Abraham’s Silence, J. Richard Middleton. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021.
Summary: Challenges the traditional reading of the binding of Isaac that valorizes Abraham’s silence as unquestioning obedience and faith, contending that God wanted more than silent obedience.
Abraham is held up as an exemplar of faith, who believed God and was reckoned righteous. Perhaps nowhere is this view of Abraham held up more than in the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, known to Jewish readers as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew “to bind.” Abraham’s unquestioning obedience is upheld as a model of faith, that “God would provide the lamb,” that Abraham believed that he and Isaac would return to the servants. and the testimony of Hebrews 11:17-19 that Abraham believed “God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.”
Yet many thoughtful readers find this narrative disturbing. The idea that God would command such a sacrifice, even as a test, disturbs (although it must be noted that God prevents the act, subsequently forbidding all child sacrifice, in contrast to the gods of surrounding peoples.) Yet the images of the bound Isaac, and the raised knife shake us. What also disturbs J. Richard Middleton is the silence of Abraham. The narrative record does not record Abraham saying anything to God. He rises early the next morning (perhaps to avoid Sarah?), packs up the donkey with wood, and leaves with Isaac and two servants. No plea to spare his son for the sake of the promise. No plea to take him rather than the child of the promise. No nothing. Middleton proposes that part of the test is whether Abraham would talk back to God.
Middleton makes the case that there is a strong element running through scripture of “lament with an edge.” This is seen throughout the Psalms where God’s people cry out to God in pain and suffering that it doesn’t seem that God sees or hears, wondering how long he will permit this. Moses challenges God, convincing God to spare Israel despite their idolatry, pleading God’s reputation among the nations. He refuses to settle for less than God’s presence with him. And God accedes to all this and reveals himself as the God of steadfast love and faithfulness.
Much of the book, Part Two, is devoted to the exemplar par excellence of talking back to God–Job. He contends that Job’s vigorous protest is approved by God, in contrast to the counsel of his “comforters.” The fact that God speaks twice indicates he wants Job to speak back
Against this Old Testament backdrop, Middleton contends Abraham stands out in his silence. He acknowledges the scholarship of Walter Moberly and Jon Levenson that rules out criticisms of Abraham because these are external to the text. Middleton credits this precept but contends there are subtle textual cues to suggest that God wanted more than silent obedience. He notes the shift from YHWH to elohim, suggesting the test involved whether Abraham would perceive something different about the God of the covenant from the gods (elohim) of surrounding peoples. He notes the early departure, perhaps to avoid discussion with Sarah, and the three-day silent journey to a location that should have taken a day (Abraham doesn’t want to do this, but says nothing, just drags his feet), And there are the words to Isaac, “God will provide the lamb, my son.” Middleton says we assume the comma but what if this was not in Abraham’s mind? Middleton includes an amusing comic here to make the point.
Perhaps most striking is that afterward, Isaac parts from Abraham, returning only to bury Abraham. Sarah is also recorded as living apart from Abraham. Isaac’ life in many ways is a parenthesis between Abraham and Jacob. Middleton wonders how different this would have been if Abraham advocated for his son. For example in Jacob’s eyes, the God of Abraham is the fear of Isaac. Middleton wonders if the family dysfunctions of this family began at this time.
Middleton proposes that Abraham barely passes the test, maybe a “C”–he obeys–but that God wanted more. He wanted to see if Abraham would actively speak back, to advocate for the son and for the promise. Sadly, he did not, and also failed to see the richness of God’s mercy.
There is much to be said for this proposal. There is a pattern of Abraham’s willingness to put others at jeopardy–Sarah, Ishmael, and Hagar. In each instance God bales them out, as he does with Isaac. The exception seems to be Lot and Sodom, in Genesis 18, where Abraham pleads from fifty to ten righteous to save the city. Middleton notes that even here, he stops, though Lot and his family number less than ten. Fearing to anger God (although God showed no anger with his pleading), he fails discover how far God’s mercy would go. All he sees is the destruction of the cities, not knowing of Lot’s rescue…and he just moves on. Would Abraham go further in pleading for “his only son, the son he loved”? He doesn’t.
There is also the fallout of the binding in the fracturing of the family, and the likely trauma to Isaac. God works redemptively over the generations, but was this what God intended? Middleton raises profound questions that make us look afresh at this narrative.
Yet I find Middleton unconvincing on several counts. There are Abraham’s utterances to Isaac and the servants. Middleton treats these as brave but unbelieving when in fact they prove out. There is the specific approbation of the angel of the Lord and the restatement of the promise of blessing. Middleton notes subtleties in the language that in his mind qualify this approbation. I found them unconvincing.
I also looked for a discussion of Hebrews 11:17-19 in the text. Christians “valorize” (to use Middleton’s term) Abraham at least in part because of this text, taking our cue for how we read the story from the inspired writer of Hebrews. Middleton’s discussion was not to be found in the text but only in a footnote (59) on page 213-214. He writes:
“The New Testament also seems to validate Abraham’s attempt to sacrifice Isaac. In Heb. 11:17-19, Abraham is praised for his faith in the resurrection (he believed God could raise Isaac), which is the reason why he went ahead with the sacrifice of his son. Beyond noting that the explicit doctrine of the resurrection did not arise until after the exile. I would point to Heb. 11:32, which list none other than Jephthah as a hero of faith (in contrast to his portrayal as an unsavory character in Judg. 11). This is clearly based on extra-biblical tradition and not on the biblical text itself.“
Middleton’s argument is to find one questionable element (Jephthah) in the Hebrews 11 account to throw shade on the account of Abraham. This, to me is not an adequate argument for why Christians should not heed the testimony of Hebrews 11 concerning Abraham, and placing such an argument in a footnote reflects to me a reluctance to address evidence that contradicts his argument.
What Middleton does for me is make me look afresh at this challenging text. Along with him, I find myself wondering at Abraham’s silence toward God. I’m less certain than Middleton that Abraham barely passed the test but I do find myself wondering “what if?” I find myself wondering about the “cost” of this test to Abraham’s family. Yes, God did provide the sacrifice but Abraham, at least in a relational sense, lost a son (and, it seems, Sarah as well). What Middleton does is offer a challenge to address these costs for traditional views that valorize Abraham. He also offers the examples of vigorous prayers that take God seriously enough to lament and to contend with God. Whatever my questions about his reading of Abraham, this is a contribution I can wholeheartedly affirm.
I have not read this book, so my comments are on observations of the pitfalls of learning scripture through popular contemporary writing. I found this particularly frustrating during my years in the pastorate. Groups within the congregation would invite me to comment on a book they were studying. These books were written by well-meaning people who were sharing insights that helped them make sense of the scriptures.
In general, they all tripped over the same hurdle. The books skipped over the cultural shift between Oriental (Middle Eastern) language and western sensibilities. On the surface, Abraham’s silence is only problematic if one assumes that “belief” is a matter of intellectual assent. Throughout my theological studies, I realized that various Western traditions often grew from points of controversy over the so-called tenants of faith which became a sort of litmus test for correct thinking. In the biblical studies world, however, things seemed different. Instead of the Bible presenting texts from which theology could be extracted, it was a source of understanding the world in a different way.
(Okay, I’ll try to cut this short.)
If Abraham were to have challenged God saying “Wait a minute, this is the heir of YOUR promise…” there would be no hint of belief. Obedience, not negotiation*, is the mark of belief. (Hebrew is a picture language that is pretty much devoid of abstract words. Everything is conveyed by description and not abstract, psychological vocabulary.) This is everywhere, in both testaments, once you start looking. Consider Jacob at the ford of the Jabbok or the woman in the Garden when the serpent addresses the question: “Did God say…” (Gen 3:1). Martin Luther commented on that by asking how one can answer such a question without presuming to speak for God. The response of faith, in that case, would be obedient silence. The fall from grace begins when, instead of obedience, people speak for God, and, as the Genesis text shows, get it wrong. A similar language dynamic is at the basis of Jesus’ parable of the two sons (Mt 21:28-32) where the issue is love and respect, but the sign of belief comes down to obedience.
I don’t see discontinuity between the Genesis account of the sacrifice of Isaac and the Hebrews reference. In Abraham’s world, child sacrifice was not an alien idea. Why would he argue that the God who called him could not demand as much as the gods of the nations? When God speaks to him, obedience is the only option. (Otherwise, he must not have believed that it was God who spoke.) This makes the dialogue on the way to the altar so absolutely heart-rending. “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for sacrifice” (Gen 22:8). There is no answer that Abraham can give to Isaac; he moves forward into the mystery of God and finds that a gracious path opens.
*NOTE: Yes, I know that the scriptures have scenes where Moses, Abraham, Jesus, and others appear to negotiate. That’s another topic that speaks to the level of intimacy between the prophets and God. (Again, we are in an Oriental world where abstract concepts are presented as picture narratives.)
Rob, appreciate these comments. I, too, have thought that there are times when silent obedience to the king is the only option, although Abraham is not silent when God discloses his plans for Lot’s home of Sodom.
How do you think about the subsequent separation of Abraham from both Isaac and Sarah? Is it simply unbelief on their parts?
I should note that Rich Middleton is a fine biblical scholar, well-conversant with other biblical scholarship and cultural contexts. As I noted, I was not convinced of his reading, though it challenges me, and I think others, who would hold to the traditional reading of this text.
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