The Sacrifice of Isaac: The Aqedah, Genesis 22 and Its Interpretations

When the Early Jewish and Christian Traditions research group of the University of Groningen's Department of Biblical Studies gathered there in June 2000 for their yearly conference, their theme was the history of reception of the passage. They began with details of the text and its relation to human sacrifice connected with the problem of dating the enigmatic narrative. Then they explore such topics as links to the sacrifice of Iphigeneia and child sacrifice in ancient Greece, elements of the Christian interpretation in pre-Christian Judaism, the passage's disputed relationship to the framework narrative of the Book of Job, and the reworking of the story in the Koran. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)