Siteadmin, Check users, Administrators
12,071
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − '''Ishmael''' (Hebrew '''יִשְׁמָעֵאל''') was [[Abraham]]'s first son, born of [[Hagar]] the maidservant of Abraham's wife [[Sarah]] after being given to him to produce an heir. The story is recorded in the book of [[Genesis]] in the [[Bible]]. After Sarah herself had a son, friction developed and Ishamel and Hagar were eventually banished. The boy became an archer and along with [[Isaac]], buried his father. By the time of [[Joseph]], the Ishmaelites had become slave traders. In [[Islam]], Ishmael is traditionally credited as being the forefather of the [[Arab|Arabs]].+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Expansion
[[Image:Expulsion of Ishmael and His Mother.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael by Gustave Dore]]
[[Ishmael]] ([[Hebrew]] '''יִשְׁמָעֵאל''', ''Yišmāʿêl''; [[Arabic]]: '''إسماعيل''', ''Ismā'īl''; "God will hear") (2094 AM–2231 AM, or 1910 BC-1774 BC) was the first, but illegitimate, son of [[Abraham]], credited to [[Sarah]] but actually born to [[Hagar]]. He is the progenitor of many [[Arab]] tribes. [[Islam]]ic tradition holds that he is the direct ancestor of [[Muhammad]] and also that he, not [[Isaac]], was the son that Abraham nearly sacrificed on [[Mount Moriah]].
== Life==
=== Birth ===
He was born in the eleventh year of Abraham's sojourn in [[Canaan (land)|Canaan]]. His birth mother, [[Hagar]], had joined Abraham's camp during Abraham's brief stay in [[Egypt]]. [[Sarah]], despairing of having a child of her own, asked Hagar to act as her surrogate. The [[Bible]] states that Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=16|verses=15-16}}</ref>
The dispute on the year of Ishmael's birth follows from the more fundamental [[Biblical chronology dispute#The Birth of Abraham|dispute]] concerning the year of the birth of Abraham.
=== Expulsion ===
When he was thirteen years old, he underwent the ceremony of [[circumcision]], as part of Abraham's own covenant with [[God]].<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=17|verses=26}}</ref> Then, within a year, a true miracle occurred: [[Isaac]] was born to Abraham and Sarah.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=21|verses=2}}</ref> Thus Ishmael's position in the household was compromised. Ishmael arguably made his position untenable by openly mocking Isaac during the ceremony of Isaac's weaning, when Isaac was five years old and Ishmael nineteen. Sarah was much displeased, and Abraham, following further instruction from God, expelled Ishmael and Hagar from his camp.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=21|verses=12-14}}</ref>
The two exiles had between them a loaf of bread and a bottle of water. In the then wilderness region of [[Beersheba]], the water gave out. Hagar placed Ishmael a bowshot away from her, because she did not want to watch him die. But the pre-incarnate [[Jesus Christ]] visited her, assured her that they would both live, and even provided water from a miraculous well.
Thus they crossed the desert. Eventually Ishmael became an archer and married an Egyptian woman and had twelve sons.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=21|verses=15-21}}</ref>
== Descendants and Death ==
[[Image:Judah.jpg|200px|right]]
[[Image:Judah.jpg|200px|right]]
Ishmael had twelve sons, whose names are given in {{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=25|verses=12-16}}. Altogether Ishmael lived for 137 years, and then died.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=25|verses=17-18}}</ref>
=== 12 Tribes of Ishmael ===
* '''[[Nabajoth]]''': Nabataean Arabs.
* '''[[Kedar]]''': Saudi Arabians and Iraqis.
* '''[[Adbeel]]''': Sinai Bedouins.
* '''[[Mibsam]]''': Eastern Saudi Arabians (merged with Mishma).
* '''[[Mishma]]''': Mesha in Yemen. (merged with Mibsam).
* '''[[Dumah]]''': Dumat al-Gandal.
* '''[[Massa]]''': Jordanians and Northern Arabians.
* '''[[Hadar]]''': [[Christian]] Jordanians, Syrians, and Hadramites in southern Arabia.
* '''[[Tema]]''': Taima in northern Arabia.
* '''[[Jetur]]''': Bahraini Arabs.
* '''[[Naphish]]''': Tunisian/Libyan Arabs (originally from Central Arabia merged with [[Carthage|Carthaginians]]/[[Berbers]]).
* '''[[Kedemah]]''': Algerian/Moroccan Arabs (originally from Central and South Arabia merged with Berbers).
=== Wider symbolism ===
[[Paul]] mentioned, in writing to the [[Galatians]], that Ishmael was a son "born after flesh," while Isaac was a "son of promise." Thus Ishmael, according to Paul, is a type of the original Abrahamic covenant, while Isaac is a type of the [[Christian]] covenant, the covenant of grace.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Galatians|chap=4|verses=21-31}}</ref>
== Ishmael in Islam ==
:''Main Article: [[Qur'an]]''
The name of Ishmael nowhere appears in the [[Qur'an]]. However, later generations of Muslims came to insist that Ishmael, not Isaac, was the son that Abraham almost sacrificed on Mount Moriah.
=== Ishmael in popular culture ===
The name Ishmael is also familiar as that of the narrator of [[Herman Melville]]'s novel ''[[Moby-Dick]]'', the first sentence of which – "Call me Ishmael" – is one of the most famous in American literature.
The name Ishmael is also familiar as that of the narrator of [[Herman Melville]]'s novel ''[[Moby-Dick]]'', the first sentence of which – "Call me Ishmael" – is one of the most famous in American literature.
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
== Related Links ==
* [http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/p141.htm Ishmael] in AboutBibleProphecy.com
* [http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/ishmael.htm Ishmael] at Keyway.ca
* [http://nabataea.net/12tribes.html The 12 Tribes of Ishmael] at Nabataea.net
== See Also ==
* [[Hagar]]
* [[Biblical chronology dispute]]
{{nb hebrews}}
[[Category:Book of Genesis Persons]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis Persons]]