Monday, November 23, 2020

Satan and Rabbinic Interpretations of the 'Aqeda/Genesis 22

  

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)