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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] WHAT LANGUAGE DID ABRAHAM, FATHER OF ISHMAEL AND ISAAC, SPEAK?

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  • From: "Joel C. Salomon" <joelcsalomon AT gmail.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] WHAT LANGUAGE DID ABRAHAM, FATHER OF ISHMAEL AND ISAAC, SPEAK?
  • Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:32:16 -0500

On 11/9/2009 12:45 AM, Ishinan wrote:
SCENARIO #1 -- In Genesis, Abraham appears as a Hebrew speaker….

PROBLEM: If Abraham spoke Hebrew and he was also father to Ishmael, the
progenitor of the Arabs, then this would imply that the Arabic language is a
dialect of the Hebrew language.

The assumption that Ishmael is “the progenitor of the Arabs” may not be warranted. Ishmael (along with Abraham’s children by Ketura) was sent away and likely joined the already-existing Arab people, possibly becoming a chieftain there. (All this according to my reading of the Biblical text –– or at least, not inconsistent with the Biblical text.)

Is there any source for Arab descent from Ishmael other than the Koran?

—Joel C. Salomon




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