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:Īnd it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold here I am. 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.Īn integral story for Judaism and Christianity alike, these traditions understand and interpret the Akedah in strikingly different manners.
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.
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.
In sum, Abraham fastens Isaac to an altar and prepares to incinerate him before an angel commands him to stop. The Akedah, or “Binding of Isaac,” is the Genesis account of Abraham-at the command of God-attempting to sacrifice his son on Mt.
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