 The Arabic triliteral root q @-@ d @-@ r means " to measure , compute , estimate " ; " to decree , appoint , ordain " ; and " to have power , or ability . " Qidr , a noun derived from the same root , means " cauldron , kettle " , and also gives the verbal derivation , " to cook " . Ernst Axel Knauf , a biblical scholar who undertook a historical study of the Ishmaelites and determined that they were known in Assyrian inscriptions as the Šumu 'il , surmises that the name of the Qedarites was derived from the verb qadara , with its meaning of " to ordain , to have power " . As this etymology is a deduction based solely on the prominence of the Qedar among the Šumu 'il tribes , it is viewed as inconclusive by other scholars . 
