Binding of Isaac in the context of "Eid ul-Adha"

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⭐ Core Definition: Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac (Hebrew: עֲקֵידַת יִצְחַק, romanized: ʿAqēḏaṯ Yīṣḥaq), or simply "The Binding" (הָעֲקֵידָה, hāʿAqēḏā), is a story from chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain called Jehovah-jireh in the region of Moriah. As Abraham begins to comply, having bound Isaac to an altar, he is stopped by the Angel of the Lord; a ram appears and is slaughtered in Isaac's stead, as God commends Abraham's pious obedience to offer his son as a human sacrifice.

Especially in art, the episode is often called the Sacrifice of Isaac, although in the end Isaac was not sacrificed. Various scholars suggest that the original story of Abraham and Isaac may have been of a completed human sacrifice, later altered by redactors to substitute a ram for Isaac, and some traditions, including certain Jewish and Christian interpretations, maintain that Isaac actually was sacrificed. In addition to being addressed by modern scholarship, this biblical episode has been the focus of a great deal of commentary in traditional sources of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

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Binding of Isaac in the context of Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى, romanizedʿĪd al-ʾAḍḥā, lit.'Feast of the Sacrifice') is the second of the two main festivals in Islam, alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the three following days, known as the Tashreeq days.

Eid al-Adha, depending on country and language is also called the Greater or Large Eid (Arabic: العيد الكبير, romanized: al-ʿĪd al-Kabīr). As with Eid al-Fitr, the Eid prayer is performed on the morning of Eid al-Adha, after which the udhiyah or the ritual sacrifice of a livestock animal, is performed. In Islamic tradition, it honours the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God's command. Depending on the narrative, either Ishmael or Isaac are referred to with the honorific title "Sacrifice of God". Pilgrims performing the Hajj typically perform the tawaf and saee of Hajj on Eid al-Adha, along with the ritual stoning of the Devil on the Eid day and the following days.

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Binding of Isaac in the context of Samaritanism

Samaritanism (Hebrew: הַדָּת הַשּׁוֹמְרוֹנִית; Arabic: السامرية) is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Samaritan people, who originate from the Hebrews and Israelites and began to emerge as a relatively distinct group after the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the Iron Age. Central to the faith is the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans believe is the original and unchanged version of the Torah.

Although it developed alongside and is closely related to Judaism, Samaritanism asserts itself as the truly preserved form of the monotheistic faith that the Israelites adopted under Moses. Samaritan belief also holds that the Israelites' original holy site was Mount Gerizim, near Nablus, and that Jerusalem only attained importance under Israelite dissenters who had followed Eli to the city of Shiloh; the Israelites who remained at Mount Gerizim would become the Samaritans in the Kingdom of Israel, whereas the Israelites who left would become the Jews in the Kingdom of Judah. Mount Gerizim is likewise revered by Samaritans as the location where the Binding of Isaac took place, in contrast to the Jewish belief that it occurred at Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

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Binding of Isaac in the context of Mount Gerizim

Mount Gerizim (/ˈɡɛrɪzɪm/ GHERR-iz-im; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠄࠟࠓࠬࠂࠟࠓࠩࠆࠝࠉࠌ, romanized: ʾĀ̊rgā̊rīzem; Hebrew: הַר גְּרִזִים, romanizedHar Gərīzīm; Arabic: جَبَل جَرِزِيم, romanizedJabal Jarizīm, or جَبَلُ ٱلطُّورِ, Jabal at-Ṭūr) is one of two mountains near the Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem, located in the north of Palestine’s West Bank. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the northern side being formed by Mount Ebal. The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to 881 m (2,890 ft) above sea level, 70 m (230 ft) lower than Mount Ebal. The mountain is particularly steep on the northern side, is sparsely covered at the top with shrubbery, and lower down there is a spring with a high yield of fresh water. The mountain is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where, upon first entering the Promised Land after the Exodus, the Israelites performed ceremonies of blessings, as they had been instructed by Moses.

In Samaritan tradition, it is the oldest and most central mountain in the world, towering above the Great Flood and providing the first land for Noah’s disembarkation. Samaritans believe that Mount Gerizim is the location where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. Jews, on the other hand, consider the location of the near-sacrifice to be Mount Moriah. Samaritans regard Mount Gerizim, rather than Jerusalem's Temple Mount, as the location chosen by God for a holy temple. A Samaritan Temple was located on Mount Gerizim from the 5th century BCE until it was destroyed in the 2nd century BCE. Mount Gerizim continues to be the centre of Samaritan religion, and Samaritans ascend it three times a year: at Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.

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Binding of Isaac in the context of Seder Olam Rabbah

Seder Olam Rabbah (Hebrew: סדר עולם רבה, "The Great Order of the World") is a 2nd-century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia. It adds no stories beyond what is in the biblical text, and addresses such questions as the age of Isaac at his binding and the number of years that Joshua led the Israelites. Tradition considers it to have been written about 160 CE by Jose ben Halafta, but it was probably also supplemented and edited at a later period.

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Binding of Isaac in the context of Moriah

Moriah /mɒˈrə/ (Hebrew: מוֹרִיָּה‎, Mōrīyya; Arabic: ﻣﺮﻭﻩ, Marwah) is the name given to a region in the Book of Genesis where the binding of Isaac by Abraham is said to have taken place. Jews identify the region mentioned in Genesis and the specific mountain in which the near-sacrifice is said to have occurred with "Mount Moriah", mentioned in the Book of Chronicles as the place where Solomon's Temple is said to have been built, and both these locations are also identified with the current Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Samaritan Torah, on the other hand, transliterates the place mentioned for the binding of Isaac as Moreh, a name for the region near modern-day Nablus. It is believed by the Samaritans that the near-sacrifice actually took place on Mount Gerizim, near Nablus in the West Bank.

Many Muslims, in turn, believe the place mentioned in the first book of the Bible, rendered as Marwa in Arabic in the Quran, is actually located close to the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. There has been a historical account of rams' horns preserved in the Kaaba until the year 683, which are believed to be the remains of the sacrifice of Ishmael – the first son of Abraham, who most Muslims believe was the son Abraham tied down and almost sacrificed, and not Isaac.

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Binding of Isaac in the context of Genesis 18

Vayeira, Vayera, or Va-yera (וַיֵּרָא‎—Hebrew for "and He appeared," the first word in the parashah) is the fourth weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes Genesis 18:1–22:24. The parashah tells the stories of Abraham's three visitors, Abraham's bargaining with God over Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot's two visitors, Lot's bargaining with the Sodomites, Lot's flight, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, how Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father, how Abraham once again passed off his wife Sarah as his sister, the birth of Isaac, the expulsion of Hagar, disputes over wells, and the binding of Isaac (הָעֲקֵידָה‎, the Akedah).

The parashah has the most words (but not the most letters or verses) of any of the weekly Torah portions in the Book of Genesis, and its word-count is second only to Parashat Naso in the entire Torah. It is made up of 7,862 Hebrew letters, 2,085 Hebrew words, 147 verses, and 252 lines in a Torah Scroll (Sefer Torah). (In the Book of Genesis, Parashat Miketz has the most letters, and Parashiyot Noach and Vayishlach have the most verses.)

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Binding of Isaac in the context of Jehovah-jireh

In the Book of Genesis, Jehovah-jireh was the location in the region of Moriah of the binding of Isaac, where Jehovah told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham named the place after God provided a ram to sacrifice in place of Isaac. This name, hence, carries the meaning, "The Lord will provide".

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