Editing Binding of Isaac (section)

===Child sacrifice===
[[File:Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac.jpg|thumb|Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. From a 14th-century English [[Missal]]]]
[[Francesca Stavrakopoulou]] said that it is possible that the story "contains traces of a tradition in which Abraham does sacrifice Isaac".<ref>"It may be that the biblical story contains traces of a tradition in which Abraham does sacrifice Isaac, for in Genesis 22:19 Abraham appears to return from the mountain without Isaac". [[Francesca Stavrakopoulou|Stavrakopoulou, F.]] (2004). ''King Manasseh and child sacrifice: Biblical distortions of historical realities'', pp.&nbsp;193–194.</ref> [[Richard Elliott Friedman|R. E. Friedman]] stated that in the original E story, Abraham may have carried out the sacrifice of Isaac, but that later repugnance at the idea of a human sacrifice led the redactor of JE to add the lines in which a ram is substituted for Isaac.<ref>[[Richard Elliott Friedman|Friedman, R.E.]] (2003). ''The Bible With Sources Revealed'', p.&nbsp;65.</ref> Likewise, Terence Fretheim wrote that "the text bears no specific mark of being a polemic against [[child sacrifice]]".<ref>Terence E. Fretheim, <!-- contribution title? --> in [[Marcia Bunge|Marcia J. Bunge]], Terence E. Fretheim, [[Beverly Roberts Gaventa]] (eds.), ''The Child in the Bible'', p.&nbsp;20</ref> Wojciech Kosior also said that the [[Genealogies in the Bible|genealogical snippet]] (Genesis 22:20–24) contain a hint to an alternative reading where Abraham sacrificed Isaac, since there would be no reason to list all these descendants of Abraham's brother.<ref name=Kosior>{{cite journal|last1=Kosior|first1=Wojciech|title='You have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me'. Some arguments for the consummated sacrifice of Abraham|journal=The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture|date=2013|volume=8 (5/2013)|pages=73–75|url=https://www.academia.edu/5644517|accessdate=16 June 2014}}</ref>

Interpretations of the text have contradicted the version where a ram is sacrificed. For example, [[Martin S. Bergmann]] stated "The [[Aggadah]] rabbis asserted that "father Isaac was bound on the altar and reduced to ashes, and his sacrificial dust was cast on  [[Moriah|Mount Moriah]]."<ref name="Bergmann1992">{{cite book |last=Bergmann |first=Martin S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DnL2ryuprYC&pg=PA97 |title=In the Shadow of Moloch: The Sacrifice of Children and Its Impact on Western Religions, Volume 10 |date=1992 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-07248-9 |pages=97 |oclc=1024062728}}</ref> A similar interpretation was made in the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]].<ref name="Bergmann1992" /> [[Margaret Barker]] said that "Abraham returned to [[Bersheeba]] without Isaac" according to Genesis 22:19,<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|22:19}}</ref> a possible sign that he was indeed sacrificed.<ref name="Barker2012">{{cite book |last=Barker |first=Margaret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNzeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=The Mother of the Lord: Volume 1: The Lady in the Temple |date=27 September 2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-37861-3 |pages=131 |oclc=1075712859}}</ref> Barker also said that wall paintings in the ancient [[Dura-Europos synagogue]] explicitly show Isaac being sacrificed, followed by his soul traveling to heaven.<ref name="Barker2012" /> According to [[Jon D. Levenson]] a part of Jewish tradition interpreted Isaac as having been sacrificed.<ref name="Morgan-Wynne2020">{{cite book |last=Morgan-Wynne |first=John Eifion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgLtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA186 |title=Abraham in the New Testament |date=22 May 2020 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-72525-829-7 |pages=186–187 |oclc=1159564269}}</ref> Similarly the German theologians {{ill|Christian Rose (theologian)|de|Christian Rose (Theologe)|vertical-align=sup|lt=Christian Rose}} and {{ill|Hans-Friedrich Weiß|de|vertical-align=sup}} said that due to the grammatical [[Perfect (grammar)|perfect tense]] used to describe Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, he did, in fact, follow through with the action.<ref name="Morgan-Wynne2020" />

[[Rav Kook]], the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, said that the climax of the story, commanding Abraham not to sacrifice Isaac, is the whole point: to put an end to, and God's total aversion to, the ritual of child sacrifice.<ref>"Olat Reiya", p. 93.</ref> According to Irving Greenberg the story of the binding of Isaac symbolizes the prohibition to worship God by [[human sacrifice]]s, at a time when human sacrifices were the norm worldwide.<ref>Irving Greenberg. 1988. The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays. New York: Summit Books. p.195.</ref>