Ishmael
A depiction of Hagar and Ishmael in the desert by François-Joseph Navez
Prophet, Patriarch, Father of the Arabs, Constructor of the Kaaba, Apostle to Arabia
Born	Canaan
Died	Arabia
Honored in	Islam Judaism Christianity
Influences	Abraham
Influenced	All of his descendants

Ishmael (Hebrew: יִשְׁמָעֵאל, Modern Yishma'el Tiberian Yišmāʻēl ISO 259-3 Yišmaˁel; Greek: Ισμαήλ Ismaēl; Latin: Ismael; Arabic: إسماعيل‎ ʾIsmāʿīl) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first son according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar (Genesis 16:3). According to the Genesis account, he died at the age of 137 (Genesis 25:17).^[1]

Etymology[link]

Cognates of Hebrew Yishma'el existed in various ancient Semitic cultures,^[2] including early Babylonian and Minæan.^[1] It is translated literally as "God has hearkened", suggesting that "a child so named was regarded as the fulfillment of a divine promise".^[2]

Genesis narrative[link]

The dismissal of Hagar, by Pieter Pietersz Lastman

This is the account of Ishmael from Genesis Chapters 16, 17, 21, 25

Birth[link]

In Genesis 16, the birth of Ishmael was planned by the Patriarch Abraham’s first wife, who at that time was known as Sarai. She and her husband Abram (Abraham), sought a way to have children in order to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant that was established in Genesis 15. Since Sarai had yet to bear Abram a child, her idea was to offer her Egyptian handmaiden Hagar to Abram, so that they could have a child by her. Abram consented to a marital arrangement taking Hagar as his second wife when he was in his late 85th year of age. Customs of that time dictated that, although Hagar was the birth mother, any child conceived would belong to Sarai and Abram (Sarah and Abraham).^[3]

Genesis 16:7-16 describes the naming of Ishmael, and Yahweh's promise to Hagar concerning Ishmael and his descendants. This occurred at the well of Beer-lahai-roi, located in the desert region between Abram’s settlement and Shur. Hagar fled here after Sarai dealt harshly with her for showing contempt for her mistress following her having become pregnant. Here, Hagar encountered an angel of Yahweh who instructed her to return and be submissive to Sarai so that she could have her child there. The blessing that this child's father was promised was that Abram's descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. The promise would be extended to this child, who would be named Ishmael. The angel continued that "he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren." When Ishmael was born, Abram was 86 years old.

Inheritance rights and the first circumcision[link]

When he was 13 years old, Ishmael was circumcised at the same time as all other males in Abraham’s house becoming a part of the covenant in a mass circumcision. This occurred because his father Abram was inaugurated as Abraham at the age of 99 and then initiated into the covenant by having himself and his entire household circumcised. (Genesis 17)

At the time of the covenant, God informed Abraham that his wife Sarah would give birth to a son, which he was instructed to name Isaac. God told Abraham that He would establish his covenant through Isaac, and when Abraham inquired as to Ishmael’s role, God answers that Ishmael has been blessed and that He “will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.” (Genesis 17)

A year later, Ishmael's half-brother Isaac was born by Abraham to his first wife Sarah.

On the day of feasting during which Abraham celebrated the weaning of Isaac, Ishmael was, “mocking” or "playing with" Isaac (the Hebrew word is ambiguous^[4])^[1] and Sarah asked Abraham to expel Ishmael and his mother, saying: "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."^[3][5] This proposition was grievous to Abraham due to his great love for his son Ishmael. Abraham only agreed when God told him that it was through Isaac that Abraham's offspring would "be reckoned", and that He would "make Ishmael into a nation" too, since he was a descendant of Abraham. (Genesis 21:11-13)

'Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert, by Grigoriy Ugrumov (c. 1785)

At the age of 14, Ishmael became a free man along with his mother. Under Mesopotamian law, their freedom enjoined them from laying claim to any inheritance that Abraham and Sarah had. The Lord’s covenant also made clear Ishmael was not to inherit Abraham’s house and that Isaac would be the instrument of the covenant. Ishmael's father gave him and his mother a supply of bread and water and sent them away. Hagar strayed in the wilderness of Beer-sheba where the two soon ran out of water and Hagar, not wanting to witness the death of her son, set the boy some distance away from herself, and wept. "And God heard the voice of the lad" and sent his angel to tell Hagar, "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation." And God "opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water", from which she drew to save Ishmael's life and her own. "And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer." (Genesis 21:14-21)

Descendants[link]

After roaming the wilderness for some time, Ishmael and his mother settled in the Desert of Paran, where he became an expert in archery. Eventually, his mother found him a wife from the land of Egypt.^[6] They had 12 sons who became 12 tribal chiefs throughout the regions from Havilah to Shur (from Assyria to the border of Egypt).^[7] His children are listed as follows:^[8]

1. Nebaioth
2. Kedar, father of the Qedarites, (A northern Arab tribe that controlled the region between the Persian Gulf and the Sinai Peninsula). According to tradition, ancestor of Muhammad and the Quraysh tribe.^[9]
3. Adbeel, established a tribe in northwest Arabia.
4. Mibsam
5. Mishma
6. Dumah, associated with Adummatu described as "a fortress of Arabia" in Saudi Arabia.
7. Massa, father of a nomadic tribe that inhabited the Arabian desert toward Babylonia.
8. Hadad
9. Tema
10. Jetur
11. Naphish
12. Kedemah

Daughter:

1. Mahalath or Basemath, the third wife of Esau.^[10]

Ishmael also appeared with Isaac at the burial of Abraham.^[11] Ishmael died at the age of 137.^[12]

Deuterocanonical references[link]

The book of Jubilees places the location and identity of the Ishmaelites as the Arab peoples residing in Arab territories. This is the current view for the majority of the Christian, Islamic and Jewish faiths, although according to Biblical accounts the Arab people traditionally have had long-standing alliances with the descendants of the Assyrians and the Medes. Modern Arab populations represent many nations rather than one nation as specified biblically.

World views[link]

Historians and academics in the fields of linguistics and source criticism believe that the stories of Ishmael belong to the three strata of J, or Yahwist source, the P, or Priestly source, and the E, or Elohist source (See Documentary hypothesis).^[1] For example, The narration in Genesis 16 is of J type and the narration in Genesis 21:8-21 is of E type.^[13]

Islamic traditions consider Ishmael to be the ancestor of Arab people,^[2] excluding Arabs who are descendants of Ya'rub. Arabs who are from Ishmael-descendant tribes are occasionally referred to as "Arabized-Arabs" to highlight their ancestry. The Prophet Muhammad was of these Arabs. However, many modern Arabs also believe their tribes and houses to be of Isaac's blood line, in particular in Southern Palestine.^{[citation needed]}

Jewish traditions are split between those, like Josephus, who consider Ishmael the ancestor of the Arabs,^[14] and those, like Maimonides, who believe that the northern Arabs are descended from the sons of Keturah, whom Abraham married after Sarah's death.^[15]

Judaism[link]

Judaism has generally viewed Ishmael as wicked though repentant (Whereas Christianity omits any reference to repentance which is sourced in the Talmudic explanation of the Bible ^[16]).^[2] Judaism maintains that Isaac rather than Ishmael was the true heir of Abraham.^[3]

In some Rabbinic traditions Ishmael is said to have had two wives; one of them named Aisha. This name corresponds to the Muslim tradition for the name of Muhammad's wife.^[2] This is understood as a metaphoric representation of the Muslim world (first Arabs and then Turks) with Ishmael.^[17]

The name of an important 2nd Century CE sage—Ishmael ben Elisha, known as "Rabbi Ishmael" (רבי ישמעאל), one of the Tannaim—indicates that the Bibilical Ishmael enjoyed a positive image among Jews of the time.^{[citation needed]}

Rabbinical commentators in the Midrash Genesis Rabbah also say that Ishmael's mother Hagar was the Pharaoh's daughter, thereby making Ishmael the grandson of the Pharaoh. This could be why Genesis 17:20 refers to Ishmael as the father of 12 mighty princes. According to Genesis 21:21, Hagar married Ishmael to an Egyptian woman, and if Rabbinical commentators are correct about Hagar being the daughter of the Pharaoh, his marriage to a woman selected by the Pharaoh's daughter could explain how and why his sons became princes.

However, according to other Jewish commentators, Ishmael's mother Hagar is identified with Keturah, the woman Abraham married after the death of Sarah, stating that Abraham sought her out after Sarah's death. It is suggested that Keturah was Hagar's personal name, and that "Hagar" was a descriptive label meaning "stranger".^[18][19][20] This interpretation is discussed in the Midrash^[21] and is supported by Rashi, Gur Aryeh, Keli Yakar, and Obadiah of Bertinoro. Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki) argues that "Keturah" was a name given to Hagar because her deeds were as beautiful as incense (hence: ketores), and/or that she remained chaste from the time she was separated from Abraham—keturah [ קְטוּרָה Q'turah ] derives from the Aramaic word for restrained.

It is also said that Sarah was motivated by Ishmael's sexually frivolous ways because of the reference to his "making merry" (Gen. 21:9), a translation of the Hebrew word "Mitzachek". This was developed into a reference to idolatry, sexual immorality or even murder; some rabbinic sources claim that Sarah worried that Ishmael would negatively influence Isaac, or that he would demand Isaac's inheritance on the grounds of being the firstborn. Others take a more positive view, emphasizing Hagar's piety, noting that she was "the one who had sat by the well and besought him who is the life of the worlds, saying 'look upon my misery'".^[22]

Islam[link]

Ishmael (Arabic: إسماعيل‎ Ismā'īl) is recognized as an important prophet and patriarch of Islam. Muslims believe that Ishmael was the firstborn of Abraham, born to him from his second wife Hagar. Ishmael is recognized by Muslims as the ancestor of several prominent Arab tribes and being the forefather of Muhammad.^[23] Muslims also believe that Muhammad was the descendant of Ishmael that would establish a great nation, as promised by God in the Old Testament.^[24]

Ishmael in the Qur'an[link]

Ishmael is mentioned over ten times in the Qur'an, often alongside other patriarchs and prophets of ancient times. In XIX: 54, the Qur'an says: "And make mention in the Scripture of Ishmael. He was a keeper of his promise, and he was a messenger, a prophet. He enjoined upon his people worship and almsgiving, and was most acceptable in the sight of his Lord." Later on, in XXXVIII: 48, Ishmael is mentioned together with Elisha and Dhul-Kifl as one of "the patiently enduring and righteous, whom God caused to enter into his mercy." It is also said of Lot, Elisha, Jonah and Ishmael, that God gave each one "preference above the worlds" (VI: 86). These references to Ishmael are, in each case, part of a larger context in which other holy prophets are mentioned. In other chapters of the Qur'an, however, which date from the Medina period, Ishmael is mentioned closely with his father Abraham: Ishmael stands alongside Abraham in their attempt to set up the Kaaba in Mecca as a place of monotheistic pilgrimage (II: 127-129) and Abraham thanks God for granting him Ishmael and Isaac in his old age (XIV: 35-41). Ishmael is further mentioned alongside the patriarchs who had been given revelations (II: 136) and Jacob's sons promise to follow the faith of their forefathers, "Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac", when testifying their faith (II: 133). In the narrative of the near-sacrifice of Abraham's son (XXXVII: 100-107), the son is not named and, although the general interpretation is that it was Ishmael, Tabari^[25] maintained that it was Isaac. Most modern commentators, however, regard the son's identification as least important in a narrative which is given for its moral lesson.^[26]

Ishmael in Muslim literature[link]

The commentaries on the Qur'an and the numerous collections of Stories of the Prophets flesh out the Islamic perspective of Ishmael and detail his integral part in setting up the Kaaba. According to Muslim tradition, Ishmael was buried in Al-Hijr, inside the Sacred Mosque.^[27]

In Islamic belief, Abraham had prayed to God for a son and God heard his prayer. Muslim exegesis states that Sarah asked Abraham to marry her Egyptian handmaiden Hagar because she herself was barren.^[23] Hagar soon bore Ishmael, who was the first son of Abraham. After Sarah gave birth to her own son, Isaac, tension arose between the two women. According to exegesis, God told Abraham to listen to Sarah, who said that both Hagar and Ishmael should be taken out of their household and into the desert.^[23] In Islamic tradition, Abraham took Hagar and Ishmael to the desert himself, where he left them and returned to his household. In the desert, the young Ishmael cried with thirst.^[23] His mother searched for water, which resulted in her running seven times between the Safa and Marwah hills, before God helped them by making spring water gush forth from the Zamzam well, so both mother and son could rejuvenate themselves. To commemorate the bravery of Hagar and Ishmael, Muslims run between the Safa and Marwah hills during Hajj.^[23]

On one of his visits to Mecca, Abraham is said to have asked his son to help him build the requested Kaaba.^[28] Islamic traditions hold that the Kaaba was first built by Adam and that Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the Kaaba on the old foundations.^[29] As Ishmael grew up in Arabia, he is said to have become fluent in Arabic. In the genealogical trees that the early scholars drew,^[30] Ishmael was considered the ancestor of the Northern Arabs and Muhammad was linked to him through the lineage of the patriarch Adnan.

Christianity[link]

In some Christian biblical interpretations, Ishmael is used to symbolize the older—now rejected—Judaic tradition; Isaac symbolizes the new tradition of Christianity.^[2]

According to the Genesis account, Ishmael and his mother were expelled at the instigation of Sarah, in order to make sure that Isaac would be Abraham's heir. In the book of Galatians (4:21–31), Paul uses the incident "to symbolize the relationship between Judaism, the older but now rejected tradition, and Christianity".^[2] In Galatians 4:28–31,^[31] Hagar is associated with the Sinai covenant, while Sarah is associated with the covenant of grace into which her son Isaac enters.^[32]

Bahá'í Faith[link]

The Bahá'í writings state that it was Ishmael, and not Isaac, who was the son that Abraham almost sacrificed.^[33] However, the Bahá'í writings also state that the name is unimportant as either could be used: the importance is that both were symbols of sacrifice.^[34] According to Shoghi Effendi, there has also been another Ishmael, a prophet of Israel, commonly known as Samuel.^[35]

References[link]

Bibliographic references[link]

Books and journals

• Metzger, Bruce M; Michael D Coogan (1993). The Oxford Companion To The Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504645-8. 
• Nikaido, S. (2001). "Hagar and Ishmael as Literary Figures: An Intertextual Study". Vetus Testamentum 51 (2): 219. DOI:10.1163/156853301300102110. 
• Werblowsky, R.J. Zwi; Geoffrey Wigoder (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Jewish Religion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508605-8. 
• Quinn, Daniel (1993). Ishmael. Bantam Dell Pub Group. ISBN 0-553-56166-9. 

Encyclopedias

• Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, ed. (2005). Brill's New Pauly- Antiquity. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978. 9004122703. 
• Paul Lagasse, Lora Goldman, Archie Hobson, Susan R. Norton, ed. (2000). The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.). Gale Group. ISBN 978-1-59339-236-9. 
• John Bowden, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of Christianity (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-522393-4. 
• P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, ed. Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912. 
• Lindsay Jones, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference Books. ISBN 978-0-02-865733-2. 
• The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Incorporated; Rev Ed edition. 2005. ISBN 978-1-59339-236-9. 
• Jane Dammen McAuliffe, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-12356-4. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ishmael

• Genealogy from Adam to the Twelve Tribes
• Ishmael in Islam
• The Jewish Encyclopedia: Ishmael.
• Biographical Study on Ishmael
• "Ismael". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Ismael. 
• Ishmael in Bahá'í Faith

See also[link]

• Abraham
• Biblical narratives and the Qur'an
• Isaac
• Legends and the Qur'an
• List of names referring to El
• Prophets of Islam
• Stories of The Prophets