When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. He reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: “Abraham! Abraham!”, and he replied: “Here I am”. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said “On the mountain of the Lord it shall be provided.” The angel of the Lord called Abraham from heaven a second time and said: “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22, 9–18)

The Jewish people exiled in Babylon in the 6th century B.C. reinterpreted their own history, where the figure of Abraham is not only the father of the Jewish people but also a role model.

According to the narrative in the Book of Genesis, Abram was a descendant of Shem, son of Noah, and he lived in the city of Ur with his wife Sarah. It was there that God asked him to go to the land of Canaan and worship only Him. Abram and Sarah were unable to have children, so she decided that Abram should have a child with her slave, Hagar. This son, Ishmael, would become the mythical father of the Arab world. Some time later, God manifested Himself and established a covenant with Abram, changing his name to Abraham, which means “father of multitudes”. Shortly after, God revealed Himself again to Abraham through three angels who promised that Sarah would conceive a child in her old age, and Isaac was born.

This scene is representing a moment towards the end of Abraham’s story, where God tests Abraham faithfulness by asking him to sacrifice his son. When Abraham is about to carry out the sacrifice, an angel stops him and saves the life of Isaac thanks to the faith and obedience his father has shown. In the Christian tradition, Paul compares Abraham to God Himself, who accepts to offer His only son to be sacrificed.