Isaac and Esau

The Midrash explicitly stresses Isaac's characteristics as a victim of the desire to appease. One translation of the text even describes the active role played by Isaac in the act of sacrifice: According to this text, as Abraham attended to the task of slaying his son, Isaac asked his father to tie his hands so that he would not tremble and thereby obstruct the act or sully its purity at the fateful hour. Josephus tells us that according to tradition, when Isaac learned that he would be sacrificed, he happily ran to the altar. The child had accepted the Highest Authority, which symbolizes the father's authority and the need to bear the burden of the laws of society. Other interpreters go still further, stating that Isaac tied himself to the altar with his own hands.