How's this for a twist on the traditional "meaning of the song". Abraham, the father, is summoned to the mountain to sacrifice his son...a HUMAN BEING. Until this time, God has only accepted animal sacrifices and shown a complete devotion and love for the sanctity of human life. Now, here's where it may get wierd and possibly offensive to some people, but here we go, anyway. WHAT IF God hadn't been the one who summoned Abraham to the mountain? What if this was a rouse by Satan to lure Abraham into a trap that would ultimately lead to the murder of Isaac by his own father, thereby destroying relations between God and Abraham? Abraham's daughter know's something is terribly wrong, and follows father and son to the mountain. At the last moment, an angel of God does appear to stop the murder. Thus, the line "How darest you child defy your father (God). You better let young Isaac go." is not directed at the daughter, but Abraham himself! Not sure what really happened on that mountain, but some theologians do consider the "evil plot theory" to at least be a possibility.
It is interesting to me that you discuss theological theories without being aware of the fact that Isaac did not have a sister. In the New Testament, when Jesus refers to someone as a son or daughter of Abraham, He's refering to spiritual inheritance, not biological. "Father Abraham" was called so because of generations. In direct lineage, he only had two children: Ishmael and Isaac. No daughter. The lyrics to the song are a apocryphal, and even declared as such by the composer.
It is interesting to me that you discuss theological theories without being aware of the fact that Isaac did not have a sister. In the New Testament, when Jesus refers to someone as a son or daughter of Abraham, He's refering to spiritual inheritance, not biological. "Father Abraham" was called so because of generations. In direct lineage, he only had two children: Ishmael and Isaac. No daughter. The lyrics to the song are a apocryphal, and even declared as such by the composer.
@soonerbob As much as I hate to rain on any theories parades, this one is terrible and no one would want to consider it. Especially with this song or the traditional story, even though a daughter wasn't in it the concept could still work with Abrahams other son Ishmael. But either way, my point is that the idea is over done to death, to easy and obvious and therefore due to both points, incredibly boring. I don't hope to deter you from thinking of alternatives or by any means stop your imagination. Far from. But where this is concerned the...
@soonerbob As much as I hate to rain on any theories parades, this one is terrible and no one would want to consider it. Especially with this song or the traditional story, even though a daughter wasn't in it the concept could still work with Abrahams other son Ishmael. But either way, my point is that the idea is over done to death, to easy and obvious and therefore due to both points, incredibly boring. I don't hope to deter you from thinking of alternatives or by any means stop your imagination. Far from. But where this is concerned the song would lose alot of impact or meaning from this and where the idea is concerned full stop it is just as my previous points were. That type of plot is the most obvious and always over done route.
How's this for a twist on the traditional "meaning of the song". Abraham, the father, is summoned to the mountain to sacrifice his son...a HUMAN BEING. Until this time, God has only accepted animal sacrifices and shown a complete devotion and love for the sanctity of human life. Now, here's where it may get wierd and possibly offensive to some people, but here we go, anyway. WHAT IF God hadn't been the one who summoned Abraham to the mountain? What if this was a rouse by Satan to lure Abraham into a trap that would ultimately lead to the murder of Isaac by his own father, thereby destroying relations between God and Abraham? Abraham's daughter know's something is terribly wrong, and follows father and son to the mountain. At the last moment, an angel of God does appear to stop the murder. Thus, the line "How darest you child defy your father (God). You better let young Isaac go." is not directed at the daughter, but Abraham himself! Not sure what really happened on that mountain, but some theologians do consider the "evil plot theory" to at least be a possibility.
It is interesting to me that you discuss theological theories without being aware of the fact that Isaac did not have a sister. In the New Testament, when Jesus refers to someone as a son or daughter of Abraham, He's refering to spiritual inheritance, not biological. "Father Abraham" was called so because of generations. In direct lineage, he only had two children: Ishmael and Isaac. No daughter. The lyrics to the song are a apocryphal, and even declared as such by the composer.
It is interesting to me that you discuss theological theories without being aware of the fact that Isaac did not have a sister. In the New Testament, when Jesus refers to someone as a son or daughter of Abraham, He's refering to spiritual inheritance, not biological. "Father Abraham" was called so because of generations. In direct lineage, he only had two children: Ishmael and Isaac. No daughter. The lyrics to the song are a apocryphal, and even declared as such by the composer.
@soonerbob As much as I hate to rain on any theories parades, this one is terrible and no one would want to consider it. Especially with this song or the traditional story, even though a daughter wasn't in it the concept could still work with Abrahams other son Ishmael. But either way, my point is that the idea is over done to death, to easy and obvious and therefore due to both points, incredibly boring. I don't hope to deter you from thinking of alternatives or by any means stop your imagination. Far from. But where this is concerned the...
@soonerbob As much as I hate to rain on any theories parades, this one is terrible and no one would want to consider it. Especially with this song or the traditional story, even though a daughter wasn't in it the concept could still work with Abrahams other son Ishmael. But either way, my point is that the idea is over done to death, to easy and obvious and therefore due to both points, incredibly boring. I don't hope to deter you from thinking of alternatives or by any means stop your imagination. Far from. But where this is concerned the song would lose alot of impact or meaning from this and where the idea is concerned full stop it is just as my previous points were. That type of plot is the most obvious and always over done route.