The ‘Aqeda—Genesis 22
In various texts
interpreting Genesis 22, the ‘Aqeda, Satan is introduced as the initiator of
the temptation by accusing Abraham of being ungrateful toward God, as is
presented in other earlier texts like Jub. 17. For example we read in b.
Sanh.:
And it came to pass
after these words, that God did tempt Abraham (Gen. 22.1). What is
meant by “after”?—R. Yoḥanan said on the authority of R. Yose b. Zimra: After
the words of Satan, as it is written, And the child grew, and was weaned:
[and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned] (Gen
21.8). Thereupon Satan said to the Almighty: “Sovereign of the Universe! To
this old man Thou didst graciously vouchsafe the fruit of the womb at the age
of a hundred, yet all that banquet which he prepared, he did not have one
turtle-dove or pigeon to sacrifice before thee.” (b. Sanh. 89b)
As the story continues,
Satan is not only the initiator of the temptation but also tries to hinder
Abraham and Isaac from fullfilling the command of God in the course of the
story. So it seems that Satan plays an important role in the ‘Aqeda.
Yet it is remarkable
that other reasons explaining why God tempted Abraham are mentioned too, for
example, the dispute between Isaac and Ishmael (b. Sanh. 89b). In Genesis
Rabbah on the ‘Aqeda Satan is absent completely, the accusation against
Abraham is uttered by the ministering angels (heavenly court), by the nations
of the world or by Abraham himself, but not by Satan (Gen. Rab. 55.4).
In the course of the story it is not Satan, but Sama’el trying to stop Abraham
and Isaac from fullfilling the command of God. It seems that this midrash does
not want to make any allusion to Satan in this story, i.e. there is no need for
Satan in the ‘Aqeda. (Gottfried Reeg, “The Devil in Rabbinic Literature,” in
Ida Frōhlich and Erakki Koskenniemi, eds., Evil and the Devil [Library
of New Testament Studies 481; London: T&T Clark, 2013, 2019], 71-83, here,
p. 75)
For those interested, here is Jubilees
17:15-18 (2nd century BC):
15* And it came to
pass in the seventh week, in its first year, in the first month, in that
jubilee, on the twelfth of that month, that words came in heaven concerning
Abraham that he was faithful in everything which was told him and he loved the Lord and was faithful in all affliction.
16 And Prince Mastema came and he said before
God, “Behold, Abraham loves Isaac, his son. And he is more pleased with him
than everything. Tell him to offer him (as) a burnt offering upon the altar.
And you will see whether he will do this thing. And you will know whether he is
faithful in everything in which you test him.”
17 And the Lord was aware that Abraham was faithful
in all of his afflictions because he tested him with his land, and with famine.
And he tested him with the wealth of kings. And he tested him again with his
wife, when she was taken (from him), and with circumcision. And he tested him
with Ishmael and with Hagar, his maidservant, when he sent them away. 18 And in everything in which
he tested him, he was found faithful. And his soul was not impatient. And he
was not slow to act because he was faithful and a lover of the Lord. (O.S. Wintermute, "Jubilees," in
James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 2:
Expansions of the “Old Testament” and Legends, Wisdom, and Philosophical
Literature, Prayers, Psalms and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works
[New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985], 90)
