The position of Isaac in the narrative is not so conspicuous ... as that of Abraham or of Jacob. He impersonates, as it were, the peaceful, obedient, and submissive qualities of an equable trust in God, distinct alike from the transcendent faith of Abraham, and from that lower type which in Jacob was learned through discipline and purged from self-will. There are but a few items upon the strength of which a picture of Isaac's character can be constructed. But the submission shown at the crisis of sacrifice, the lonely meditation at eventide, the intercession on his wife's behalf, Jacob's allusion to the object of his father's fear, are details which supply features of ... dignity and grace.... He is, however, a subordinate figure as compared with Abraham and Jacob; and the lower level at which he seems to stand is implied in Genesis 26:5, where the covenant of blessing is granted to Isaac and his seed, ... for their father Abraham's sake.
From "A Dictionary of the Bible" by
