“We find that the story of Abraham
and Isaac rises almost spontaneously in the mind of one
generation after another.... Constantly past and present react
to and upon each other, and life is given an order, a
coherence, by the themes which govern the Holy Scriptures and
the reinterpretations of those themes.”
—from the Introduction by Judah Goldin
Shalom Spiegel’s classic examines
the total body of texts, legends, and traditions referring to
the Binding of Isaac and weaves them together into a definitive
study of the Akedah as one of the central events in all of
human history.
Spiegel here provides the model for
showing how legend and history interact, how the past may be
made comprehensible by present events, and how the present may
be understood as a renewal of revelation.
“Its reprinting is of major
importance. Once again readers can have access to the beautiful
texture of Spiegel’s prose, and to his intricate and
astonishing discussion of the Binding of Isaac.... A model in
the history of biblical interpretation.”—
—Dr. Michael Fishbane, University of Chicago
“An indisputable classic in the
field.”
—
Professor Richard S. Sarason,Hebrew
Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion
“Reveals the ways in which
generation after generation of readers found their terror and
their hope mirrored in that haunting biblical story of the
Binding of Isaac.”
— Professor
Wayne A. Meeks,Department of
Religious Studies, Yale University
“Describes the pilgrimage of one of
the most important passages in the Hebrew Bible—for
Judaism and for Christianity—in the history of Jewish
literature. Its reissue is a very important event for
Jewish-Christian dialogue.”
—Professor
James Sanders, The School of
Theology of Claremont
