RT Article
T1 Defining the Excluded Middle: The Case of Ishmael in Jubilees
JF Journal for the study of the pseudepigrapha
VO 21
IS 3
SP 259
OP 283
A1 Francis, Michael
LA English
YR 2012
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1777019451
AB This study explores the seemingly anomalous presentation of Ishmael in Jubilees. In a work in which an unbridgeable chasm separates Jewish and Gentile identities, the strikingly positive depiction of Abraham's natural firstborn is surprising. It is suggested that the genealogical considerations so prominent in Jubilees allow Ishmael to be treated as an unthreatening character: as son of an Egyptian mother, he cannot be mistaken for the primary covenant conduit; as brother of Isaac rather than the preeminent Jacob, his existence does not call into question the identity of the first Israelite proper. Beyond this, it is suggested that the favorable treatment of Ishmael in Jubilees is a matter of his full inclusion within the circle of covenant privilege. This is explained as a function of the laudable pedagogical instincts of Abraham, the friend of God, and, most significantly, the distinctive shape of covenant history in Jubilees.
K1 Conversion
K1 Gentiles
K1 Covenant
K1 holy seed
K1 Ishmael
K1 Jubilees
DO 10.1177/0951820712439830