Isaac

Gender Masculine
Scripts יִצְחָק (Hebrew) ; Ισαακ (Greek)

Meaning “Laughter” “he will laugh”, from the verbs צחק (sahaq) and שחק (sahaq), to laugh or make fun.

Isaac is Abraham‘s son with Sarah (Genesis 21, 3). His wife is called Rebekah (Genesis 24, 15) and his sons are Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25, 25-26) and the grandfather of the twelve tribes of Israel. Isaac is one of the three Biblical patriarchs and is a very important figure in all the Abrahamic religions.

The meaning “will laugh” is to recall the laughter, in disbelief, of Sarah when she heard that late in life they would have a son. He is the only patriarch whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not move from Canaan. According to the narrative, he died at the age of 180, the longest lived of the three patriarchs.

New Testament

Two thousand years after Isaac breathed his last, Jesus proclaimed him, his father and his son as being alive and well, and not dead (Luke 20, 37). Isaac is mentioned twice in relation to Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah (Hebrews 11, 17 & James 2, 21) and he is celebrated as the child of the promise three times (Romans 9, 7 ; Galatians 4, 28 & Hebrews 11, 18).

The name Isaac occurs 20 times in the New Testament.

Islam

Islam considers Isaac (Arabic:اسحاق Ishāq or Ishaaq) a prophet of Islam, and describes him as the father of the Israelites and a righteous servant of GOD.

Isaac, along with Ishmael, is very important to Muslims for continuing to preach the message of monotheism after his father Abraham. Among Isaac’s sons was the later Israelite patriarch Jacob, who is also revered as an Islamic prophet.

Isaac is mentioned 15 times by name in the Quran, often with his father and his son, Jacob. The Qur’an states that Abraham received “the good news of Isaac, a prophet, of the righteous,” and that GOD blessed them both (37, 112). In a more complete description, when the angels came to Abraham to tell him of the future punishment that would be inflicted on Sodom and Gomorrah, his wife Sarah “laughed, and we gave her the good tidings of Isaac, and after Isaac of (a grandson) Jacob” (11, 71-74); and it is further explained that this event will take place despite Abraham and Sarah’s old age. Several verses speak of Isaac as a “gift” to Abraham (6, 84 ; 14, 49-50), and 24, 26-27 adds that GOD caused “prophecy and the Book to be among his offspring,” which has been interpreted to refer to Abraham’s two prophetic sons, his prophetic grandson Jacob and his prophetic great-grandson Joseph. In the Qur’an, it is later recounted that Abraham also praised GOD for giving him Ishmael and Isaac in his old age (14, 39-41).

Elsewhere in the Qur’an, Isaac is mentioned in lists: Joseph follows the religion of his ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (12, 38) and speaks of GOD’s favor toward them (12, 6); Jacob’s sons all testify to their faith and promise to worship the GOD that their ancestors, “Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac,” worshipped (2, 127); and the Qur’an commands Muslims to believe in the revelations that were given to “Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the patriarchs” (2, 136 ; 3, 84). In the Qur’anic narrative of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son (37, 102), the son’s name is not mentioned and debate has continued over the identity of the son, although many believe that identity is the least important element in a story that is given to show the courage that develops through faith.