Iscah

Iscah
Iscah
Born	Ur Kaśdim, Kaldea, Sumer; (present-day southern Iraq)
Died	unknown
Other names	Yiskāh Jessica
Parent	Haran
Relatives	Lot (brother), Milcah (sister), Abraham (uncle), Sarah (aunt), Nahor (uncle/brother-in-law), Lot's wife (sister-in-law), Lot's daughters (nieces), Moab (nephew/grandnephew), Ben-Ammi (nephew/grandnephew), Bethuel (nephew/cousin), Isaac (cousin), Rebekah (grandniece), Laban (grandnephew)

Iscah (Hebrew: יִסְכָּה Yīskā; Greek: Ἰεσχά) is the daughter of Haran and the niece of Abraham in the Book of Genesis. The passage in which Iscah is mentioned is extremely brief. As a result rabbinical scholars have developed theories to explain it, typically adopting the claim that Iscah was an alternate name for Sarah (Sarai), the wife of Abraham, particularly that it denoted her role as a prophetess.

The Babylonian Talmud connects the name Iscah to an Aramaic verbal rooting, meaning "to see". It connects the name with prophetic foresight.^[1] Modern scholars are not convinced by the Talmud's explanation, and Iscah's etymology is currently regarded as uncertain.^[2]^[3]^[1]

"Iscah" is also believed to be the source of the name "Jessica", via a character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice.

^ ^a ^b David J. Zucker; Moshe Reiss (27 August 2015). The Matriarchs of Genesis: Seven Women, Five Views. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-62564-396-4.. The place of the Talmud referred by Zucker and Reiss is Sanhedrin 69b.
^ Butler, Trent C, ed (1991). "Iscah," Holman Bible Dictionary [1].
^ Joseph Blenkinsopp (8 July 2015). Abraham: The Story of a Life. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4674-4377-7.

[ZuckerReiss2015-1] David J. Zucker; Moshe Reiss (27 August 2015). The Matriarchs of Genesis: Seven Women, Five Views. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-62564-396-4.. The place of the Talmud referred by Zucker and Reiss is Sanhedrin 69b.

[2] Butler, Trent C, ed (1991). "Iscah," Holman Bible Dictionary [1].

[Blenkinsopp2015-3] Joseph Blenkinsopp (8 July 2015). Abraham: The Story of a Life. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4674-4377-7.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Iscah
Born	Ur Kaśdim, Kaldea, Sumer (present-day southern Iraq)
Died	unknown
Other names	Yiskāh Jessica
Parent	Haran
Relatives	Lot (brother), Milcah (sister), Abraham (uncle), Sarah (aunt), Nahor (uncle/brother-in-law), Lot's wife (sister-in-law), Lot's daughters (nieces), Moab (nephew/grandnephew), Ben-Ammi (nephew/grandnephew), Bethuel (nephew/cousin), Isaac (cousin), Rebekah (grandniece), Laban (grandnephew)