Yitschaq's Twofold Character: The Man And His Mission
A good administrator and an excellent chieftain of the clan.
The Scriptures does not spare Yitschaq; in no way does it seek to give us an enhanced impression of him. Indeed it takes care not to pass over or minimize certain traits, which emphasize the weakness of his character. Yitschaq was a typical oriental shepherd. He had an accurate knowledge of the course to be followed in going from pasture to pasture, and even contrived to improve it in its details. Over the tracks dotted with oases he ensured the necessary change of pasture for his flocks, and arranged very competently for the seasonal change of site for his camp. He managed to preserve, and even increase quite considerably, the numbers of the flocks and herds, which he had inherited. He was a good administrator and an excellent chieftain of the clan.
On the other hand some of the episodes related in Bereshith seem to show Yitschaq as of only medium intelligence, to say the least. Quite often his perspicacity is questionable; in the next chapter we shall see how easily he could be influenced by his entourage. It is all very well to insist on the fact that at that time Yitschaq was very old and almost blind, but it seems clear that the chieftain's authority had for some time past fallen into abeyance.
In addition, the details in our possession concerning Yitschaq both in youth and in maturity are at variance with his behavior as an old man. Time and again he gives us the impression of being a man of weak character and indeed inconsistent. There is none of the superhuman greatness and the energetic, forceful activity evinced on occasion by Abraham. There is none of the subtlety, adroitness, and flexible diplomacy of Yacob.
Yitschaq carried out his spiritual mission
Yet we must be careful not to be too severe in judging Yitschaq. No doubt at the human level he lacked the influential genius that we are perhaps too accustomed to discern in certain Scriptural characters. On the other hand it requires to be pointed out and indeed emphasized that in carrying out his spiritual mission Yitschaq always showed himself as a true son of Abraham. Moreover, YAHWEH lost no time in confirming for Yitschaq and his people the idea of the one YAHWEH. Among them there was no infiltration of the idolatrous Canaanite forms of worship which because of their proximity always formed a danger; nor was there any attempt to return to the ancient practices of their polytheistic ancestors.
Yitschaq had carried on the torch transmitted to him by his father; he was to pass it on, intact, to his descendants.
And this spiritual role of Yitschaq's was by no means so easy as we in the twentieth century may be tempted to think.
To sum up: as a man Yitschaq appears to us as a somewhat vague character, but as a man with a mission, the bearer of the Revelation, he proved equal to his heavy task.
Only the western part of the Fertile Crescent, between Haran and the Delta (Land of Goshen).
Abraham came from Ur, halted at Haran, then went down by way of Shechem, Bethel, Hebron (Mamre). There was a short period in Egypt. In short the first Hebrew patriarch traversed the territory of the Fertile Crescent from one end to the other.
Yitschaq YAHWEH's Chosen One Yitschaq Sitemap Scripture History Through the Ages Yitschaq The Hebrew Clan The Land Of Canaan Legal Question Ishmael Abraham's Heir Spiritual Question Ishmael And Mohammed Who Was Yitschaq Yitschaq's Mission Yitschaq's Life Yitschaq's Life Journeys With His Flocks Yitschaq The Story-Teller