The Amazing Name Isaac: Meaning And Etymology

Isaac is the son of Abraham with Sarah (Genesis 21:3). He is the half-brother of Ishmael, son of Hagar, and the six sons of Keturah, among whom Midian (Genesis 25:2). Isaac's wife is Rebekah (Genesis 24:15) and their sons are Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:25-26).

In the Greek New Testament, the name Isaac is spelled Ισαακ. Two thousand years after Isaac breathed his last, Jesus proclaimed him, his father and his son as being alive and well, and not dead (Luke 20:37). Isaac is mentioned twice in relation to Abraham's willingness to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah (Hebrews 11:17, James 2:21), which is a difficult story that we'll look at in some detail further below, and he is celebrated as the child of the promise three times (Romans 9:7, Galatians 4:28, Hebrews 11:18). The name Isaac occurs 20 times in the New Testament; see full concordance (against 42 for Jacob and 72 for Abraham).

The haunting story of Isaac's near-sacrifice on mount Moriah ultimately amounts to a polemic against nepotism. Societal righteousness can only come about when human law coincides with natural law (Romans 1:20), which is a law that is universally applied to everyone equally, without conditions and without favoritism (Leviticus 24:22, Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11). And although it's certainly a good idea to protect whatever and whoever is in one's care, nobody is above the law if the law is truly universal, so that true righteousness must exceed even one's most pressing personal preferences.

Note that Abraham clearly suspected that Isaac would return alive and well (Genesis 22:5, 22:8) and evidently went up to Moriah to learn how the earlier promise of Isaac becoming a great and eternal nation (Genesis 21:12) and a blessing for all of mankind (Genesis 12:2) might possibly be made to coincide with him being sacrificed. And to what, exactly, he was to be sacrificed. And how such a thing is performed whilst remaining righteous.

In that light, also note the symmetry between Genesis 22:6 and John 19:17, and realize that on that same mount Moriah, Solomon would build the temple of YHWH (2 Chronicles 3:1).

And take a moment to admire the astonishing composition that runs from the encounter at Mamre (three men come to Abraham) to the destruction of Sodom (executed by two of the men, while the third appears to stay with Abraham), then Hagar's expulsion that leads her to Beersheba, where the story counterpoints, and Abimelech entreats Abraham for decent treatment of him, his people and the land, after which Abraham begins to travel to Moriah accompanied by three lads, the two nameless of which he leaves behind, while he continues with Isaac, "as one".

The term יחדו (yahdaw), meaning "as one" (Genesis 22:6, 22:8, 22:19), is closely related to יחיד (yahid), meaning unique (Genesis 22:2, 22:12, 22:16), or what the Septuagint translated as "monogenes" (John 3:16, Hebrews 11:17). These two words derive from the verb יחד (yahad), to unite or be as one, which relates to אחד (ehad), meaning "one", which is God's most essential nature: Deuteronomy 6:4, see 2 Peter 1:4, John 17:21-23, Ephesians 6:3-6, Jude 1:24.

The motif of the seven covenantal sheep, an obvious wink to the Pleiades and a call-back to Genesis 15:5, returns later as the seven daughters of Jethro of Midian (Exodus 2:16) and the seven pillars of the house of wisdom (Proverbs 9:1).