“The Bible does not give a specific age, but there are events surrounding Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac which gives us clues. Most scholars believe that Isaac was in his late teen’s or early twenties at the time of the offering.
- At the time that Isaac was conceived, we are told that Abraham was 99 years old, his wife Sarah was 90, and Ishmael was 13 (Genesis 17:1, 17, 25). Ishmael was sent out of Abraham’s house at the time Isaac was weaned (Genesis 21). The age of weaning varies greatly between cultures but typically it would be between the ages of 2 and 5. The next given event is a covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, but no ages are given to tell us when this occurred. It was some time after this covenant that Isaac was offered. After the sacrifice of Isaac came news of Abraham’s relatives in Haran and then we are told that Sarah died at the age of 127. (Genesis 23:1).
- Abram (Abraham’s original name) lived in the land of the Philistines “many days” (verse 34). In biblical terms a day often refers to a year, so how many years Abram lived there is anyone’s guess, but “many” days (years) would likely indicate at least ten. However, we do know it was “after these things” that God told him to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1).These allusions would suggest that some time had elapsed prior to the offering of Isaac.
- Hence, the sacrifice of Isaac must have occurred between the age of 5 and 36, which is quite a broad span. In addition, Isaac is referred to as a “lad” or na’ar in Hebrew in Genesis 22:5 and 12. This noun is used to refer to a male from infancy to young adult not yet married. For example, Joseph is called a lad at the age of seventeen (Genesis 37:2) and at the age of thirty (Genesis 41:12, 46).
- Isaac was given the task of carrying the wood for the impending sacrifice (22:6). There would have been enough wood to consume a human body when set on fire. Could a 5- to 7-year-old child carry such a burden?
Several commentators have weighed in on this question. Leupold wrote: “He may by this time have arrived at the age of some eighteen to twenty years” (1942, 1:625). Josephus stated: “Now Isaac was twenty-five years old” (1.13.2). Adam Clarke said: “[I]t is more probable that he was now about thirty-three” (1:140, emp. in orig.). Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown asserted that Isaac was “then upwards of twenty years of age” (n.d., p. 29). J. Curtis Manor described him as “a youth of sufficient strength and agility to carry a load of firewood up a mountainside” (1994, p. 103). Keil and Delitzsch affirmed that “this son had grown into a young man” (1976, 1:248). Morris added: “[T]he meaning in Isaac’s case should also be ‘young man’ ” (1976, p. 373).
We conclude that as the several lines of evidence converge, they point to Isaac being a young man—not a young boy.
EXCERPTS TAKEN From HERE , HERE and HERE
