Commentary: On Genesis

The Judeo-Arabic commentary of ‘Alī ibn Sulaymān on the Torah, like many of the other Karaite commentaries of his generation, is an abridgment and summary of Abū ’l-Faraj Hārūn’s digest of Yūsuf ibn Nūḥ’s commentary. In this passage, ‘Alī comments on the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22:1–18), exploring exegetical and linguistic problems that relate to ‘Alī’s greater theological perspective and the assumptions—shared by many Jewish, Muslim, and Christian intellectuals of this milieu—about how divine commands operate. Here, he objects to individuals who read the word ‘olah as “one who goes up.” In the sacrificial cult of the Temple, the word means “burnt-offering”; if one takes its meaning in this context, Abraham was told to sacrifice his son on an altar with all the acts that a Temple sacrifice usually entails. Accepting this scenario, ‘Alī then interprets the events of the binding of Isaac in a way that makes more theological sense.