Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/908

* ISAAC. 802 ISAAC I., COMNENUS. then forty years of age. After twenty years two sons were born, Esau anil Jacob. The sons were diirerent in cbaractcr, with the result that Isaac loved Esau better, while Kcbekah loved .Jacob (Gen. x.w. 21-34). ^VIlen a famine came uj)on the land of Canaan, Isaac was warned of God not to go down to Egj'pt, but to go to Ahimelech, King of Gerar. Here he practiced the same deceit as his father before him, saying that his wife was really his sister, lie prospered greatly in the land and excited the envy of the inhabitants, who twice took away the wells that he had digged. A third well was left un- molested and he called it Beersheba ((ien. xxvi.). In his old age Isaac became blind, and, fearing that he was soon going to die, was anxious to bless his favorite .son Esau. By dressing in hairy garments .Tacob was able to deceive his father and received the blessing intended for his brother. In consequence of this Jacob had to leave home, but not before he had received a second blessing from his fallier (Gen. xxvii.). Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years. long enough to see his son deceived by his children when they sold their brother Joseph. He was buried by Jacob and Esau in the cave of Mach- pelah (Gen. x..v. 29; xlix. 31). It is the opinion of many scholars at the present time that Isaac is a tribal name, and the theory is plausible that the full name was once Yii;haki:t, i.e. El (or god) laughs. The tribal character has. however, been so entirelj' obscured by the exuberant legendary growth around a supposed personality that it is difH- eult to determine wliere the home of the tribe lay; it may 'vith some probability be located about Beersheba, which is more specifically asso- ciated with Isaac, as Hebron is with Abraham and Bethel with Jacob. The tribe, or its off- shoots, became one of the elements that formed the Hebrew confederacy, and the stories of the three patriarchs, Abraham. Isaac, and .Jacob, represent merely the gradual coalition of tradi- tions existing among the elans which were united in the confederacy known as Bene Israel or Is- raelites. Scholars who accept the composite character of the present Book of Genesis believe that the Isa.ac narrative contains: (a) specimens of He- brew folk-lore, as the storv of Isaac's birth, and the play upon his name, 'the laughter:' (b) a bit of religious doctrine in the story of the sacrifice, illustrating at once the proper attitude of the piovis Yaliweh-wiirshiper, which is also found in the Pentatcichnl codes, .against liuman sacri- fice: (c) traditions of the wanderings of some of the Hebrew tribes during the nomadic period of primitive Semitic culture. In the accovints of Isaac's birth there is a deliberate attempt to modify tradition so as to make it appear that Isaac is the legitimate and 'only son of Abraham. The claims of Ishmael (q.v. ). who is Hie older, cannot be altogether set aside, but the distinctively Hebraic point of view is brought out, not only by making Isaac the offspring of Sarah — the true wife of Abraham — but by the elaborate account of the promise made to Abraham that he should have a son by Sarah, despite the tatter's great age, and by the em- phasis laid upon the joy that Isaac's coming occasioned on all sides. The setting aside of Ishmael to make room for Isaac reflects the separation of the Ishmaelite clan or elans from the Hebrews. Ishmael not having formed an element in the Hebrew confederacy, the very closeness of the bond l)elwcen the two as pre- served by tradition even among the Hebrews be- comes the motive for transforming these tradi- tions in such a manner as to present Ishmael in as unfavorable light as possible. Hence in the most important incident of the Isaac nar- rative, the journey of Abraham and Isaac to the place of sacrifice, Isaac is not only called the beloved but the only son of Abraham, with the evident intent of ignoring jshmael alto- gether. The story of Isaac's sacrifice may be a genuine Jewish midrash. not based at all upon popular tradition, but deliberately introduced as a mashal or allegory to illustrate Abraham's implicit obedience to Valiwch. Abraham in this story is the type of the true and pious Yahweh- worshiper, according to the ideas of exilic writers. The place lo which father and son go is Mount Jloriah, i.e. the temple mount, and critics are generally agreed that this manner of localization betrays the hands of a Jiidaite. who desired not only to present the allegory, but also to add to the claims of .Jerusalem as the central and only legitimate sanctuary of Yahweh. The main point of the allegory is to confirm the attitude of the Pentateuchal codes, which oppose human sacrifices, but recognize animal offerings as an indispensable feature of the cult. hcn we come to the wanderings of Isaac from Kchobotli to (Jerar, and from Gerar to Beersheba, and the quarrels over the wells, we are again in the presence of popular traditions regarding the nomadic period, to which, how- ever, a religious turn has been given by the com- pilers of the tradition in making Isaac a type of the mild and peace-loving Israelite; and once more the artificial (though also artistic) char- acter of the Isaac narrative is revealed in mak- ing Isaac die at Mamre-Hebron (Gen. xxxv. 27), in order to locate his burial-place in the cave of Machpelah with Abraham, wlicieas Isaac's real home is Beersheba. As for the stories of Isaac's relationship to his two sons, Esau and .lacol), they reflect again the rivalry between Eiloni and Israel. (See Jacob.) Consult the commentaries on Genesis (see Genesis, Book of), chapters xviii.-x..v. ISAAC, Sacrifice of. (1) A painting by Rembrandt, in Saint Petersburg. (2) A fresco by Raphael in the Vatican. ISAAC I., COMNE'NUS (?-10Gl). Byzan- tine Kni|Hror from lO.j" to 10.59. He was the first of the line of the Comneni to a.scend the throne, though his family had been for some time prominent in both militaiy and civil capacities. In 10.57 he was proclaimed Emperor by the landed aristocracy in opposition to iliehael VI.. whom he defeated and deposed. On his accession he found the affairs of the Empire in a very bad condition; rebellion within, aggression without, and the treasury exhausted. He succeeded in establishing a system of great economy in all branches of the administration, and. in order still further to lighten the burden of taxes on the people, called upon the clergy to contribute their share. But the clergy refused to endure the im- position of any such burdens, and the Patriarch Michael is reported to have even threatened him with deposition. Death delivered Isaac of this formidable opponent, and the clergy were com-