Why was Isaac given this name?

Answer 1

The Book of Genesis says that Isaac was named Isaac at birth. The Hebrew is Yitshaq, and this means 'He laughs' or 'He will laugh', a reference to Abraham's reaction when told that he would have a son.

Answer 2

Other answers from our community:

"He will laugh."

Isaac is the English translation in the King James version of The Bible of the Hebrew

name of the son of Abraham and Sarah, the half-brother of Ishmael, the husband of

Rebecca, and the father of Jacob and Esau.

The root origin of the name in Hebrew is associated with mocking laughter.

Isaac in Hebrew is Yits-khaq (יצחק) which means "he will laugh".

A:

The name Isaac comes from the word "Yitzhak" (also Yitzchaq) in Hebrew, which means "Laughing One", "laughter" or "to laugh". Isaac has one meaning as given by God to Abraham in Genesis, chapter 17 verse 19. It means ''child of the covenant'' or ''child of the promise''. God cannot give the name of His promised child ''laughter'' because this has spiritual significance. In Hebrew there is to ''laugh with joy'' and also ''laughter which is for mockery''. So to say ''laughter'' alone would be incomplete. God values names very much. *Genesis17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Answer 3

Isaac, in Hebrew pronounced Yitzchak, means He will laugh. Abraham gave this name to his son at God's command (Genesis 17).The name alludes to the laughter of Abraham (Genesis 17:17), the laughter of Sarah (Gen.18:12), of Ishmael (21:9), of Rebecca (26:8), and of the anti-Semites (Rashi commentary, on Gen.25:19). Its chief meaning, however, is that the Israelites will have the last laugh (Psalms 126).

Abraham - laughed with complete belief when told the seemingly impossible prophecy that he (an aged man) and the post-menopausal Sarah would have this son, Isaac (Genesis 17).

Sarah - laughed with a somewhat lesser degree of belief at the same prophecy (Genesis 18).

Ishmael - mocked (Genesis 21).

Rebecca - laughed in contentment (Genesis 26).

The anti-Semites - taunted with a canard.

See also the Related Links.

Link: The reliability of the Hebrew Bible

More about Isaac:

Isaac was the second of the three Forefathers and (like Abraham and Jacob) one of the greatest personages in Judaism.
Isaac was a son of Abraham (Genesis ch.21); and God said that His covenant with Abraham would continue with Isaac (Genesis 17:18-19). Isaac had facial features that were identical to Abraham (Rashi commentary, Genesis 25:19).

God tested Abraham by asking him to offer Isaac as an offering (see Genesis ch.22); and this readiness for self-sacrifice bestowed a special holiness upon Isaac (Talmud, Yevamot 64).
Isaac married Rebecca (Genesis ch.24), his second cousin. Rebecca gave birth to two sons, Esau and Jacob (Genesis ch.25).

Link: About Rebecca
God spoke to Isaac, confirming His covenant with him (Genesis ch.26).
Despite harassment from the Philistines, Isaac enjoyed great success (ibid.). He reopened all the wells which his father had dug and the Philistines had stopped up (ibid.). The king of the Philistines, unable to ignore Isaac's phenomenal success, petitioned him to make a mutual treaty of non-aggression (ibid.).

In his advanced years, Isaac sought to bless his elder son Esau (Genesis ch.27). Rebecca took pains to thwart this and to ensure that Jacob would receive the blessing, since she had learned through prophecy (Genesis 25:23) that Jacob would be more favored by God.

Later it became apparent that Isaac admitted to Rebecca's having done the right thing, since he blessed Jacob again (Genesis 28:1-4) even after he found out what had happened (see Genesis 27:6-16).

Link: Isaac's blessing
Isaac sent Jacob to the ancestral family seat in Mesopotamia to choose a wife (Genesis ch.28). Though Jacob didn't return for over twenty years (Genesis 31:38), God granted Isaac extra years, so that he lived on for two decades after Jacob's return.
Isaac was buried next to his father Abraham, in Hebron (Genesis 49:31).

Answer 4

Isaac is from the Hebrew, Yitshaq - 'He laughs' or 'He will laugh'.

Undoubtedly the tradents who passed on these stories orally until they were finally written down later in the first millennium BCE needed prompts to help them to remember which names to associate with which storyline. Leon R. Kass (The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis) believes the name is appropriate because Abraham laughed when God said his wife would bear a son at the age of 90 (Ge 17:17).

Answer 5

laughter