Isaac

Family: Israelite · Role: ancestor · First appears: Matthew 1

Isaac is an Israelite ancestor, identified in Matthew 1 as the son of Abraham and the father of Jacob. In Matthew 22, Jesus invokes God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, declaring that God is God of the living; Mark 12 and Luke 20 repeat this teaching. Romans 9 presents Isaac as the one through whom Abraham’s promised seed would be called—“In Isaac shall thy seed be called”—and records Rebecca conceiving by him. Isaac is also named the parent of Esau, with Jacob designated as the elder’s successor.

Galatians 4 identifies Isaac as a child of promise, contrasting him with the son of Agar, while Hebrews 11 says Sara conceived and gave birth to him despite being past childbearing age. Hebrews also records that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. James 2 recalls Abraham offering Isaac on the altar: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?”