In
recent issue of Torah Forum the suggestion was made that NA(Hebrew
word for
'please') used in the Akieda mitigated the "command" nature of
G-ds request.
In effect G-d said, "If you please (=want to) take your son..".
In a chumash class I conduct we recently reviewed all (8) cases in
Chumash
where G-d said NA. The word NA is usually translated as PLEASE (e.g.
Nu
12,6 --Sifray) while some rishonim (early authorities) believe it
means
NOW. Be that as it may we discovered that in 6 of the 8 cases the word
NA
does not actually mean please but rather denotes (a tone of)
reassurance.
For example: Abraham was childless and so G-d reassures him he will
have
children like the stars(Gen15:5); Yaakov was depressed about being
swindled
continuously by Laban & so G-d reassures him he will
acquire
wealth(Gen31:12); Moses did not think the Jews would believe G-d had
sent
him and so G-d reassures him with a sign(Ex 4:6).
Sometimes the reassurance precedes the source of doubt: for example,
G-d
had already promised to give Abrahams descendants great wealth so that
when
they were about to be thrown out of Egypt (where they suffered
terribly)
G-d reassures them that they will get this wealth (Ex 11:2). In a
similar
vein, G-d had already promised that Isaac will be Abrahams successor
and so
when G-d "orders" him to sacrifice him he does so in a reassuring
tone
because of his promise. It seems clear to me however that the request
of
the Akaydah was a command!
Russell Jay Hendel, Ph.d,ASA; rhendel @ mcs
drexel edu