# Isaac — Two Treatises of Government character guide

> Isaac in Two Treatises of Government by John Locke.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0008-vi-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-fatherhood

## Snapshot

The patriarch whose blessing of Jacob becomes a case study in whether paternal authority can be transferred, sold, or misdirected.

## Who they are

Isaac stands in the argument as the father whose blessing Filmer claims followed directly upon Jacob's purchase of the birthright, a sequence Locke shows Scripture contradicts. The tension is whether a father's blessing is a sovereign act of will or a recognition of an already-transferable right—and what happens when the wrong son receives it. Isaac matters because his story forces the reader to see that paternal power, as practiced in Genesis, is neither absolute nor neatly inheritable, undercutting the foundation Filmer builds upon it.

## Relationships

### [Jacob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/jacob)

_family_

Isaac is the father of Jacob, and their relationship involves the transfer of patriarchal blessing and lineage.

### [Abraham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/abraham)

_family_

Abraham is the father of Isaac, and their relationship is central to the patriarchal succession and promise of inheritance.

### [Abraham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/abraham)

_family_

Abraham is the father of Isaac, and their relationship is central to the patriarchal succession and promise of inheritance.

## In the story

### [Of Monarchy, by Inheritance from Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/ix-of-monarchy-by-inheritance-from-adam)

Implied in the discussion of patriarchal inheritance; Locke's critique of exclusive succession applies to Isaac as a potential heir.

### [XI: Who Heir?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/xi-who-heir)

Locke references Sarah's concern that Ishmael might be heir with Isaac, showing that the biblical concept of heir differs from Filmer's.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/isaac
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters