The Akedah in Pseudo-Philo: A Paradigm of Divine–Human Reciprocity

Pseudo-Philo (L.A.B.) presents the Akedah, Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22, in a unique manner compared to the rest of the Jewish pseudepigrapha. Not only does the Akedah enjoy a greater frequency of recollection in this rewriting of Israel's foundational narrative, but a special pattern of divine-human interaction can be discerned through examination of the three unambiguous references to the Akedah in L.A.B. Whilst previous studies have focused on these references primarily in the context of atonement theory, the present article seeks to answer a different question: what does the Akedah convey for Pseudo-Philo about the relationship of God with his covenant people? This study proposes that the Akedah represents for Pseudo-Philo the perfect counter-paradigm to Israel's cycle of sin and judgment drawn from Judges and replicated in L.A.B., and is thus the quintessential covenant pattern of divine-human intercourse.