Who Was Isaac? The Son Whose Name Means Laughter

Isaac is the patriarch people skip. His father is the man who left everything and went. His son is the one who wrestled with God. Isaac sits between them, and most children could not tell you a single thing he did.

That is worth fixing, because the things he did are the kind children can actually copy.

The name

If you have read our post about Sarah, you already know how this begins. His mother laughed when she was told, at ninety, that she would have a son. When he arrived, in Genesis 21, they named him Isaac, which means he laughs.

So the first thing every child should know about Isaac is that his name is a joke, and a kind one. The laugh that meant this is impossible turned into the name of the boy who proved it was not.

The mountain, and how much of it to tell

Genesis 22 is the hardest chapter in Isaac's life, and you cannot tell his story honestly and leave it out.

Abraham is asked to take his son up a mountain and offer him. Isaac carries the wood. On the way he asks his father a question any child would ask: we have the fire and the wood, so where is the lamb? Abraham answers that God will provide it. At the top, God stops Abraham's hand, and a ram caught in a thicket is offered instead.

For small children, that is enough: a father and son went up a mountain, they trusted God when they did not understand, and God provided. Older children will ask harder questions, and they are good questions to sit with rather than rush. Christians have long read this chapter alongside the Gospels, with a beloved son carrying the wood up a hill, and an older child will often notice that on their own.

A wife at a well

Genesis 24 is the most charming chapter in Isaac's story, and it is barely about him. Abraham sends a servant back to the old country to find Isaac a wife. The servant prays for a sign: let the right woman be the one who offers water not only to him but to his camels as well.

Rebekah does exactly that. Ten camels, after a long journey, is a great deal of water and a great deal of walking to and from a well. She volunteers for all of it. Children love the camels, and the point lands without help: she was chosen for being kind to animals when nobody asked her to be.

The man who dug wells

In Genesis 26, Isaac does the thing he is best at, and it is not dramatic. The wells his father dug have been filled in with earth, so Isaac digs them out again. When the neighbours quarrel over one well, he does not fight. He moves on and digs another. They quarrel over that one too, so he moves again. The third well, nobody argues about, and he names it for the room God has given them.

That is Isaac. Not a warrior or a wanderer. A man who kept what his father left him, and who would rather dig a new well than win an argument over the old one.

Why children should meet him

Most of what we ask of children is Isaac's kind of faithfulness: take care of what you have been given, share, and do not fight over the well. Hardly anyone tells them that this is the stuff of a Bible hero too.

The Coptic Orthodox Church still keeps his memory, and celebrates his feast on 28 Mesra, which falls on September 3. He is not a footnote between two famous men. He is part of the family line that leads to Christmas.

Telling it in five minutes

1. His mother laughed when she heard he was coming, so they named him he laughs.
2. He went up a mountain with his father, carried the wood, and trusted God when he did not understand.
3. His wife was found at a well, because she offered to water ten thirsty camels.
4. When people fought over his wells, he did not fight back. He dug a new one.
5. Ask the room: what is something you were given that you can take care of?

The figures

Isaac is not ready to ship yet, and his page has a waitlist you can join for when he is. His mother Sarah and his father Abraham are between print runs right now, and you can read our guide to Abraham first if you are starting at the beginning. All three live in Foundations of Faith, and the figures are made for ages 3 and up, because they have small parts.