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Ishmael (Hebrew: יִשְׁמָעֵאל, Standard Yišmaʿel Tiberian Yišmāʿêl; Arabic: إسماعيل, Ismā'īl) is a figure in the Torah, Bible, and Quran whom Jewish, Christian and Muslim believers regard as the Abraham's eldest son, born by his wife's handmaiden Hagar. Though born of Hagar, according to Mesopotamian law, Ishmael was credited as Sarah's son (Gn. 16:2)^[1] According to the Genesis account, he died at the age of 137 (Gn. 25:17).^[2]

Both Jewish and Islamic traditions consider Ishmael as the ancestor of Arab people. ^[1]

Judaism has generally viewed Ishmael as the son of Abraham.^[1] Jews and Christians (the House of Israel) maintain that Isaac, Abraham's son by Sarah the free woman and the father of all Israel, rather than Ishmael was the true heir. This is supported in Genesis chapter 21 "in Isaac shall the seed be called".^[3] The New Testament contains a reference to Ishmael where Paul defines the difference in Isaac and Ishmael in Galatians chapter 4. Biblically, Ishmael is used to symbolize the bondwoman - not free - Isaac symbolizes those that have freedom to choose, asserting such freedom is found in Christianity.^[1] Islamic tradition, however, has a very positive view of Ishmael, giving him a larger and more significant role. The Qur'an views Isaac and Ishmael as prophets. According to the interpretation of certain early Islamic theologians, whose view prevailed later, Ishmael was the actual son that Abraham was called on to sacrifice, as opposed to Isaac. In the Bible story God tested Abraham through the sacrifice of Isaac. The story reflects the same story as given in Genesis where there is an evil older brother and the chosen younger brother. This is evidenced again in Esau and Jacob, where Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup.^[1][4]

Contents 1 Etymology and meaning 2 Hebrew Bible 3 Jewish traditions 4 New Testament 5 Islam 6 Bahá'í Faith 7 Notes 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

Cognates of Hebrew Yishm'e'l existed in various ancient Semitic cultures.^[1] For example, it is known that the name was used in early Babylonian and in Minæan.^[2] It is translated literally as "God has heard", suggesting that "a child so named was regarded as the fulfillment of a divine promise."^[1] Hebrew Šimʿon and Samuel are from the same root.

See also: Account of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible

Chapters 16-25 of the book of Genesis contain the stories of Ishmael.^[2] 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). ^[2]For example, The narration in Genesis 16 is of J type and the narration in Genesis 21:8-21 is of E type. ^[5]

The account of the life of Ishmael according to the Hebrew Bible

According to the Bible, Sarah (Abraham's wife) was childless, yet desired a son. She offers her maidservant Hagar to Abraham as a surrogate. Customs of the time dictated that, although Hagar was the birth mother, any child conceived would belong to Sarah and Abraham. ^{[6] [7]}

Hagar became pregnant and proud of herself, which resulted in harsh treatment by Sarah. Hagar fled and ran into the wilderness, where an angel appeared to her by a spring of water. ^[6] The angel of the Lord told her to return, adding that God would increase her descendants through a son whose name would be Ishmael. The angel told Hagar that Ishmael would become "a wild man" (a wild man representing him living in the desert and thriving with the traits that Ishmael possessed) and would be in constant struggle with others.^[6]

So Hagar returned to Abraham's house, and had a son whom she named Ishmael.^[6] Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.^[8] Abraham, obeying God's commandment, circumcised Ishmael when he was thirteen. ^[9] The next year, Abraham's wife Sarah became pregnant with his second son, Isaac.^[6] One day Sarah was angered by seeing Ishmael mocking or playing with Isaac (the Hebrew word is ambiguous^[10]),^[2] and she asked Abraham to expel him 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."^{[6] [11]} Ishmael was very dear to Abraham. He initially refused to do as Sarah asked.^[2] He finally gave in to his wife's request when God told him that He would take care of Ishmael, since he was a descendant of Abraham.^[9][12] Abraham provided Hagar and her child with bread and a bottle of water and sent her into the desert of Paran.^[9][13] Hagar, with her son, wandered in the wilderness and ran out of water. When they were reduced to great distress, an angel appeared and showed Hagar a spring of water saying "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."^[9][14]

They lived in the wilderness of Paran, where Hagar's son became an expert in archery,reflecting his warrior-like spirirt he displayed early on as a child. His mother married him to an Egyptian woman.^[9] According to the Bible, Ishmael had 12 sons who became twelve tribal chiefs. The twelve sons of Ishmael, were named Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah (See Genesis 25) ^[2] Ishmael's sons settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, i.e. from Assyria to the border of Egypt.^[9] Ishmael also had a daughter named Mahalath who married Esau.^[15]. Ishmael also appears with Isaac at the burial of Abraham.^[9][16] Ishmael died at the age of 137. ^[2]

see also Hagar in Jewish mysticism, Isaac in Jewish traditions

Judaism has generally viewed Ishmael as wicked though repentant.^[1] According to the Haggadah Ishmael was as an idolater and a "brother-hater, who becomes ill from Sarah's evil eye."^[17] Ishmael later repents and comes to revere his brother Isaac.^[17]

In some Rabbinic traditions Ishmael is said to have had two wives named Aisha and Fatima. Those names correspond to the Muslim tradition for the names of Muhammad's wife and daughter.^[1] This is understood as a metaphoric representation of the Muslim world (first Arabs and then Turks) with Ishmael. ^[18]

The Israelites regarded the supposedly freedom-loving and bellicose descendants of Ishmael as inferior because Abraham had expelled Ishmael and his mother.^[17][1]

In the Hebrew Bible, in Gen. 37:25-28, Joseph is sold to traders who are identified first as Ishmaelites, and then as Midianites, which lends support to the idea that the Ishmaelites either became the Midianites or were absorbed by them.

see also Hagar in the New Testament, Isaac in New Testament

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, Paul uses the incident "to symbolize the relationship between Judaism, the older but now rejected tradition, and Christianity." (Gal 4:21-31)^[1] In Galatians 4:28-31,^[19] Hagar is associated with the Sinai covenant, while Sarah is associated with the covenant of grace (into which her son Isaac enters).^[20]

Main article: Islamic view of Ishmael

see also: Hagar in Islamic traditions

Ishmael (Arabic: Ismā'īl) is a prophet in Islam. The Qur'an considers him to be a son of Abraham.^[21] His name appears twelve times in the Qur'an mostly in a list^[22] with other prophets "as part of a litany of remembrances in which the pre-Muhammad prophets are praised for their resolute steadfastness and obedience to God, often in the face of adversity."^[23]

Both Jewish and Islamic traditions consider Ishmael as the ancestor of Arab people. According to the Muslim tradition, Muhammad was a descendant of Ishmael through his son Kedar.^[9]

Abraham and Ishmael are said to have built the foundations of the Ka'aba ("They were raising the foundations of the House", Qur'an 2:127).^[23] Islamic traditions hold that the Ka'aba was first built by the first man, Adam. Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the Kaaba on the old foundations. ^[24]

The Qur'an states that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son. The son is not named in the Qur'an (see Qur'an 37:99-113) and in early Islam, there was a controversy over the son's identity. However the belief that the son was Ishmael prevailed, and this view is continued to be endorsed by Muslim scholars.^[25] The argument of those Muslims who believed in the Ishmael theory was that "the promise to Sarah of Isaac followed by Jacob (Qur'an 11:71-74) excluded the possibility of a sacrifice of Isaac."^[25] The other party held that the son of sacrifice was Isaac since "God's perfecting his mercy on Abraham and Isaac (in Qur'an 12:6) referred to his making Abraham his friend and saving him from the burning bush and to his rescuing Isaac."^[25]

According to Bruce Metzger and Michael Coogan, professors of Religious Studies, the circumcision of Muslims has its roots in the tradition that Ishmael was circumcised.^[26]

The Bahá'í writings state that it was Ishmael, and not Isaac, who was the son of Abraham almost sacrificed.^[27] 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.^[28] The Bahá'í writings also consider Ishmael an ancestor of Muhammad and the Arabs.^[29] According to Shoghi Effendi, there has also been another Ishmael, this one a prophet of Israel ^[30]