The patriarch Abraham’s first-born son by Hagar. He was father to twelve sons and half-brother to Isaac.
About Ishmael
Abraham’s first son, born of Hagar. Hagar was the Egyptian servant of Sarah (Abraham's wife). Sarah chose Hagar to have a child with Abraham.
God promised to make a great nation of Abraham, who did not have any children (Genesis 12:2). God promised him that his son would be his heir (15:4). But when Sarah was past 75 years old and had still not had any children, she followed a custom of that time and gave her servant Hagar to Abraham as a concubine. This was meant to give Sarah a child through Hagar (16:1–2).
After Hagar became pregnant, she began to treat Sarah with disrespect. Sarah then treated Hagar harshly, causing her to run away. An angel found Hagar and told her to return. The angel also promised her a son, telling her to name him Ishmael, which means "God hears" (16:9–11). The boy was born near Hebron when Abraham was 86 years old (13:18; 16:16).
Abraham and Sarah first thought Ishmael was the son God had promised them (17:17; 18:12). When God later announced that Sarah would have her own son named Isaac, Abraham even asked God to accept Ishmael instead (17:18). When Ishmael was 13, he was circumcised as a witness of God’s covenant with Abraham (17:9–14, 22–27). The Lord promised to make Ishmael the father of 12 princes, from which would come a great nation. But the covenant (God's special agreement with Abraham) was to be established with Isaac (17:20–21).
Problems began when Isaac was weaned at about three years of age. When Sarah saw Ishmael mocking her son Isaac, she decided that the son of a slave woman should not be heir with her son Isaac. She demanded that Ishmael and Hagar be sent away. Though this upset Abraham, God told him to do what Sarah asked. Abraham gave them some food and water and sent them away. It was then clear to Abraham that Isaac, not Ishmael, was the son of God’s promise.
Hagar survived in the wilderness with the help of an angel. Ishmael became a hunter of wild animals and settled in the wilderness of Paran. He married an Egyptian woman (21:20–21). There is not much more written about him, except that years later he helped bury Abraham (25:9–10). He also gave his daughter Mahalath in marriage (28:9). Ishmael died at the age of 137 (25:17). The names of his 12 sons and their settlements are recorded in Genesis 25:13–16. In later history, a caravan of Ishmaelite traders (also called Midianites, compare Judges 8:22–24) bought Joseph from his brothers and sold him in Egypt (Genesis 37:25–28; 39:1).
Although Isaac received God's special promises instead of Ishmael, this did not mean God rejected Ishmael. Abraham and Sarah first thought too highly of Ishmael's place in God's plan, but later they wrongly tried to exclude him completely.
In the New Testament, Paul uses the story of Ishmael and Hagar to teach the Galatians that the law should not be seen as a burden (Galatians 4:22). He says that those who trust the law of Moses, instead of trusting in God’s promises, do not inherit the kingdom of God. Ishmael, the son of the slave woman (here a symbol of the law), did not receive inheritance with the son of the free woman (verse 30).
Family Relationships
- Parents
- Abraham, Hagar
- Half-siblings 7
- Isaac, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah
- Children 13
- Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad (Genesis 25:15), Tema, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah, Mahalath
- Nieces & Nephews 9
- Esau, Israel, Sheba (Genesis 25:3), Dedan (Genesis 25:3), Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, Eldaah
- Aunt
- Sarah
- Uncles 2
- Nahor, Haran
- Cousins 16
- Uz (Genesis 22:21), Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, Bethuel, Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, Maacah, Lot, Milcah, Iscah, Isaac
Key References
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael.
All Scripture References (27)
Genesis (19)
The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.
and his son Ishmael was thirteen;
Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes.
Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.
Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
and Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.
So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
Judges (1)
Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)
2 Samuel (1)
Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.
1 Chronicles (5)
The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael.
These are their genealogies: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael.
Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels. Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys.
Psalms (1)
of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia with the people of Tyre.