This is the account of the family line of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's slave Hagar the Egyptian bore to Abraham. The toledot of Ishmael precedes the toledot of Isaac — the text honors the older son before focusing on the covenant son. The genealogy of Ishmael is given its own section, its own heading, its own completeness. The application: the story of those adjacent to the covenant is told with the same care as the story of those within it.

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