Keraia
People

Isaac

Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, and the father of Jacob and Esau. God made a covenant with him, renewing the promises given to Abraham.

The name Isaac means “laughter”

MaleEarly PatriarchPatriarchs eraOld & New Testaments21 books149 verses

Summary

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Genesis 17:19; referred to as Isaac (יִצְחָק, יִשְׂחָק) or Isaac (Ἰσαάκ); a son of Abraham and Sarah; half-brother of: Ishmael, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah; husband of Rebekah; father of Esau and Israel.

Profile

The name Isaac means "he laughs," which reflects how he was born. When God promised Isaac's birth, both Abraham and Sarah laughed in disbelief (Genesis 17:15–19; 18:9–15). God had promised Abraham a son (Genesis 15:4–6). But, no son had come, and Abraham and Sarah were too old to have children. So, when Isaac was born, they laughed with joy (Genesis 21:6–7).

When Isaac was a teenager, God tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1–19). Abraham's faith stayed strong. He obeyed and Isaac submitted to his. God then intervened and provided a ram to sacrifice instead of Isaac. Because of Abraham's faith, God promised him great blessings (Genesis 22:15–18).

Isaac married Rebekah and was ready to continue the chosen family line, but Rebekah could not have children (Genesis 25:21). Instead of trying to solve problems by himself as his father had done (see Genesis 16:1–16), Isaac prayed to the Lord, and Rebekah gave birth to twin sons. Isaac preferred Esau, the older son, while Rebekah preferred Jacob. This favoritism led to Jacob deceiving Isaac when he was old and blind (Genesis 27:1–40). Favoritism continued to be an issue among Isaac’s descendants (see Genesis 29:30; 33:1–2; 37:4).

Isaac followed his father Abraham's example in dealing with nearby nations. During a famine, he visited another kingdom and, out of fear, said his wife was his sister (Genesis 26:1–11; compare 12:10–20; 20:1–18). Like his father, Isaac became wealthy in that land and was asked to leave (Genesis 26:12–16; compare 12:16–20). He faced disputes over water and land with other herdsmen (Genesis 26:17–22; compare 21:25–31). He also made a treaty with the king of the Philistines (Genesis 26:26–31; compare 21:22–32).

Isaac received the same promise as his father (Genesis 26:2–5, 23–25; compare 22:16–18). He showed his commitment by continuing the practice of circumcision, which symbolized the covenant (see Acts 7:8). As the child of promise, Isaac represents all who are Abraham's children through faith in Christ. They are free to live as God's children, not as slaves (see Galatians 4:21–5:1).

Passages for Further Study

Genesis 17:19–21; 21:1–12; 22:1–19; 24:1–8, 14, 62–67; 25:5–11, 19–28; 26:1–28:9; 31:42; 35:12, 27–28; 48:15–16; 49:31; Exodus 3:6; Joshua 24:3–4; Romans 9:6–10; Galatians 4:21–31; Hebrews 11:8–9, 17–20

Events

Glossary entries

Isaac

Family members

Father

Abraham

Mother

Sarah

Spouse

Rebekah

Siblings

Ishbak Ishmael Jokshan Medan Midian Shuah Zimran

Children

Esau Israel

Family tree

0 people
Loading the family network…
Lines join parents and children, and spouses. Zoom in to see more names. Larger circles: mentioned more often. Click a person to see their line.

Alternative names

Mentions

149 verses

Includes 26 verses that refer to Isaac without naming them, as “he”, “she”, or the subject of a verb.

  1. Exodus 3:16
    Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
  2. Exodus 4:5
    “This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
  3. Exodus 6:3
    I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.
  4. Exodus 6:8
    And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”
  5. Exodus 32:13
    Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
  6. Exodus 33:1
    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’
  7. Leviticus 26:42
    …then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
  8. Numbers 32:11
    ‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—
  9. Deuteronomy 1:8
    See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”
  10. Deuteronomy 6:10
    And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,
  11. Deuteronomy 9:5
    It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  12. Deuteronomy 9:27
    Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.
  13. Deuteronomy 29:13
    …and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  14. Deuteronomy 30:20
    …and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
  15. Deuteronomy 34:4
    And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”
  16. Joshua 24:3
    But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,
  17. Joshua 24:4
    …and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
  18. 1 Kings 18:36
    At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.
  19. 2 Kings 13:23
    But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.
  20. 1 Chronicles 1:28
    The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael.
  21. 1 Chronicles 1:34
    Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
  22. 1 Chronicles 16:16
    …the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.
  23. 1 Chronicles 29:18
    O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.
  24. 2 Chronicles 30:6
    At the command of the king, the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.
  25. Psalm 105:9
    …the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.
  26. Jeremiah 33:26
    …then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”
  27. Amos 7:9
    The high places of Isaac will be deserted, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with My sword.”
  28. Amos 7:16
    Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
  29. Matthew 1:2
    Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
  30. Matthew 8:11
    I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
  31. Matthew 22:32
    ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
  32. Mark 12:26
    But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
  33. Luke 3:34
    …the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
  34. Luke 13:28
    There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.
  35. Luke 20:37
    Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
  36. Acts 3:13
    The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.
  37. Acts 7:8
    Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
  38. Acts 7:32
    ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
  39. Romans 9:7
    Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
  40. Romans 9:10
    Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac.
  41. Galatians 4:28
    Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
  42. Hebrews 11:9
    By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
  43. Hebrews 11:17
    By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,
  44. Hebrews 11:18
    …even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
  45. Hebrews 11:19Referred to, not named
    Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death.
  46. Hebrews 11:20
    By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.
  47. Hebrews 11:39Referred to, not named
    These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
  48. Hebrews 11:40Referred to, not named
    God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.
  49. James 2:21
    Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?