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Ishmael, Ishmaelites
(197 words)

[German version]

(personal name, from Hebrew Yišmaʿel, ‘God hears’). Son of  Abraham [1] and Hagar (Gn 16,11). According to Gn 17:20 and Gn 25:15ff. the progenitor of the Ishmaelites fathered twelve tribes. In spite of their blood relationship, the Israelites regarded the supposedly freedom-loving and bellicose Ishmaelites as inferior, because I.'s mother had been an Egyptian maid and they had both been expelled by Abraham. The  Haggadah deals specifically with this expulsion in its many aspects. Particular attention is drawn to I.'s character: he appears as a…

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Domhardt, Yvonne (Zürich), “Ishmael, Ishmaelites”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e528010>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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