In the biblical Book of Genesis, Ishmael was the first son of Abraham. His mother was Hagar, the handmaiden of Abraham's wife Sarah. He died at the age of 137.
Within Islam, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet and the ancestor of the Ishmaelites (Hagarenes or Adnanites) and patriarch of Qaydār.
Etymology The name "Yishma'el" existed in various ancient cultures in the Middle East, including early Babylonian and Minæan. In the Amorite language, it is attested as yaśmaʿ-ʾel. It is a theophoric name translated literally as "God (El) has hearkened", suggesting that "a child so named was regarded as the fulfillment of a divine promise".
Genesis narrative
The Genesis narrative sees the account of Ishmael's life through Chapters 16, 17, 21, and 25.
Birth The birth of Ishmael was planned by 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 . Sarai was 75 years old and had yet to bear a child. She had the idea to offer her Egyptian handmaiden Hagar to her husband so that they could have a child by her. Abraham slept with Hagar and she became pregnant. Hagar began to show contempt for Sarai so Sarai blamed Abraham for it. Abraham told Sarai to handle the matter as she saw fit, after which Sarai mistreated Hagar.
Hagar fled to the desert, where she met an angel on the road to Shur. describes the naming of Ishmael and God's promise to Hagar concerning Ishmael and his descendants. This occurred at the well of Beer-lahai-roi, and the angel of the said to her, "Behold, you are with child / And shall bear a son; / You shall call him Ishmael, / For the Lord has paid heed to your suffering." The Angel commanded Hagar, "Return to your mistress [Sarai] and submit to her." She returned as directed, and when the baby was born, Abraham gave him the name Ishmael, as the angel had directed.: JPS 1917 translation of the Hebrew Bible
Abraham was blessed so that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. God would make of Ishmael a great nation because he was of the seed of Abraham. However, God told Hagar that her son would be living in conflict with his relatives. When Ishmael was born, Abraham was 86 years old.: JPS 1917
Inheritance, rights and the first circumcision
When he was 13 years old, Ishmael was circumcised at the same time as all other males in Abraham's household, becoming a part of the covenant in a mass circumcision. His father Abram, given the new name "Abraham", then 99, was circumcised along with the others.
At the time of the covenant, God informed Abraham that his wife Sarah (Sarai) would give birth to a son, whom 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 answered 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." God also mentioned that "He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be over (against) everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live in the presence of his brethren."
A year later, Ishmael's half-brother Isaac was born to Abraham by his wife Sarah when she was 90 years old, after she had ceased showing any signs of fertility.
On the day of feasting during which Abraham celebrated the weaning of Isaac, Ishmael was "mocking" or "playing with" Isaac, 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.""Hagar". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Her demand was painful for Abraham, who loved Ishmael. Abraham agreed only after God told him that "in Isaac your seed shall be called" and that God would "make a nation of the son of the bondwoman" Ishmael, since he was a descendant of Abraham, God having previously told Abraham "I will establish My covenant with [Isaac]", while also making promises concerning the Ishmaelite nation.
At the age of 17, Ishmael was freed along with his mother. The Lord's covenant made clear Ishmael was not to inherit Abraham's house and that Isaac would be the seed of the covenant: "Take your son, your only son, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah." Abraham gave Ishmael and his mother a supply of bread and water and sent them away. Hagar entered 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."
Descendants
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. They had twelve sons, each of whom became a tribal chief in one of the regions from Havilah to Shur (from Assyria to the border of Egypt)."Ishmael", Jewish Encyclopedia (1906). His sons were:
Nebaioth ( Nəḇāyōṯ) Kedar ( Qēḏār), father of the Qedarites, a northern Arab tribe that controlled the area between the Persian Gulf and the Sinai Peninsula. According to tradition, he is the ancestor of the Quraysh tribe, and thus, ancestor of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Adbeel ( ʾAḏbəʾēl) Mibsam ( Mīḇsām) Mishma ( Mīšmāʿ) Dumah ( Ḏūmā) Massa ( Massāʾ) Hadad ( Ḥăḏaḏ) Tema ( Ṯēmāʾ) Jetur ( Yəṭūr) Naphish ( Nāfīš) Kedemah ( Qēḏəmā)
Ishmael also had one known daughter, Mahalath or Basemath, the third wife of Esau."Mahalath", Jewish Encyclopedia (1906).
Later life When Abraham died, Ishmael returned to join Isaac for the burial of their father's body. Ishmael died at the age of 137.
Family tree
In various traditions
Historians and academics in the field of 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). For example, the narration in is of J type and the narration in is of E type.S. Nikaido (2001), p. 1 Genesis 25 would have been added during the Persian Period by the Priestly source, who attributed the known Ishmaelite (Shumu'ilu) Tribes as the names of the sons of Ishmael, although the narrative and name of Ishmael himself preceded this.Noble, John Travis. 2013. "Let Ishmael Live Before You!" Finding a Place for Hagar's Son in the Priestly Tradition. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.
Jewish and Islamic traditions consider Ishmael to be the ancestor of Arabs.Both Judaism and Islam see him as the ancestor of Arabian peoples. Ishmael is recognized by Muslims as the ancestor of several prominent Arabiantribes and as the forefather of Muhammad. A–Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, Wheeler, Ishmael Muslims also believe that Muhammad was the descendant of Ishmael that would establish a great nation, as promised by God in the Old Testament.* Ishmael was considered the ancestor of the Northern Arabs and Muhammad was linked to him through the lineage of the patriarch Adnan. Ishmael may also have been the ancestor of the Southern Arabs through his descendant Qahtan. "Zayd ibn Amr" was another Pre-Islamic figure who refused idolatry and preached monotheism, claiming it was the original belief of their [Arabs] father Ishmael. *The Beginning and the End by Ibn Kathir – Vol. 3, p. 323 The History by Ibn Khaldun, Vol, 2, p. 4 The tribes of Central West Arabia called themselves the "people of Abraham and the offspring of Ishmael". The Signs of Prophethood, Section 18, page 215. Gibb, Hamilton A.R. and Kramers, J.H. (1965). Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 191–98.
Judaism In some 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. This is understood as a metaphoric representation of the Muslim world (first Arabs and then Turks) with Ishmael.
Rabbinical commentators in the Midrash Genesis Rabbah also say that Ishmael's mother Hagar was the Pharaoh's daughter, making Ishmael the Pharaoh's grandson. 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 that Hagar was the Pharaoh's daughter, his marriage to a woman she selected could explain how and why his sons became princes.
According to other Jewish commentators, Ishmael's mother Hagar is identified with Keturah, the woman Abraham sought out and married after Sarah's death. It is suggested that Keturah was Hagar's personal name, and that "Hagar" was a descriptive label meaning "stranger"."The Return of Hagar", commentary on Parshah Chayei Sarah, Chabad Lubavitch."Who Was Ketura?", Bar-Ilan University's Parashat Hashavua Study Center, 2003."Parshat Chayei Sarah" , Torah Insights, Orthodox Union, 2002. This interpretation is discussed in the MidrashBereshit Rabbah 61:4. 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 (Hebrew, ketoret), and that she remained chaste (literally "tied her opening", with the verb tied in Aramaic being k-t-r) from the time she was separated from Abraham.
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. Regarding the word "Mitzachek" (again in Gen. 21:9) The Jewish Study Bible by Oxford University Press says this word in this particular context is associated with "Playing is another pun on Isaac's name (cf. 17.17; 18.12; 19.14; 26.8). Ishmael was 'Isaacing', or 'taking Isaac's place'." 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'".Jeffrey, David L., A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1992, p. 326