The Sacrifice of Isaac

The central theme of the papers read at the conference about the Aqedah is the history of reception of Genesis 22: The Sacrifice of Isaac. After observations related to the biblical text and human sacrifice in Ancient Israel, the sacrifice of Iphigeneia is studied, followed by papers about the reception of the Aqedah in Qumran, in Jubilees, in Rabbinical and in Christian Syriac traditions, finally in a recently published poem in the Bodmer papyri and in the Koran. Important contributions are made by the history of art. Two essays in this volume study the older iconography and the Aqedah in Italian art. The reception in modern times: Kierkegaard, a gender-motivated and a psychoanalytical reading can be found in the last part of the volume. The studies published in this volume bring surprising and oft neglected aspects of the famous narrative to light. How in different times and in different circles Genesis 22 has been interpreted is an encouragement for hermeneutical reflection and a help for exegesis itself.