(The name comes from the Hebrew word "tskhok" (pronounced "TS-kok"), which means "laughter" in English.)
Isaac was the second patriarch of the kingdom of
Israel. He was the son of the first patriarch, Abraham.
During the war in the land of Canaan, King Chedorlaomer
of the city of Elam had his soldiers rampage through the city of Sodom. During
the rampage, the soldiers kidnapped Lot (Abraham's nephew), and stole much of
his goods. One of Lot's men went to Abram for help. He found Abram in the plain
of Mamre, and told him what happened.
Abram and some allies all took up arms and attacked Chedorlaomer's
men. They chased them
into the area of Hobah, and smote them. Lot was rescued, and his goods were
returned. God decided to reward Abram for helping
Lot. Abram lamented that he had no children. God promised Abram "You will have many children. I will
give to them a great land that stretches from the river of Egypt to the river
Euphrates." (chapters 14-15)
Abram's wife Sarai couldn't have children. So she asked
Abram to have children by her slave, Hagar. Abram agreed, and Hagar became
pregnant. Later, Sarai was sorry for what she had done. Hagar gave birth to Abram's son,
Ishmael. (chapter 16)
God renamed Abram as "Abraham", and Sarai as
"Sarah". He promised "Sarah will have a son. He shall be named
Isaac. I will establish my covenant with Isaac and his descendants. But I
haven't forgotten Ishmael. Ishmael shall have descendants and his own nation
with twelve princes. But my covenant shall be with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear
next year." Abraham laughed at this because he was 99 years old, and Sarah
was 90. (chapter 17)
Abraham and Sarah didn't
believe that Sarah could have children. But God promised that she would. This news
made Sarah laugh. (18:10-15)
Finally Sarah bore a son. She remembered how God's
promise that she would have children made her laugh. So she named her son "Tskhok",
the Hebrew word for "laughter". (21:1-8) (Over
the centuries, the name "Tskhok" has been renamed as
"Isaac", which is what Abraham's son is called today.)
She had Abraham cast Hagar and Ishmael out of the family. Hagar is despondent, and
wants to kill Ishmael. But God tells her "Let him live. Because Ishmael is
also a son of Abraham, I will also make a great nation for him." Hagar and
Ishmael go to the wilderness of Param, and Ishmael starts his own country.
(21:9-21)
God
told Abraham "Take your son Isaac to the land
of Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to me." Abraham didn't want to kill
his son whom God had promised to him, but he reluctantly agreed. He took Isaac
to the land of Moriah, and built a sacrificial altar. He was about to kill his
son, when God stopped him. God said "I just wanted to be sure that you were
loyal to me." He caused a ram to get caught in a thicket, and had Abraham
sacrifice the ram instead. Abraham and Isaac returned to Beersheba. (22:1-19)
Sarah died in the city of Kiriatharba, in Canaan (The
city of Kiriatharba was later renamed Hebron). (23:1-2)
When Isaac became a young man, Abraham told
his servant to find a wife for Isaac, a non-Canaanite woman. The servant went to
the city of Nahor in the land of Mesopotamia. (24:1-10)
(Mesopotamia is the name of the land between
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. By today's map, the area of Mesopotamia would
be in southern Turkey, northeastern Syria, and central Iraq. Babylon was a
kingdom in the southern part of Mesopotamia, located just north of the Persian
Gulf.)
In Nahor, the servant met Isaac's cousin Rebekah.
She was the daughter of Bethuel (which made her the daughter of Isaac's first
cousin) The servant went to Rebekah's brother Laban, and told him the purpose of his
visit. Laban agreed to let the servant take Rebekah to be Isaac's wife. Rebekah
agreed to go. (24:11-61)
Isaac was now living at the well of Beer-lahai-roi. The
servant went to him there, and brought Rebekah to him. Rebekah became Isaac's
wife. (24:62-67) At the time, Isaac was 40 years old. (25:20)
When Abraham died, Ishmael and Isaac buried him in the
cave of Machpelah. (25:8-10)
When Isaac was 60 years old,
Rebekah gave birth to twin sons: Esau and Jacob. Esau
was born first, and was therefore legally the "oldest". He had the legal
birthright (the right of the first-born). (25:21-26)
The boys grew up. Esau became a hunter, while Jacob
stayed at home. Isaac preferred Esau because he gave Isaac venison. Rebekah preferred
Jacob. (25:27-28)
When another famine came in Canaan. Isaac and Rebekah
decided to settle for a time elsewhere. God told Isaac "Don't go south into
Egypt. Stay in Canaan, and I will be with you, for to you and your descendants I
will give all these lands." (26:1-5)
So Isaac and Rebekah went to the city of Gerar, which
was located
near the southern border of Canaan. Gerar was ruled by the Philistines, and
Abimelech was their king. Isaac was afraid that people would want his wife
Rebekah, and would kill him to possess her. So he passed off Rebekah as his
sister, rather than his wife. Abimelech suspected that Rebekah was really
Isaac's wife. He confronted Isaac. Isaac confessed the truth. Abimelech warned the
people of Gerar that whomever touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.
(26:6-11)
Isaac planted crops, and reaped a lot of food. He also
got more herds, flocks, and slaves. He became a very powerful man in the city.
The Philistines grew jealous of him. They filled in all the wells that Abraham's
servants had dug when Abraham lived in Gerar. Abimelech warned Isaac to leave.
(26:12-16)
Isaac and his family went to the valley of Gerar, nearby.
While there, they dug three wells, named Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth. Then they
moved to the city of Beersheba, where Abraham and Abimelech had made a covenant
years ago. There, Isaac and Abimelech made a peace treaty of their own. Isaac's
slaves dug a well, and it was called Shebah (also called Shibah). (26:17-33)
Meanwhile, Isaac's oldest son Esau married two women,
Judith and Basemath. Both women were Hittites. Hittites were a subdivision of
the Canaanites,
so Esau had married two Canaanite women. Isaac and Rebekah didn't like this.
(26:34-35)
By now, Isaac was an old man, and was nearly blind. He
was dying. He asked to see his oldest son,
Esau, and give him the blessing of the firstborn. First, Isaac sent Esau to
catch some game over which to give him the blessing. Esau left. (27:1-5)
Rebekah prefered Jacob over Esau. While Esau was gone,
Rebekah told Jacob "Go to our flocks and pick out some game. I will make
him a dish that he likes. He is blind. Tell him that you are Esau, and he will
give you the blessing." Esau's hand was hairy, and Jacob's hand was smooth.
So Rebekah covered Jacob's hand with goatskin to fool Isaac. The ruse worked.
Isaac gave Jacob the blessing intended for Esau. When Esau returned with the venison, he
had to be content with a lesser blessing. (27:6-40)
Esau was mad that Jacob had tricked him out of
the blessing of the firstborn. He wanted to kill Jacob. Rebekah told Jacob
"Get away from here. Go to my brother Laban. He lives in the city of
Haran, in the area of Padanaram, in Mesopotamia. Stay with him until Esau's
anger cools. When it does, I will send for you." (27:41-45)
Isaac and Rebekah didn't want Jacob to marry a Canaanite
woman, like Esau did. Isaac told Jacob "Don't marry a Canaanite woman. Go
to Laban, Rebekah's brother, and take one of his daughters for a wife."
Jacob agreed. (27:46-28:7) When Esau heard that Isaac didn't like Canaanite women, he deliberately
married another Canaanite woman. (28:8-9)
Believe it or not,
Isaac didn't yet die after all this. It wasn't until years later that he died.
Jacob and his family traveled to the city of Arbah (another name for Hebron, a
city in the land of Canaan.) There, Isaac died at
age 180. He was buried by Esau and Jacob in the cave of Machpelah. (35:28-29)
Extra: In chapter 27, it is mentioned several times that Isaac loved to eat venison.
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