Was Yitzchak a willing participant in the Akedah? Two great commentators to the Chumash, the Radak and Ibn Ezra, debate this question. The Radak (Bereishit 22:9 s.v. VaYaakod) articulates the mainstream approach of Chazal that Yitzchak was a willing participant, whereas the Ibn Ezra (Bereishit 22:4) shockingly argues that Yitzchak was coerced to participate. Let us try to understand both sides of this argument …

Avraham Binds Yitzchak

Avraham Avinu binding Yitzchak Avinu indicates that Yitzchak was not willingly involved. On the other hand, Yitzchak does not resist Avraham. Moreover, the Radak (ad. loc.) cites the Midrash (Pirkei DeRabi Eliezer 31), that Yitzchak Avinu requested to be bound tightly so that his instincts would not overwhelm him and make him resist Avraham slaughtering him.

Who Is Tested and Rewarded?

The Ibn Ezra notes that the Chumash focuses on Avraham Avinu during the Akedah. The introduction states that Hashem tested Avraham, not that He tested Avraham and Yitzchak. Moreover, the Torah mentions Hashem’s rewarding Avraham Avinu for complying with His command but does not mention Yitzchak. The Ibn Ezra argues that had Yitzchak been a willing participant, his reward should have been double that of Avraham Avinu. The Ibn Ezra believes that willingness to die is more challenging than obeying a command to kill, and, thus, Yitzchak should have also been rewarded.

The Radak could respond that it was a greater challenge for Avraham Avinu to slaughter Yitzchak than for Yitzchak to agree to be sacrificed. As any healthy-minded father understands, nothing is more difficult than killing one’s child. Nothing runs against human nature more than a father killing his son. This is certainly so for Avraham Avinu since Yitzchak was his son and primary student. Yitzchak Avinu represented the only hope for Avraham Avinu to fulfill his lifelong mission of creating a nation devoted to Hashem (see Bereishit 18:19). Moreover, Yitzchak was deeply cherished since he was born miraculously after decades of intense anticipation.

Avraham Avinu expected Yitzchak to carry on his legacy, as evidenced by Avraham concluding a treaty with Avimelech (Bereishit 21:23 with Targum Onkelos) that applied to Avraham’s son and grandson. The enormity of Avraham’s challenge is captured in the words of the initial command, “Take your son, your only (son), Yitzchak” (22:1), which—as noted by Rashi—stresses Avraham and Yitzchak’s special relationship.

On the other hand, a healthy-minded son arguably finds it natural to obey his father—especially if the son shares his father’s commitment to Hashem and His commands. Over the generations, many Jews willingly sacrificed their lives out of loyalty to Hashem and His Torah. Radak could argue that although Yitzchak Avinu’s willingness to sacrifice his life for Hashem serves as a role model for future generations, Avraham Avinu’s actions were far more challenging and exhibited a deeper sense of dedication and bitachon (trust) in Hashem.

The Conversation Between Avraham and Yitzchak

In the only conversation between Avraham and Yitzchak presented in the Torah (Breishit 22:7-8), Yitzchak asks his father the whereabouts of the lamb they will sacrifice. Avraham responds, “Hashem will show us the lamb, my son.” The Ibn Ezra cites Avraham’s concealing the truth as proof that Yitzchak was an unwilling participant. The Ibn Ezra argues that Yitzchak would have run away if Avraham Avinu had revealed the truth.

The Radak, however, interprets Avraham’s response similarly to Rashi. Avraham ambiguously responded to Yitzchak; the words can be understood either that Hashem will show the two of them the lamb or that Hashem will show them the lamb, which will be, “My son,” i.e., Yitzchak. Avraham Avinu indirectly presented the truth to Yitzchak to gently share the difficult news.

This pasuk concludes that, “… the two of them walked together,” teaching—according to Rashi and Radak—that although Yitzchak Avinu understood the message, he walked as one with Avraham Avinu. Yitzchak embraced Avraham’s dedication to Hashem and proved himself to be a worthy successor to his father’s great spiritual legacy. Similarly, the midrash (cited by Radak to Bereishit 22:4) describes Yitzchak as sharing Avraham’s vision of a pillar of fire above Har HaMoriyah when gazing at it from afar. At the same time, Yishmael and Eliezer do not perceive it.

The Age of Yitzchak at the Akedah

The debate surrounding Yitzchak’s willingness hinges on whether Yitzchak was an adult or a child at the Akeda. Yitzchak must have been a willing participant, if he was an adult, since Avraham could not have forcibly tied up a fully-grown Yitzchak. Moreover, the older we assume Yitzchak was, the older Avraham Avinu must have been. A very old man (Avraham Avinu was 100 years old when Yitzchak was born) could not forcibly bind a young adult.

Rashi (Bereishit 23:2, citing Breishit Rabbah 58:5) believes Yitzchak was 37 years old at the Akeidah. On the other hand, Ibn Ezra believes he was approximately 13.

The Ibn Ezra even cites an opinion that Yitzchak was five years old at the Akedah. He rejects this opinion, though, based on the pasuk (Bereishit 22:6) which describes Yitzchak as carrying the wood to the Akedah. Ibn Ezra, therefore, concludes that Yitzchak was a young adolescent at the time of the Akedah, capable of carrying a burden but not yet an adult. Yitzchak’s limited speaking role during the Akedah—inquiring as to the sheep—supports the Ibn Ezra’s contention that Yitzchak was not an adult during the Akedah.

The Ibn Ezra might deduce proof that at the Akedah (22:12), the Torah refers to Yitzchak as a naar (lad). However, some adults in Tanach are given the appellation “naar,” such as Yehoshua (Shemot 33:11, see Ibn Ezra ad. loc.). The word “naar” means not only lad, but also a student. Shmuel is described as, “Vehanaar naar” (Shmuel I 1:24), which means that Shmuel, as a lad, served as a student (of Eili). Thus, at Akeidat Yitzchak, Yitzchak—Avraham’s student—could be described as a “na’ar” despite being an adult.

I suggest a compromise between Ibn Ezra and Rashi regarding Yitzchak Avinu’s age at the Akedah. The peshat of the Chumash could be that Yitzchak was a youngster during the Akedah. The derash (deeper, non-literal explanation) teaches that Yitzchak acted with the maturity of an adult.

Conclusion

If one asks a knowledgeable Jew whether Yitzchak was an adult or child at the time of the Akeidah, he is likely to respond that he was an adult. It is emblazoned on the Jewish psyche—largely because of our Yamim Noraim tefillot—that Yitzchak was a full partner with Avraham Avinu in the Akeidah. He transcended his age and exceeded all expectations. We look to Yitzchak as a model of readiness to die for Hashem, something that a devoted Jew is willing to do if (God forbid) necessary.

Moreover—as Rav Yosef Adler notes—Yitzchak Avinu serves as a role model for us, because he did not directly hear Hashem’s command to sacrifice himself. Nonetheless, he fully complied with Hashem’s order, because he trusted that his father accurately comprehended and transmitted the word of Hashem to him. We, too, make enormous sacrifices in our observance of the Torah, because of our confidence that our parents and ancestors have faithfully transmitted the divine expectations of Jews from generation-to-generation.

May Yitzchak Avinu’s merit and our embracing of him as a powerful role model move Hashem to grant us all a magnificent 5784.

Rabbi Jachter serves as the rav of Congregation Shaarei Orah, rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County, and a get administrator with the Beth Din of Elizabeth. Rabbi Jachter’s 16 books, including a new one on Sefer Devarim, may be purchased at Amazon and Judaica House.