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AMA, Education, Health

Why Africa Cannot Eliminate Cervical Cancer Without Expanding HPV Vaccination Beyond Adolescent Girls 

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By Zwelethu Bashman, Managing Director, MSD South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, Marloes Kibacha, Managing Director, Africa Health Business, Cheyenne Braganza, Senior Project Associate, Africa Health Business 

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 22 January 2026 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/ –

Introduction
Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women globally, despite being almost entirely preventable. In Africa, it continues to claim lives not because science has failed, but because policy ambition has fallen short. Over 200 strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) exist, with 12 high-risk types responsible for most HPV-related cancers. [1] Although HPV vaccines can prevent almost 90% of cervical cancer, most women remain unvaccinated, leaving cervical cancer among the top killers of women worldwide, with more than 94% of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. [2] At current rates of vaccination and coverage, hundreds of thousands of African women will die from a cancer that could have been prevented with vaccines already available.

Cervical cancer hits the hardest where vulnerability is greatest. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies sub-Saharan Africa as the region with the highest prevalence of cervical HPV, affecting nearly one in four women. [3] Women living with HIV face an even steeper risk, as weakened immune systems make them more susceptible to persistent HPV infection and four to five times more likely to develop invasive cervical cancer. [4] Without urgent action, these inequities will continue to drive preventable deaths across the continent. Recently, Gavi’s inclusion of higher-valency HPV vaccines is an important development in the global HPV prevention landscape and a relevant consideration for countries across sub-Saharan Africa as they continue to strengthen cervical cancer prevention efforts.

Vaccinating Girls First: Africa’s Critical Foundation
In 2018, the WHO launched a global call to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health threat, built on three pillars: vaccination, screening, and timely treatment. Central to this strategy is fully vaccinating 90% of girls by age 15. [5] This focus on adolescent girls is a critical foundation, and African countries have made meaningful progress in recent years.

Rwanda offers a powerful example. In 2011, it became the first African country to introduce a national HPV vaccination program targeting adolescent girls through a robust school-based platform. Today, Rwanda has achieved over 90% coverage among eligible girls, one of the highest rates globally. [6] This success reflects strong political leadership, community trust, and effective delivery systems.
But even Rwanda’s success highlights a fundamental limitation. High coverage among adolescent girls alone does not protect older women, boys, or men, nor does it fully interrupt HPV transmission within the broader population. A girls-only strategy, while necessary, is insufficient for elimination.

HPV Is Not a Women-Only Virus
HPV continues to be framed primarily as a women’s health issue because of its link to cervical cancer. This framing is both incomplete and counterproductive. Men are not only carriers of HPV, they are also affected by HPV-related disease. Globally, one in three men is infected with at least one HPV strain, often after age 15. [7] In sub-Saharan Africa, HPV prevalence among men remains high, sustaining community-level transmission. [8]

HPV also causes anal, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers, conditions that disproportionately affect men and are increasing globally. [8, 9] Excluding boys and men from vaccination strategies perpetuates transmission to women and leaves men unprotected from largely preventable cancers.

Why Gender-Neutral Vaccination Matters for Elimination
If Africa is serious about elimination, vaccination strategies must reflect how HPV actually spreads. Expanding vaccination to boys and men is not only a matter of equity, it is an epidemiological necessity. Gender-neutral vaccination accelerates herd immunity, reduces circulation of high-risk HPV types, and offers critical protection for high-risk populations, including people living with HIV. [10]

Yet progress remains uneven. Only 29 of 54 African countries have implemented national HPV vaccination programs, and nearly all focus exclusively on girls aged 9 to 14. [11]This is an important starting point, but it will not break the cycle of transmission. Elimination demands moving beyond a single cohort and a single gender.

The Forgotten Cohort: Women Who Aged Out
While adolescent girls remain the priority, millions of women across Africa missed HPV vaccination entirely. Many aged out before programs were introduced, while others were missed due to COVID 19 disruptions. [12] These women, now in their 20s and 30s, represent the largest group at near term risk and will drive cervical cancer incidence over the next decade if left unprotected. [13]

In addition, women living with HIV (WLHIV) require tailored protection. Sub-Saharan Africa carries the world’s highest prevalence of HIV among women. [14] WLHIV experience higher rates of persistent HPV infection, faster quicker disease progression, increased recurrence, and poorer outcomes. Modelling shows that vaccinating WLHIV aged 10–45 could reduce new cervical cancer cases by 4.7% overall and by 10% among WLHIV. [15]

The evidence is clear. Sexually active women over 15 still benefit from HPV vaccination, as they may not have been exposed to all high-risk HPV types. [16, 17] Catch-up vaccination, particularly when combined with screening, can substantially reduce future cancer incidence. Integrating HPV vaccination into HIV care, university health services, and workplace health programs offers practical, scalable pathways to reach this cohort. [18]

The socioeconomic case is clear. Women contribute an estimated 35–45% of GDP across the region. Preventing cervical cancer protects households, sustains productivity, and reduces catastrophic health expenditure. [19] Yet across the continent, adult women remain largely invisible in HPV prevention policies. This gap is not scientific. It is political.

Leadership, Systems, and Smarter Policy Choices
African governments are central to closing the HPV protection gap. While the number of countries delivering HPV vaccines has tripled since 2019 and coverage has doubled, the regional average remains just 52%, far below the 90% target. [20] Sustainable progress requires integrating HPV vaccines into routine immunization schedules, securing predictable domestic financing, and strengthening supply chains.

Kenya’s recent decision to introduce a single-dose HPV vaccine for girls shows how policy can adapt to improve efficiency and access. However, simplification alone will not address missed cohorts or limited population-level protection. Other countries in the region are also adapting policy to expand reach, with Botswana integrating higher-valency HPV vaccines within national prevention planning aligned with HIV care, and Eswatini expanding HPV vaccination in 2024 to include adolescent girls and young women living with HIV. [21, 22]

Adult vaccination pathways should be integrated into reproductive health services, alongside catch-up vaccination for older adolescents and women. Efforts should target cohorts missed by school-based programmes, including out-of-school girls and WLHIV – using multi-channel delivery platforms such as clinics, HIV programmes, mobile outreach, and innovative community-based models. [23]

As science evolves, policy must keep pace. Transitioning to nonavalent vaccines offers broader protection against high-risk HPV types and greater long-term impact in high-burden settings. [24] Procurement decisions should be driven by epidemiology, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability, not short-term constraints.

The Role of Partnerships and Innovation
Industry, alongside governments and civil society, has a role to play in supporting national cervical cancer elimination goals.

Between 2021 and 2025, MSD supplied over 115 million HPV vaccine doses to low- and middle income countries, supported by a US$2 billion investment in manufacturing capacity. MSD has also reaffirmed its commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to support sustainable HPV vaccine supply and equitable access across Sub-Saharan Africa.

These efforts support broader vaccination strategies, including protection of older cohorts and women living with HIV, and enable country transitions to higher-valency HPV vaccines – an important step toward averting millions of future cancer cases and deaths.

The Choice Africa Must Make
Africa cannot eliminate cervical cancer and all other HPV-related diseases by protecting adolescent girls alone. HPV does not respect age, gender, or delivery platforms, and elimination requires population-level protection. This means vaccinating girls, protecting boys, catching up women who were left behind, and building resilient systems that sustain coverage over time.

The tools exist. The evidence is overwhelming. What remains is the choice. If governments and partners act decisively now by expanding HPV vaccination beyond adolescent girls and investing in durable prevention systems, cervical cancer can become a disease of the past. Elimination is not a question of feasibility. It is a question of ambition, and the time to choose is now.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of MSD

References
[1]”HPV and Cancer,” National Cancer institute, May 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.cancer.gov/about cancer/causes-prevention/risk/infectious-agents/hpv-and cancer#:~:text=HPV%2Drelated research-,What is HPV (human papillomavirus)?,which c an cause breathing problems..

[2] “World Health Organization,” 5 March 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact sheets/detail/human-papilloma-virus-and cancer#:~:text=The highest prevalence of cervical,variable based on sexual trends .. [Accessed 11 November 2025].

[3] T. e. a. Dzinamarira, “Cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: an urgent call for improving accessibility and use of preventive services,” International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, vol. 33, no. 4, 2023.

[4] S. M. T. N. B. R. Liu G, “HIV-positive women have higher risk of human papilloma virus infection, precancerous lesions, and cervical cancer.,” AIDS, October 2018.

[5] K. M. K. S. Wilailak S, “Strategic approaches for global cervical cancer elimination: An update review and call for national action.,” Int J Gynaecol Obstet., 2025. [Online].

[6] IFPMA, “Rwandan HPV National Vaccination Program,” [Online]. Available: https://globalhealthprogress.org/collaboration/rwandan-hpv-national-vaccination-program/.

[7] G. K. M. J. Naidoo D, “Breaking barriers: why including boys and men is key to HPV prevention.,” BMC Med, 2024.

[8] T. B. M. C. C. J. A. K. K. &. K. S. K. Olesen, “Human papillomavirus prevalence among men in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.,” Sexually transmitted infections, 2014.

[9] P. JM., “Human papillomavirus-related disease in men: not just a women’s issue.,” J Adolesc Health, 2010.

[10] G. J. Scheepers VC, “Expanding the case for gender-neutral human papillomavirus vaccination in South Africa: Emerging neonatal and ethical considerations.,” Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med., 2025.

[11] E. I. Eric Asempah, “Accelerating HPV vaccination in Africa for health equity,” PubMed Central- National Library of Medicine, no. PMID: 39294815, 2024.

[12] I. L. C. M. Sad SA, “Revisiting HPV vaccination post-COVID: geopolitical, sociocultural, and ethical disparities in global health,” Int J Equity Health., 2025.

[13] S. P. Castanon A, “Is the recent increase in cervical cancer in women aged 20-24years in England a cause for concern?,” Prev Med., 2018.

[14] “HIV Epidemiology in Sub-Saharan Africa,” UNAIDS., 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries.

[15] W. J. e. al., “Modelling the Impact of HPV Vaccination among Women Living with HIV.,” Lancet Global Health.

[16] X. M. N. P. P. F. D. M. J. A. K. L. J. M. E. M. S. B. O. M. B. J. V. S. H. R. M. &. S. A. Castellsagué, “End-of-study safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of quadrivalent HPV (types 6, 11, 16, 18) recombinant vaccine in adult women 24- 45 years of age.,” British journal of cancer, 2011.

[17] “Human papillomavirus vaccination for adult women,” Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet, 2022.

[18] S. N. e. B. E. A.-D. Kimeshnee Govindsamy, “Effectiveness of integrating cervical cancer prevention strategies into HIV care programmes: A mixed-methods systematic review protocol,” PLOS One, 2024.

[19] “Economic Contribution of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa,” World Bank., 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender.

[20] A. Amani, “Scaling HPV vaccination in Africa to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030,” The lancet global health, vol. 13, no. 12, 2025.

[21] “HPV Vaccination Programme Outcomes,” Rwanda Ministry of Health. , 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.moh.gov.rw.

[22] “Immunization/HPV Programme information,” Eswatini Ministry of Health. , 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.sz/index.php/ministries-departments/ministry-of-health.

[23] “Cervical Cancer Data Surveillance in Sub-Saharan Africa,” WHO & IARC, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://gco.iarc.fr/.

[24] V. V. C. H. e. a. Bobadilla ML, “Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection and Risk Behavior in Vaccinated and Non Vaccinated Paraguayan Young Women.,” Pathogens, 2024.

[25] T. G. e. al., “Implementing HPV Vaccination Services in People Living with HIV in Trinidad and Tobago: A Brief Report,” Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers, 2025.

[26] G. M. E. Al., “Human papilloma virus vaccination in the resource-limited settings of sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and recommendations,” Vaccine X, vol. 20, 2024.

[27] “World Health Organization,” [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/initiatives/cervical-cancer-elimination initiative.

[28] b. G. A. a. J. R. c. L. A. M. A. A. R. G. L. E. M. N. B. M. T. Laia Bruni a, “Global and regional estimates of genital human papillomavirus prevalence among men: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” PMC PubMed Central, no. PMID: 37591583, 2023.

[29] Lyvio Lin, Liying (Annie) Liang, “World Bank,” November 2024. [Online]. Available: https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/health/Preventing-cervical-cancer-in-Africa-Why-scaling-HPV-vaccination priority#:~:text=However%2C widespread use of the,of the 54 African countries..

[30] “World Health Organization (WHO) Afro,” 1 March 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.afro.who.int/news/africa-immunization-advisory-group-urges-single-dose-hpv-vaccine-adoption advance vaccination#:~:text=In an effort to accelerate,the global target of 90%25..

[31] e. a. Alison G Abraham, “Invasive cervical cancer risk among HIV-infected women: A North American multi-cohort collaboration prospective study,” PubMed Central- National Library of Medicine, no. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e31828177d7, 2014.

[32] A. I. R. S. C.-U. Erna Milunka Kojic, “Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in HIV-infected Women: Need for Increased Coverage,” PubMed Central- National Library of Medicine, no. doi: 10.1586/14760584.2016.1110025, 2016.

[33] M. Goretti, “Vellum,” 24 October 2025. [Online]. Available: https://vellum.co.ke/kenya-switches-to-single-dose hpv-vaccine-to-boost uptake/#:~:text=Kenya has taken a major,local scientists and international expert s.. [Accessed November 2025].

[34] W. H. Organization, “Global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem,” WHO-Int, 2020.

[35] M. C. C. J. A. K. K. S. Olesen TB, “Human papillomavirus prevalence among men in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” Sex Transm Infect, no. doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2013-051456, 2014.

[36] H. S. S. G. S. G. Soumendu Patra, “HPV and Male Cancer: Pathogenesis, Prevention and Impact,” Journal of Medicine in Africa (JOMA), vol. 2, no. 1, 2025.

[37] I. Z. E. Al., “Cervical Cancer Prevention in Rural Areas,” Ann Glob Health, 2023.

[38] L. B. E. Al., “Global and regional estimates of genital human papillomavirus prevalence among men: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” Lancet Global Health, 2023.

The post Why Africa Cannot Eliminate Cervical Cancer Without Expanding HPV Vaccination Beyond Adolescent Girls  appeared first on African Media Agency.

Entertainment

Late Selena Quintanilla’s Father, Abraham Quintanilla, Dead at 86

Maravi Post Reporter

Abraham Quintanilla, the father of late singer Selena Quintanilla, has died. He was 86.

“It’s with a heavy heart to let you guys know that my Dad passed away today…,” the late singer’s brother, Abraham “A.B.” Isaac Quintanilla, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, December 13, announcing his father’s death. Abraham’s son also shared a photo of his father, wearing rose-colored sunglasses.

The cause of death has not been made public.

Selena’s father married her mother, Marcella Quintanilla, in June 1963. In addition to their famous daughter and A.B., the pair also welcomed daughter Suzette.

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Abraham took on the role of Selena’s manager as her music career took off. Her musical rise was truly a family enterprise, as A.B. played the bass and Suzette played the drums in her band.

In 2021, Abraham shared excerpts from his memoir A Father’s Dream: My Family’s Journey in Music with 3News. He also told the news station of the book, “It has a lot of things in there the public wants to know. Because there’s always been, and now it’s grown even more curiosity about Selena.”

He added, “You have to understand that people have sometimes the wrong image of musicians. But they forget one thing: that being involved in music is also a business, and for me it was a business, it became a business.”

While speaking about the beginning of Selena’s career, Abraham reflected on what the experience was like for the entire family. “At first it was a dream and then within time it became a reality because Selena became one of the leading female artists in the world,” he said

Selena was shot dead in Corpus Christi, Texas, at the age of 23 by her former friend and business associate Yolanda Saldívar, who was also accused of embezzling money from the singer’s business in the months that preceded the shooting.

Coroners ruled the death a homicide despite Saldívar’s claim it was accidental.

Marcella and Abraham Quintanilla
Marcella Quintanilla and Abraham Quintanilla Bob Levey/WireImage

Us Weekly obtained the original 1995 report that confirmed that Selena died from a bullet wound to her lower right shoulder. The coroner further confirmed Selena died from “exsanguinating internal and external [bleeding] due to [a] perforating gunshot wound.”

“It is my opinion that Selena Quintanilla Pérez, a 23-year-old woman, came to her death as a result of an exsanguinating internal and external hemorrhage, in other words massive bleeding, due to a perforating gunshot wound of the thorax (chest),” coroner Lloyd White wrote.

Saldívar was charged with first-degree murder and was convicted in October 1995. Despite making a parole request in December 2024, as of November 2025, Saldívar has not been released from custody. Saldívar has served her sentence at a women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas.

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“It was the parole panel’s determination to deny parole to Yolanda Saldívar and set her next parole review for March 2030,” the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles confirmed via a statement obtained by Us.

“While nothing can bring Selena back, this decision reaffirms that justice continues to stand for the beautiful life that was taken from us and from millions of fans around the world far too soon,” the Quintanillas said via Instagram at the time. “Selena’s legacy is one of love, music, and inspiration. She lived with joy, gave selflessly, and continues to uplift generations with her voice and her spirit.”

Entertainment

How Did Selena Quintanilla Die? Autopsy Report Details Revealed

Maravi Post Reporter

Netflix’s 2025 documentary Selena y Los Dinos explores pop icon Selena Quintanilla’s murder at the hands of her former friend and business associate, Yolanda Saldívar.

Quintanilla — the “Queen of Tejano Music” — was only 23 years old when she was shot dead in Corpus Christi, Texas, in March 1995. Saldívar — once a trusted friend and president of Quintanilla’s fan club— was accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from the musician’s businesses months before the shooting.

Following the strong public outcry over Quintanilla’s death, Nueces County, Texas, medical examiners agreed to conduct an autopsy just three hours after the singer’s death. The coroner’s report eventually ruled Quintanilla’s death a homicide, despite Saldívar claiming the shooting was accidental.

The coroner’s report offered fascinating details on Quintanilla’s final confrontation with Saldivar, where their disagreements exploded into a deadly act of violence.

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Keep scrolling for more information on Quintanilla’s death and what her autopsy revealed.

Why Did Yolanda Saldivar Kill Selena

Yolanda Saldívar was initially just a fan of Selena Quintanilla. She later convinced the musician’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, to let her start a fan club in San Antonio, Texas, after seeing Selena in concert.

Saldívar went on to forge a close friendship with Quintanilla amid the success of her fan club. She was hired as a manager for the family’s Selena Etc boutique in Corpus Christie in 1994.

Her personal and professional relationship with the Quintanillas in early 1995 soured when the family discovered that Saldívar embezzled thousands from both the fan club and the boutique. Saldívar was fired from the store and replaced as the president of Selena’s fan club in March 1995.

In the weeks leading up to the murder, Saldívar purchased and returned a Taurus Model 85 .38-caliber revolver at San Antonio gun range A Place to Shoot. (Saldívar later re-purchased the weapon shortly before the murder took place.)

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Saldívar checked into the Days Inn motel on March 30, where she contacted Selena and claim that she’d been raped. Saldívar reportedly begged Selena to come visit her alone in her hotel room so she could turn over financial records.

Later that day, Selena brought along her husband, Chris Pérez, for her meeting despite Saldívar’s pleas for her to come to the Days Inn alone. Pérez agreed to wait by their car and once they left the meeting, Selena discovered Saldívar had not given her the proper documents.

On March 31, 2025, Selena told business associate Leonard Wong that she planned to meet with Saldívar again to retrieve perfume samples and the correct financial records.

When Selena returned to the Days Inn later that day, she agreed to take Saldívar to the hospital for a rape examination. The two women were ultimately informed by medical officials that the exam would need to be administered elsewhere.

Selena and Saldívar then returned to the Days Inn.

How Did Selena Quintanilla Die?

Once they were back at the hotel, Selena once again asked Saldívar to turn over financial records. Saldívar then pulled out the Taurus Model 85 .38-caliber revolver and shot Selena in the shoulder.

A wounded Selena desperately ran to the hotel lobby for help, with Saldívar chasing after her and shouting abuse. Selena was rushed to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead at around 1:05 p.m. local time on March 31, 1995.

At the same time, Saldívar engaged in a standoff with police after refusing to exit her vehicle in the Days Inn parking lot. Saldívar initially threatened to take her own life before she finally surrendered to FBI agents after a 10-hour standoff.

How Did Selena Quintanilla Die Autopsy Report Details Revealed
Selena Quintanilla ARA ZIEMBA/AFP via Getty Images

Saldívar was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty. At trial, Saldívar maintained that the shooting was accidental. She was found guilty in October 1995.

In October 1995, Saldívar was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. She is currently serving her sentence at a women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas.

Saldívar did seek parole in December 2024, but her request was denied in March 2025. She remains behind bars at the time of publication.

What Did Selena Quintanilla’s Autopsy Reveal About Her Death?

The Nueces County, Texas, medical examiner’s office agreed to rush an autopsy only three hours after Selena’s death due to immense public interest in the case.

Us Weekly obtained the original 1995 report that confirmed that Selena died from a bullet wound to her lower right shoulder. Selena’s death was ruled a homicide.

The coroner confirmed that her cause of death was “exsanguinating internal and external [bleeding] due to [a] perforating gunshot wound” in the chest.

“It is my opinion that Selena Quintanilla Pérez, a 23-year-old woman, came to her death as a result of an exsanguinating internal and external hemorrhage, in other words massive bleeding, due to a perforating gunshot wound of the thorax (chest),” coroner Lloyd White added.

According to the coroner’s report, the bullet entered Selena’s back. The path of the bullet was traced from the ribs to the “upper pulmonary lobe,” before puncturing “the chest wall.” An exit wound was detected on the “upper right anterior chest.”

The coroner determined that the path of the bullet gravely injured Selena’s subclavian artery, which contributed to her death. The coroner also noted that “blood [was] present over many areas of the clothes” that Selena was wearing at the time of her death.

Regional

Abraham and the Angels: Rembrandt at the Frick Collection

Ausborn Banda
frick collection

Visitors to the Frick Collection in New York City, will likely be familiar with the magnificent Self Portrait (1658) of Rembrandt that hangs in the main gallery. The artist presents himself as an imposing father-figure, like some patriarch of old. His dress is formal, and utterly distinctive – a gold apron, a red sash – while his prominent and imposing hands proclaim his trade.

And yet beneath that intimidating, almost royal, exterior is an unmistakable vulnerability, a strength borne of having suffered life’s calamities, and emerged from the awful trials that the world inflicts upon one and all.

The Frick Collection is currently hosting a show focused on a handful of smaller but no less breathtaking works by the Dutch master, Rembrandt van Rijn (1696-1669). The works are devoted to certain events in the life of another patriarch, Abraham – the progenitor of the Jews and acknowledged father of the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The crown of the show is Abraham Entertaining the Angels (1646), which depicts the story of the foretelling of the birth of Isaac to the elderly couple Abraham and Sarah: “The Lord appeared to (Abraham) by the terebinths of Mamre, as he sat in the door of the tent in the heat of the day” (Genesis 18:1). Abraham is ninety-nine years old, and it is only a few days since his circumcision. Though still physically recovering, he sits at the entrance of the tent to see if there is a passerby whom he might take into his house. Abraham, we are told, lifted up his eyes and saw three men standing near him.

In Jewish commentary, these were angels – specifically, Rafael, Gabriel, and the greatest of them, Michael – in the form of humans. According to Rashi, one was to announce the birth of Isaac to Sarah, one to destroy Sodom, and one to heal Abraham, “for one angel does not two errands.”

Christian apologists wanted to view Abraham’s heavenly visitors as an Old Testament allusion to the Holy Trinity.

Rembrandt seems to weave between Jewish and Christian exegesis, and in the process, charts a course of his own, developing a distinctive interpretation.

The painting, oil on oak panel, offers us a kind of progressive revelation. The angel, whose back is to the viewer, reflects only the slightest degree of light, his wings are folded and tucked behind him, and his bare feet protrude from under his garb, giving him the appearance of an ordinary traveler. The second angel, whom we see in profile, reflects more of the light received from the incandescent being at center. His wings are not fully unfurled but beginning to stretch out. Only with the third celestial visitor, whose face is to us, do we have a glimpse of the divine per say: he is clothed all in white, and he radiates a luminous glow, the light accumulating in the folds of his gown; while his wings, unfolded and outstretched, affirm his deific stature.

Only a faint trace of the light settles on Abraham’s sleeve, though we can detect in his attitude the growing awareness that something miraculous is taking place. As Sarah stands and looks on from the shadows, she expresses disbelief that she will bear a child at her advanced age – and the divine reply comes in the form of a rhetorical question: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Abraham’s firstborn son is Ishmael, whom he fathered with the slave Hagar. Rembrandt’s 1637 etching of Abraham Casting Out Hagar and Ishmael, depicts the scene in which mother and son are banished as a consequence of Isaac’s birth. In Chapter 21 of Genesis, Sarah tells her husband to expel Ishmael and his mother from their home; and ultimately God will speak to Abraham and command him to do as Sarah says – reaffirming the promise made earlier that his son Isaac will inherit his covenant, while Ishmael will also become the father of a great nation. Sarah smiles with satisfaction as the forlorn Hagar makes her way, a sturdy young Ishmael by her side; and almost regal Abraham stands inactive on the threshold of his lavish home, outstretched arms underscoring his subjection.

An etching, Abraham Caressing Isaac (ca. 1637-45), does not depict a specific biblical episode. This is a different Abraham than the one that cast out Hagar and Ishmael. No magnificent finery: this is a more modest and rural Abraham. He fondly holds the boy Isaac, while on his brow we can see the pensiveness, the somber and searching gaze of the father who will be commanded by God to make a sacrificial offering of his son.

An etching from 1645, Abraham and Isaac, takes its inspiration from Chapter 22 of Genesis, a moment of dialogue between father and son: Isaac asks his father, as he holds a bundle of wood for the burnt offering, ‘Why is no lamb present?’ And Abraham tells his son, ‘God will provide the lamb’ – and as he does so, Rembrandt has him gesture upwards to the heavens. A deep shadow is cast over Isaac’s face, heightening the sense of foreboding, and consistent with the reading that at this point “Isaac understood that he was going to be slaughtered.”

The Sacrifice of Isaac (ca. 1652-54) is a startling work for the terrible violence it brings into focus. Abraham covers the boy’s mouth to stifle his cries, but his eyes are left open to witness the knife. The father is apparently unaware of the angel above him, senseless to the angel’s hand on his head. Abraham has become as pitiless as the command he’s obeying – and it is precisely that obedience, that complete and utter preparedness to go to the end, which is truly frightening, inasmuch as it has become so very real.

Rembrandt’s etching of the Sacrifice of Isaac (1655) strikes a very different tone. The emphasis here is on Abraham’s inwardness, his inner conflict. Now the father covers his son’s eyes, and draws the boy’s head to his own body, a small but significant gesture of comfort, far removed from the harrowing filicide of the earlier drawing. Isaac calmly bares himself, innocently submitting to the knife, while Abraham, apparently insensible of the angel that is holding him from behind and staying him from the deed, fixes his darkened eyes on the ram that will replace his son as the burnt offering.

The angel’s face is close to Abraham but remains unseen by the patriarch, who listens inwardly rather to the unknown voice.

The Akedah takes the measure of man’s faith, presenting the ultimate test of our obedience and submission to God. In Rembrandt’s drawing of the sacrifice, he does not shy away from the brutal reality of what is unfolding. Rembrandt renders us an Abraham not unlike the portrait that we find in Hegel: “Love alone was beyond [Abraham’s] power; even the one love he had, his love for his son, even his hope of posterity… could depress him, trouble his all-exclusive heart and disquiet it to such an extent that even this love he once wished to destroy, and his heart was quieted only through the certainty of the feeling that this love was not so strong as to render him unable to slay his beloved son with his own hand.”

Rembrandt’s Abraham reveals a complex and emotional engagement with the story of the patriarch. The artist’s understanding of his Biblical subject was anything but static: his drawings, etchings and paintings are evidence of a searching, questioning orientation – an openness to readings that acknowledge the burden of faith, the trials of fatherhood, and the ineradicable mystery of being.
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Sam Ben-Meir, PhD is an adjunct professor at Mercy College. His current research focuses on environmental ethics and animal studies.