The Satan Provokes God into Testing Job and Abraham

The Book of Job begins with God boasting about Job’s righteousness to the Satan or “Adversary” (הַשָּׂטָן), to which the Adversary retorts that Job’s apparent righteousness is due only to his wealth and happiness:

^{איוב א:יא} וְאוּלָם שְׁלַח נָא יָדְךָ וְגַע בְּכָל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ אִם לֹא עַל פָּנֶיךָ יְבָרֲכֶךָּ.

^{Job 1:11} But lay Your hand upon all that he has, and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.^[1]

Shockingly, God allows the Adversary to make the righteous Job suffer, and even to kill his servants and children, simply to prove the point:

^{איוב א:יב} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הוָה אֶל הַשָּׂטָן הִנֵּה כָל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ בְּיָדֶךָ רַק אֵלָיו אַל תִּשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ...

^{Job 1:12} YHWH replied to the Adversary, “See, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.”^[2]

Immediately afterwards, Job receives a succession of messengers, each one the sole survivor of a tragedy, bringing news that his livestock were consumed by fire or stolen, his herders also consumed or murdered by the raiders, and finally, that his children perished when a tempest destroyed the house in which they feasted (1:13–19).

When Job mourns but remains steadfast in his faith, God allows the Adversary to afflict him with what sounds like a perpetual case of shingles (2:1–8). At this point, Job’s wife suggests he just curse God and die, but Job refuses (2:9–10). Instead, he wholeheartedly curses the day he was born and calls God to account for his unfair treatment (ch. 3). His so-called friends then urge him to accept that he deserved his misfortune, but Job refuses to admit he has done anything to deserve such extreme suffering (chs. 4–31).

Job’s story has a happy ending in some sense (ch. 42), with Job’s fortune being restored, and more kids born (this last translates poorly to the modern ear). Even so, the book remains ambiguous as to whether God was unjust. Notably, God condemns Job’s friends for speaking wrongly about innocent Job, ordering them to repent and offer sacrifices:

^{איוב מב:ח} ...וְאִיּוֹב עַבְדִּי יִתְפַּלֵּל עֲלֵיכֶם כִּי אִם פָּנָיו אֶשָּׂא לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת עִמָּכֶם נְבָלָה כִּי לֹא דִבַּרְתֶּם אֵלַי נְכוֹנָה כְּעַבְדִּי אִיּוֹב.

^{Job 42:8} …And let Job, My servant, pray for you; for to him I will show favor and not treat you vilely, since you have not spoken the truth about me as has My servant Job.

The opening of Job does tell us it was a test (although surprisingly, the root נ.ס.ה/י “test” does not appear in the book). Job never learns that his suffering is due to the Adversary’s challenge, nor does God offer Job any explanation for his suffering. Instead, God speaks out of the whirlwind, overwhelming Job with the awesome and terrifying wonders of creation and reminding him of his puniness, and Job recants his challenge. So the book closes with God as inscrutable, and Job rewarded for his piety.

Job Builds on the Akedah

Abraham is an innocent man who suffers for unexplained reasons. Most of his life, he is unable to have children with his wife Sarah, and soon after YHWH allows them to miraculously conceive Isaac, this same God commands him to sacrifice this long-promised and beloved son. The text tells us explicitly that this was a divine trial: וְהָאֱלֹהִים נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם “God tested Abraham” (Gen 22:1) but offers no explanation as to why God decided on this test.

The similarities between Job and the Akedah (“the Binding of Isaac”) are not coincidental; Judy Klitsner, “The Book of Job and its Paradoxical Relationship with the Akedah,” TheTorah (2015), goes so far as to call Job a “subversive sequel.”^[3] These similarities inspired early interpreters, from the Book of Jubilees to Genesis Rabbah and the Talmud, borrow from Job to help explain why God put Abraham to the test.

Bringing Mastema into the Akedah

The book of Jubilees (ca. early 2^nd cent. B.C.E.) presents itself as a communication from the Angel of the Presence to Moses before he descended Mount Sinai. As James Kugel states, “many of its interpretive traditions are paralleled in the Talmuds and various midrashic collections... suggesting possible influence.”^[4] Jubilees is a retelling of Genesis and Exodus, up to the Sinai revelation, cutting some material and adding other material, much of which fills in lacunae in the biblical narrative.

To explain why God tested Abraham, Jubilees makes use of the introductory narrative in Job, where God’s test is prompted by the Satan/Accuser. Jubilees envisions just such an accuser against Abraham called Mastema, which means “Loathing.”^[5] The hook the homiletical reading is based on the opening phrase, which states that the test came וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה “and it came to pass after these things” (Gen 22:1), which can also be translated as “after these words,” but which words?

^{Jub 17:15} And it came to pass... that words came in heaven concerning Abraham, that he was faithful in everything which was told him and he loved the Lord and was faithful in all affliction. ^17:16 And Prince Mastema came and he said before God, “Behold, Abraham loves Isaac, his son. And he is more pleased with him than everything. Tell him to offer him (as) a burnt offering upon the altar. And You will see whether he will do this thing. And You will know whether he is faithful in everything in which You test him.”^[6]

One key difference between the two texts is that whereas in Job, Satan afflicts Job himself, albeit with God’s permission, in Jubilees, Mastema only goads God into testing Abraham’s faithfulness.

Satan in the Akedah: Babylonian Talmud

In the Talmud, Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra (late 2^nd cent. C.E.) offers a similar account of God’s dialogue, except with Satan instead of Mastema:

^{בבלי סנהדרין פט:} אַחַר מַאי? אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בֶּן זִימְרָא: אַחַר דְּבָרָיו שֶׁל שָׂטָן.

^{b San 89b} “After” what? Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra, “after the words of Satan.”

As opposed to a general observation that Abraham loves his son, Satan here criticizes Abraham’s behavior during the feast celebrating Isaac’s weaning:

^{בבלי סנהדרין פט:} דִּכְתִיב ״וַיִּגְדַּל הַיֶּלֶד וַיִּגָּמַל וְגוֹ׳״. אָמַר שָׂטָן לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, זָקֵן זֶה חֲנַנְתּוֹ לְמֵאָה שָׁנָה פְּרִי בֶטֶן, מִכׇּל סְעוּדָה שֶׁעָשָׂה לֹא הָיָה לוֹ תּוֹר אֶחָד אוֹ גּוֹזָל אֶחָד לְהַקְרִיב לְפָנֶיךָ?

^{b. San 89b} As it is written (Gen. 21:8), “the boy grew and was weaned [and Abraham made a great feast].” Satan said in the presence of the Holy Blessed One, “Master of the Universe, this old man—you favored him with the fruit of the womb at a hundred years old—and out of all the feast he made, he didn’t have one dove or chick to sacrifice before you?”

Satan’s complaint reminds us that Abraham’s neglect of sacrifice contrasts sharply with Job’s sacrifices on behalf of his children:

^{איוב א:ה} וַיְהִי כִּי הִקִּיפוּ יְמֵי הַמִּשְׁתֶּה וַיִּשְׁלַח אִיּוֹב וַיְקַדְּשֵׁם וְהִשְׁכִּים בַּבֹּקֶר וְהֶעֱלָה עֹלוֹת מִסְפַּר כֻּלָּם כִּי אָמַר אִיּוֹב אוּלַי חָטְאוּ בָנַי וּבֵרֲכוּ אֱלֹהִים בִּלְבָבָם כָּכָה יַעֲשֶׂה אִיּוֹב כָּל הַיָּמִים.

^{Job 1:5} When a round of feast days was over, Job would send word to them to sanctify themselves, and, rising early in the morning, he would make burnt offerings, one for each of them; for Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and blasphemed God in their thoughts.” This is what Job always used to do.

If Job scrupulously made burnt offerings for the health of his children, how could Abraham do less? God then comes to Abraham’s defense:

^{בבלי סנהדרין פט:} אָמַר לוֹ: כְּלוּם עָשָׂה אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל בְּנוֹ? אִם אֲנִי אוֹמֵר לוֹ ״זְבַח אֶת בִּנְךָ לְפָנַי״ מִיָּד זוֹבְחוֹ. מִיָּד ״וְהָאֱלֹהִים נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם״.

^{b. San 89b} [God] said to him, “He did it only for the sake of his son. If I ask him to sacrifice his son before me, he will at once sacrifice him.” Immediately, “God tested Abraham.”

Though we cannot trace a clear line from Jubilees to the rabbis, Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra is working with the same homiletical hook, and using Job as the paradigm.

Abraham Complains about Himself: Genesis Rabbah

Like Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra,^[7] Genesis Rabbah connects the test with the feast for Isaac, but in this case, no demonic accuser is necessary; Abraham is the one to critique himself for not offering God any sacrifices:

^{בראשית רבה (וטיקן 30) נה:ד} "אחר הדברים האלה"—הירהורי דברים היו שם. מה הרהר אברהם הרהר ואמ', שמחתי ושימחתי את הכל ולא הפרשתי לקוב'ה לא פר אחד ולא איל אחד.

^{Gen Rab (Vatican 30) 55:4} “After these things”—There were worried thoughts about things.^[8] What did Abraham worry? He worried and said, “I celebrated and had everyone celebrate, but I did not set aside for the Holy Blessed One one bullock or one ram.”

Abraham’s worry mimics that of Job, though with a clear distinction: Job is worried about his children’s behavior at their feasts, and therefore he offers sacrifices on their behalf, while Abraham is worried about his own behavior at his own feast. God’s response is the Akedah, presented to Abraham as if it were a consolation of sorts:

^{בראשית רבה (וטיקן 30) נה:ד} אמ' לו הקב'ה. על מנת שנאמר לך. שתקריב לי את בנך ולא תעכב.

^{Gen Rab (Vatican 30) 55:4} The Holy Blessed One said to him: “[You did so] understanding that it will be said to you^[9] that you should sacrifice your son to Me, and you will not hesitate.”^[10]

The Angels Complain: Genesis Rabbah (Alternative)

Genesis Rabbah then offers an alternative version of this midrash, which is more similar to Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra in the Babylonian Talmud, except that it is not Satan complaining, but the ministering angels:

^{בראשית רבה (וטיקן 30) נה:ד} ועל דע[ת] דר' לעזר דהוא אמ' "אלים" "והאלהים" הוא ובית דינו, מלאכי השרת אמרו אברהם זה שמח ושימח את הכל ולא הפריש לקוב'ה לא פר אחד ולא איל אחד

^{Gen Rab (Vatican 30) 55:4} And according to the opinion of Rabbi Leazar, who said, [when we do not read] “God” [but rather] “and the God” (והאלהים), it refers to Him and his court.^[11] The ministering angels said, “This Abraham, he celebrated and had everyone celebrate, but he did not set aside for the Holy Blessed One one bullock or one ram.”^[12]

God offers the same response to them that he offered to Abraham in the first version:

אמר להם הקב'ה: על מנת שנ' לו שיקריב לי את בנו ולא יעכב.

The Holy Blessed One said to them, [He did so] understanding that it will be said to him that he should sacrifice his son to me, and he will not hesitate.

These variations on the Akedah’s opening, inspired by Job, are all attempting to explain why God tests Abraham. Once the theme of a demonic power’s involvement in the story was incorporated, the rabbis made use if it elsewhere in the Akedah as well.

Samael Tempts Abraham

As they approach the mountain, Isaac inquires about the sacrifice:

^{בראשית כב:ז} וַיֹּאמֶר יִצְחָק אֶל אַבְרָהָם אָבִיו וַיֹּאמֶר אָבִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֶּנִּי בְנִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה הָאֵשׁ וְהָעֵצִים וְאַיֵּה הַשֶּׂה לְעֹלָה.

^{Gen 22:7} Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he answered, “Yes, my son.” And he said, “Here are the firestone and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

As Genesis Rabbah envisions Isaac as at least a teenager if not a full adult^[13]—this is clear from Genesis Rabbah’s presentation of his argument with Ishmael in the previous chapter—the midrash is bothered by why he sounds so childlike. So, Genesis Rabbah creates a backstory to this conversation to give it context,^[14] in which the demonic being Samael,^[15] tries to dissuade both father and son, beginning with Abraham:

^{בראשית רבה (וטיקן 30) נו} בא לו סמאל אצל אברהם אבינו, אמ' לה, "מה סבא אובדת ליבך? בן שניתן לך למאה שנה את הולך לשוחטו?"

^{Gen Rab (Vatican 30) 56} Samael came to our father Abraham, He said to him, “What, old man, have you lost your mind? A son that was given to you at one hundred years, you are going to slaughter him?”

אמ' לו, "על מנת כן."

He said to him, “I understand the consequences.”^[16]

Seeing that Abraham stands firm, Samael targets Abraham’s trust in God, alluding indirectly to his many trials^[17] and implying that Abraham has been tried more than enough already. Perhaps it also raises the possibility that God intends to test Abraham indefinitely, with more and more terrible trials, and follows up his question with a quote from the book of Job:

אמ' לו: "ואם מנסה הוא אתך יתר מיכן יכול את לעמוד? 'הנשה דבר אליך תלא' וגו''".

He said, “And if He tests you more than this can you withstand it? ‘If he tests you with this thing, will you weary’ (Job 4:2)?”^[18]

אמ' ליה, "יתר מן כן."

He said, “[Yes] more than this.”

In quoting Job, Samael may be inviting Abraham to consider whether his trial, like Job’s, might be based on a one-time contest between God and Satan, thus lacking cosmic purpose. But again, Abraham simply replies, “yes,” asserting his utter determination to do God’s will, whatever it may be.^[19]

Samael tries one more time, arguing that Abraham leaves himself open to entrapment:

אמ' לו: "למחר הוא א{ו}מ' לו 'שופך דמים אתה חייב! שפכתה דמו!''"

He said to him: “Tomorrow, he will say to him (=you), ‘you are a shedder of blood, guilty! You spilled his blood!’”

אמ' לו: "על מנת כן."

He said to him, “I understand the consequences.”

Samael then gives up on Abraham and turns to Isaac:

וכיון שלוא הועיל ממנו כלום, בא לו אצל יצחק.

Since [Samael’s] did not succeed at all, he came over to Isaac.

At first, Samael fares no better with the son than with the father:

אמ': "מה ברה העליבתה? הולך הוא לשוחטך!"

He said: “What is this, son of an unfortunate woman? He is going to slaughter you!”

אמ' ליה: "על מנת כן."

He said to him, “I understand the consequences.”

Samael continues to call Isaac’s poor mother to his mind, now adding sibling rivalry into the mix:

אמ' לו: "אם כן, כל אותן הפודגזיות שעשת אימך לישמעאל שנאיה דבייתה ירותה."

He said to him: “If so, will all those fancy tunics your mother made go to Ishmael the enemy of your house as an inheritance?!”

This time, Samael strikes a chord:

כד לא תיעול מילא תיעול פלגה.

What does not succeed in full, may succeed in part.

הדה היא "ויאמר יצחק אל אברהם אביו ויאמר [אבי]" למה אביו אביו שני פעמים? כדי שיתמלא עליו רחמים.

This is [why] (Gen 22:7) “Then Isaac said to his father Abraham [‘Father!]’ Why [does the verse have] ‘his father’ ‘his father’ twice? To make [Abraham] full of pity for him.

Samael does not succeed in making Abraham or even Isaac turn back, although he does make the latter waver just a bit, and question his father like a small child.^[20]

The Angel Needs to Stop Abraham from Strangling Isaac

Calling to Abraham from heaven, the angel emphasizes not laying a hand on Isaac:

^{בראשית כב:יב} וַיֹּאמֶר אַל תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֶל הַנַּעַר וְאַל תַּעַשׂ לוֹ מְאוּמָּה...

^{Gen 22:12} And he said, “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him…”

Picking up on the reference to Abraham’s hand, the midrash asks:

^{בראשית רבה נו:ז} ושכין איכן הוא?

^{Gen Rab 56:7} Where was the knife?

The midrash answers that the knife dissolved in the angels’ tears:

נישלו דמעות ממלאכי השרת עליה ושחת.

Tears had fallen on it from the ministering angels and dissolved it.

One would think that the sudden disappearance of the knife would give Abraham pause, but instead, as if he has put everything he has into steeling himself to complete the sacrifice, he is about to push forward anyway. This is why the announcement comes from the heavens telling him to stop:

אמ' לו, "אחנקנו."

[Abraham] said to him “Then I will strangle him.”

אמ' לו, "אל תשלח ידך אל הנער."

[The angel] said to him “do not raise your hand against the lad.”

Even now it is not over, since Abraham believes he must at least do something, so as not to make the almost-sacrificial act worthless:

אמ' לו, "נוציא ממנו טיפה שלדם."

He said to him, “Let us draw a drop of blood from him.”

אמ' לו, "אל תעשה לו מאומה."

He said “do not do anything to him.”

One can hardly help wondering what Isaac was thinking throughout this tragically absurd dialogue.

Did God Really Learn Something about Abraham?—Jubilees

The angel’s speech in the Torah continues by saying that now he knows that Abraham fears God:

^{בראשית כב:יב} ...כִּי עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ מִמֶּנִּי.

^{Gen 22:12} “…For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.”

In Jubilees, the angel who stops Abraham is none other than the angel dictating the book of Jubilees to Moses, and God tells him explicitly to stop Abraham, in a speech that does not appear in the Torah:

^{Jub 18:9} And I stood before Him and before Prince Mastema. And the Lord said, “Speak to him. Do not let his hand descend upon the child. And do not let him do anything to him because I know that he is one who fears the Lord.”

God does not say here “now I know,” but just “I know,” implying that God has always known but was trying to demonstrate this fact to the angels, good and bad. And this why the angel says “now I know” to Abraham, rather than repeating God’s exact words:

^{Jub 18:10} And I called out to him from heaven and I said to him, “Abraham, Abraham.” And he was terrified and said, “Here I am.” ^18:11 And I said to him, “Do not put forth your hand against the child and do not do anything to him because now I know that you are one who fears the Lord and you did not deny your firstborn son to me.”

In other words, God knows all along, but the Angel of Presence just finds out now,^[21] as does Mastema, who instigated the accusation in the first place:

^{Jub 18:12} And Prince Mastema was shamed.

The claim that God had always known, and that the test was simply a demonstration for the benefit of Mastema and the Angel of Presence, solves the theological conundrum of God learning something new.

Why Would God Do That? Genesis Rabbah

The midrash rereads the verb “to know” as if it were a hiphʿil, a causative form:

^{בראשית רבה נו:ז} "כי עתה ידעתי" וגו'—ידעתי^[22] לכל שאתה אוהביני.

^{Gen Rab 56:7} “For now I know etc.” (Gen 22:12)—I have made it known to all that you love Me.

God makes Abraham’s faithfulness known to all of humanity, not just to Mastema or Satan, in preparation for his progeny being blessed among nations,^[23] thus also softening the ethical problem of God putting his beloved Abraham and Isaac, through such a horrific trial.

Moreover, instead of the angel’s claim that Abraham has proven his fear of God, the midrash presents it as Abraham’s love of God. In rabbinic usage, “fear of God” means deep reverence, at times implying respectful fear of God’s all-powerful justice. This was insufficient for Genesis Rabbah, which sought to eliminate any possible worry that Abraham acted out of fear that God might punish him for disobedience. Moreover, Abraham’s love of God would connect him with the proclamation of Moses, recited twice daily by his descendants in the Shema:

^{דברים ו:ה} וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ.

^{Deut 6:5} You shall love your YHWH with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

This loving covenant, because it is not a relationship of submissive fear, allows Abraham to demand something in return for the terrible test God has imposed on him.

YHWH’s Oath

After Abraham sacrifices the ram, the angel speaks again, and this time, makes an oath:

^{בראשית כב:טז} וַיֹּאמֶר בִּי נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי נְאֻם יְהוָה כִּי יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידֶךָ. ^כב:יז כִּי בָרֵךְ אֲבָרֶכְךָ וְהַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה אֶת זַרְעֲךָ כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וְכַחוֹל אֲשֶׁר עַל שְׂפַת הַיָּם...

^{Gen 22:16} And he said, “By Myself I swear, YHWH declares: Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your favored one, ^22:17 I will bestow My blessing upon you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore…”

This is the only place in the Torah in which God swears on Godself.^[24] Why does God do so here? Because, Genesis Rabbah tells us, Abraham demanded it:

^{בראשית רבה נו:יא} מה צורך היה לאותה בשבועה?

^{Gen Rab 56:11} What was the need of this oath?

אמ' לו. השבע לי שאין את מנשׂה אותי ואת יצחק בני.

He said to Him, “Swear to me not to test me, nor my son Isaac.”^[25]

Genesis Rabbah is unique here. Jubilees praises Abraham’s fear of the Lord, whereas Job can be seen as “subversive sequel” to the Binding of Isaac, implying that Abraham’s suffering may be arbitrary or at least humanly incomprehensible.^[26] Only rabbinic midrash, however, shows Abraham in dialogue with God after the Akedah, still loving God deeply, but demanding reassurance that this was the last test for both him and his son.^[27]