Seizo Sekine - Philosophical Interpretations of the Old Testament

Following convention, I shall refer to this account as the Akedah (the Hebrew for binding). When reading this story, I often recall the print of Rembrandts Sacrifice of Isaac that my late father, Masao, who devoted his life to Old Testament studies and Christian evangelism, hung in his study. Though it was an eerie painting to me as a child, as I grew and came to understand its meaning, I could not accept that I might have been killed for the sake of my fathers faith. I eventually left home to pursue Old Testament studies in Munich. Whenever I viewed the original of this painting during visits to the Alte Pinakothek, which was diagonally across from my dormitory, I was left dissatisfied. People should view it from Isaacs perspective, I thought. Looking back, however, I realize that since I am my fathers third-born son there would in fact have been no obligation or right for me to have been offered up in the firstborn sacrifice. My father might have hung this painting as a memorial to his firstborn son, whom he lost shortly after birth in the midst of hardships while dedicating himself to evangelism. I did not have the opportunity to confirm this while my father was alive, but that is what I now think. Whatever the case, the story of this father who almost committed filicide is, for a son, terrifying.

Yet it seems that there is a general abundance of interpretations lavishly praising Abraham, who was on the verge of killing his son, without considering Isaacs plight. The prime example is Sren Kierkegaards Fear and Trembling. I would like to begin my interpretation of this baffling text, which is so tied up with my own personal memories, by considering whether his interpretation hits upon the nub of the text.