Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

James:

I noticed that as well, and thought it rather interesting, in view of
the literary style as I was told it.

However, in Genesis 25:9 we notice that Ishmael and Isaac together
buried their father, indicating that they were on good terms with each
other, therefore Ishmael as the older brother compiled most of the
story of Abraham, and Isaac mentioned certain facts about Ishmael's
descendents, but only for about the 180 years that he (Isaac) lived.

Another literary feature of Genesis is that it gets the unimportant
facts out of the way first, then concentrates on the important. In
this case, Isaac as the son who inherited the first born blessing, was
the important son while Ishmael was relegated to a supporting role.
Therefore, a short list of Ishmael's descendants was listed first,
gotten out of the way, then the text concentrates on Isaac's family.

Karl W. Randolph.

On 7/13/06, JAMES CHRISTIAN READ <JCR128 AT student.apu.ac.uk> wrote:
> JCR: Thanks Peter. I realised I had made a booboo just
> after posting. Shem would have been able to witness
> the events and therefore Karl's theory of authorship
> would hold water in this case.
>
> However, let's take a look at Genesis 25 verses 12 and
> 19
>
> In verse 12 we have the signature
>
> ואלה תלדת ישמעאל
>
> In verse 19 we have the signature
>
> ואלה תולדת יצחק
>
> After the signature in verse 12 we have a description
> of Ishmael's descendents.
> After the signature in verse 19 we have a description
> of Isaac's descendents.
>
> This is far too great a coincidence to ignore and would
> seem to put Karl's theory of end signatures in serious
> question.
>
> James C. Read
> UK