaac is accorded a vision of angels (v. 10)⁴⁵.
4. Both Abraham and Isaac are declared righteous by heaven(v. 10)⁴⁶.
5. Abraham answers God in the ‘language of the Holy Temple’(v. 11).
6. Abraham’s prayer, recalling his obedience (v. 14)⁴⁷.
7. Abraham begs God to remember ‘the binding of Isaac’ when his descendants enter ‘an hour of oppression’ and to ‘release and forgive their sins and save them from every distress’ (v. 14)⁴⁸.
8. The offering of Isaac is related to the Mount of the Holy Temple of the Lord (v. 14)⁴⁹.
9. Only in Tg. Ps.-J. is Isaac’s age given (37 years).
10. Only in Tg. Ps.-J. Abraham builds the altar at the spot where Adam had built one and where Noah rebuilt it after the deluge.

        In this targumic tradition one thus finds a clear statement of what Vermes calls the ‘merit of Isaac’, and it is what one would expect by the time this developed tradition emerges. None of it is earlier than the third century A.D., and some of these targums may come from a still later date, especially Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof.⁵⁰. It shows, however, how the