{"id":19629,"date":"2025-04-10T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/?p=19629"},"modified":"2025-04-08T15:54:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T19:54:37","slug":"the-akedah-and-the-crucifixion-luke-and-isaac-typology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/article\/concise\/the-akedah-and-the-crucifixion-luke-and-isaac-typology\/","title":{"rendered":"The Akedah and the Crucifixion: Luke and Isaac Typology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Narratives in Genesis portraying the development of the relationship (and covenant) between the Lord and Abraham are brought to a climax in Genesis 22. Here the developing faith of Abraham\u2014something of a roller-coaster ride\u2014is \u201ctested\u201d by God when God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering in the region of Moriah. In later Jewish Tradition, this story is called the Akedah, based upon the unique word in Hebrew used in verse 9 for \u201cbinding\u201d (\u02bfaqa\u1e0f<\/em>) Isaac on the altar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significant allusions to the narrative of Genesis 22 in the Gospel of Luke show that Isaac is considered a model or type of Christ, and the crucifixion is where God the Father offered up his beloved son as a sacrifice. Pablo T. Gadenz has recently collected and demonstrated the validity of allusions to the \u201cbeloved son\u201d (cf. Genesis 22:2, 12, 16 LXX) at Jesus\u2019s baptism (Luke 3:22), in the parable of the wicked tenants (Luke 20:13), and at the crucifixion (Luke 23:33; cf. Gen 22:9 LXX). Certain features of the infancy narrative prepare the way for these allusions. Their description here is derived and drawn from his excellent research.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Pablo T. Gadenz, \u2018The Akedah and the Crucifixion: Isaac Typology in Luke\u2019s Gospel?\u201d Bulletin for Biblical Research<\/em> 31\/4 (2021): 478\u2013496.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The Baptism of Jesus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First to be noted is the allusion to Genesis 22 at the baptism of Jesus. As Jesus came up from the water, the heavens were opened and John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, coming to rest on Jesus. A voice from heaven said, \u201cYou are my beloved Son [ho huios mou ho agap\u0113tos<\/em>], with you I am well pleased\u201d ( Luke 3:22). The text in Mark 1:11 is identical and the text in Matthew 3:17 is third person (\u201cthis is my beloved son\u201d) instead of the second person we find in Mark and Luke. Apart from normal adjustments of case and personal pronoun due to context, the five words in Greek, \u201cmy son, my beloved one,\u201d or \u201cmy beloved son\u201d are identical to Genesis 22:2, 22:12 and 22:16 in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. What is remarkable is that this phrase is unique in the Greek Bible. The closest other text is the anarthrous \u201cbeloved son\u201d (huios agap\u0113tos<\/em>) in Jeremiah 38:20 LXX. Although there may also be an illusion at the same time to \u201cyou are my son\u201d in Psalm 2:7 LXX (and Isaiah 42:1 \u201cin you I am well pleased\u201d) the correspondence to Genesis 22 is both strong and striking. In addition, a voice from heaven also plays a role in Genesis 22:11, 15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Infancy Narrative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Luke may have prepared his readers for this allusion in the infancy narrative by drawing parallels between Zechariah and Elizabeth on the one hand and Abraham and Sarah on the other. The angel\u2019s announcement about John to Zechariah, \u201cyou shall call his name\u201d (Luke 1:13), repeated in the announcement to Mary (Luke 1:31), recalls the announcement to Abraham in Gen. 16:11 LXX (although this is also found in the Hebrew Masoretic text of Genesis 16:11 and Isaiah 7:14).[2]<\/a> Moreover, Abraham is called to be blameless just as Zechariah and Elizabeth are described as blameless. Elizabeth is barren, just like Sarah, and Zechariah and Elizabeth are \u201cadvanced in their days\u201d just like Abraham and Sarah. Furthermore, Zechariah\u2019s question \u201cHow will I know this?\u201d begins with the same three Greek words that Abraham asked in Gen. 15:8 LXX. This phrase kata ti gn\u014dsomai<\/em> occurs only in these two places (Gen. 15:8 LXX and Luke 1:18) in all of Scripture. And the announcement to Mary that \u201cnothing will be impossible with God\u201d recalls the question in Genesis 18:4 LXX, \u201cA thing is not impossible with God, is it?\u201d Sarah and Isaac seem to be types of both Mary and Jesus. Finally, Luke 1:55 specifically mentions the oath God swore to Abraham, again referring to Genesis 22:16 LXX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The original wording of the LXX may not be the same in Isaiah 7:14. See Christophe Rico and Peter J. Gentry, The Mother of the Infant King – Isaiah 7:14: `alm\u00e2 and parthenos in the Biblical World – \u0391 Linguistic Perspective<\/em> (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2019).<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the Jerusalem ministry, as Jesus draws near to his death, the \u201cbeloved son\u201d phrase heard at Jesus\u2019 baptism reappears in the parable of the wicked tenants in all three synoptic gospels. If one compares the description of \u201cthe beloved son Isaac\u201d in Genesis 22:2 LXX with the Greek Text of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see that in this parable Matthew omits the word \u201cbeloved\u201d (Matt. 21:37). Mark uses the term \u201cbeloved son\u201d without the article (Mark 12:6). But Luke uses exactly and precisely the same five words<\/em> in Greek as at the baptism (Luke 3:22, 20:13). We have already noted that the Akedah passage is the only Old Testament source that refers to a beloved son, doing so three times. There are a couple other parallels. In the parable, the beloved son is the heir (Luke 20:14) and this connects with Isaac, \u201cthe heir of promise\u201d (cf. Gen. 15:4; 21:10, 22:17 LXX). Another possible link is the phrase\u2014not found in Matthew or Mark\u2014in which the scribes and chief priests seek to \u201clay their hands\u201d on Jesus. In Genesis 22:12 LXX, the angel tells Abraham not to \u201clay his hand\u201d on the lad Isaac. Additionally, there is a thematic correspondence. In both Genesis 22 and the parable, there is a willingness to place the beloved son in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crucifixion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Luke\u2019s account of the crucifixion and death (Luke 23:26-49) of Jesus also clearly alludes to Genesis 22. Consider the comparison of Luke 23:33 and Genesis 22:9 LXX:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Kai hote  \u0113lthon epi ton topon<\/u> ton kaloumenon Kranion, ekei<\/u> estaur\u014dsan auton<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when they came to the place called Skull, there they crucified him.
(Luke 23:33)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0113lthon epi ton topon<\/u>, hon eipen aut\u014d ho theos. kai \u014dkodom\u0113sen ekei<\/u> Abraam thysiast\u0113rion kai epeth\u0113ken ta xyla kai sympodisas Isaak ton huion autou epeth\u0113ken auton epi to thysiast\u0113rion epan\u014d t\u014dn xyl\u014dn.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They came to the place which God said to him. And Abraham built there the altar and laid on the wood, and binding Isaac his son hand and foot, he laid him on the altar upon the wood.
(Genesis 22:9 LXX)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The phrase consisting of four words in Greek\u2014\u201cthey came to the place\u201d (\u0113lthon epi ton topon<\/em>)\u2014is not found in Matthew or Mark but repeats word for word the beginning of Genesis 22:9 LXX and the phrase in both Genesis and Luke is followed by the adverb \u201cthere\u201d (ekei<\/em>), also not found in the parallel verses. Admittedly, the phrase consists of four common words. Nonetheless, these four words of which this phrase consists occur nowhere else in the Old Greek Bible or in the New Testament. The verb \u201ccome\u201d (\u0113lthon<\/em>) plus epi <\/em>plus \u201cplace\u201d (topon<\/em>) occurs elsewhere in the third person only in Genesis 22:3 and Luke 19:5. Further, there is an emphasis on the word \u201cplace\u201d in Genesis 22, as \u201cplace\u201d (topos<\/em>) occurs four times (Gen. 22:3\u20134, 9, 14 LXX). In addition, in both passages, the place is \u201ccalled\u201d (kaleo<\/em>) a special name: \u201cthe Lord saw\u201d (Kyrios eiden<\/em>), Genesis 22:14 LXX; \u201cSkull\u201d (Kranion<\/em>), Luke 23:33.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A handful of other parallels are also present. As Jesus is led away to be crucified, the soldiers take hold of Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and lay the cross on him. Similarly, Abraham takes the wood of the whole burnt offering and lays it upon his son Isaac. Jesus also addresses the Father using the vocative case, and Isaac likewise address his father Abraham in the vocative case (Luke 23:34). The repentant criminal rebukes the other asking whether he fears God, and the angel tells Abraham that he knows<\/em> that he fears God (Luke 23:40, Gen. 22:12). The four words in Greek, \u201cyou fear God\u201d (phob\u0113 sy ton theon<\/em>), in any order, only occurs in these two texts and nowhere else in the Bible. It is implausible to see this as mere coincidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Allusions to Genesis 22 in the Infancy Narrative, at the Baptism of Jesus, in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, and at the Crucifixion demonstrate that Luke considers Isaac to be a type of Christ. His use of this typology is distinct from what we see in Matthew and Mark. And most importantly, this typological portrayal shapes Luke\u2019s understanding of Jesus\u2019s death. Huizenga has rightly demonstrated that the Akedah was seen by Jews in the first century as the ground of temple sacrifice.[3]<\/a> Thus, understanding the crucifixion in light of the sacrifice of Isaac offers a compelling new avenue for research into the saving significance of Jesus\u2019s death in Luke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Leroy A. Huizenga, The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew<\/em> (NovTSup 131; Leiden: Brill, 2009) and Benjamin R. Wilson, The Saving Cross of the Suffering Christ: The Death of Jesus in Lukan Soteriology<\/em> (BZNW 223; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016).<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story of Abraham’s great test to offer Isaac, known in later tradition as the Akedah, meaningfully typifies many aspects of Luke’s portrayal of Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The story of Abraham's great test to offer Isaac, known in later tradition as the Akedah, meaningfully typifies many aspects of Luke's portrayal of Christ.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[]","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1970,32,12,38],"tags":[690,695,217,823,57,687,691,738,1836],"scripture-reference":[],"post_folder":[],"ppma_author":[1379],"class_list":["post-19629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2025","category-article","category-concise","category-theme","tag-abraham","tag-atonement","tag-biblical-theology","tag-christ","tag-christ-as-center","tag-genesis-22","tag-isaac","tag-sacrifice","tag-salvation"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Gentry-Akedah-scaled-e1744141724272.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-01-13 11:38:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"authors":[{"term_id":1379,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"peter-j-gentry","display_name":"Peter J. Gentry","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/peter-gentry.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/peter-gentry.jpeg"},"author_category":"","job_title":"","church_city_state":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","church_site":"","user_url":"","description":"Peter J. Gentry<\/b> is the distinguished visiting professor of Old Testament at Phoenix Seminary and senior research fellow for the Text & Canon Institute. He is the co-author, with Stephen Wellum, of Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants<\/I> (Crossway, 2012). He and his wife Barbara are members at Abingdon Bible Church. They have two adult children and three grandchildren."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19629"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19637,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19629\/revisions\/19637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19629"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-reference","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-reference?post=19629"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=19629"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=19629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}