Ishmael or Yishma'el (יִשְׁמָעֵאל "God hears or obeys", Standard Hebrew Yišmaʿel, Tiberian Hebrew Yišmāʿêl, Arabic إسماعيل) is Abraham's eldest son, born by his servant Hagar. Ishmael the son of Abraham, is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis as the eldest son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah's female Egyptian maid-servant or slave.

In Islam and the Qur'an, Ishmael is considered one of the prophets.

Ishmael in the Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Ishmael's life is described in the Book of Genesis (xvi, xvii, xxi, xxv) and later texts. In Genesis 16 Sarai (Abram's wife) gives him her maid-servant Hagar to bear him children, since she believed that God had kept her from having children (16:2).

Hagar became pregnant and despised Sarai (Genesis 16:4) who then expelled Hagar from the home of Abraham in retaliation. Hagar fled from Sarai and ran into the desert, where an angel found her near a spring. Here the prophecy of Ishmael is recorded in Genesis 16:

11 "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall



name him Ishmael ("God hears"), for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

and in Genesis 17:

As for Ishmael, I am heeding you (Abraham): I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation.

The well of Hagar in Genesis 16 was named Beer lahai-roi ("Well of the Living One who Sees Me" or as some render it, "Well of the Vision of Life").

Subsequently, Sarah becomes pregnant (Genesis 21) and gives birth to Isaac. Sarah insisted that Hagar be sent away because Ishmael taunted Isaac, and Abraham then gave Hagar food and water, and sent her and Ishmael away. They wandered in the desert of Beersheba ("seven wells"). When their water was gone Hagar laid her son under a bush. Then she went a distance (a bowshot) away to wait, because she could not bear to watch him die. As she waited, Hagar began to sob.

The Hebrew Bible does not explicitly mention the child crying but does mention Hagar sobbing. However Genesis 21:17 says God heard the boy crying. A well miraculously appears, saving both mother and child.

According to Genesis 21, Ishmael became a skilled archer and lived in the desert; his mother

Sons of Ishmael

According to the Book of Genesis, Ishmael's twelve sons were named Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah (See ). According to this account, they dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as the traveller heads toward Assyria.

Ishmael in Islam

In the Qur'an, Ishmael is known as the first-born son of Abraham from his second wife Hagar, and an appointed Prophet of God. Islamic belief holds that Abraham married Hagar, the mother of Ishmael. As a result, Ishmael was the first legitimate son of Abraham. Islam asserts that he was the one nearly sacrificed, not Isaac, (or Ishaq in the Qur'an). Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God is celebrated by Muslims every year as Eid ul-Adha.

Islamic tradition holds that Ishmael and Hagar were sent to the deserts of Arabia on the orders of God (Allah). The Bible claims that Sarah, after the birth of Isaac, sent Hagar and Ishmael away. He and his mother settled in Mecca (or "Makkah") and were without water. The frantic running of his mother in pursuit of water led to a miraculous spring appearing from the ground (from God) known as the Zamzam Well. Ishmael then helped his father, Abraham, build the House of God, or the Kaaba, in Mecca.

Muhammad is considered to be a descendant of Ishmael. The oldest extant biography of Muhammad, compiled by Mohammed Ibn Ishak, and edited by Abu Mohammed Abd el Malik Ibn Hisham, opens thus:

This book contains the life of the Apostle of God: Mohammed was the son of Abd Allah, son of Abdu-l-Mottaleb, son of Hashim, son of Abd Menaf, son of Kussei, son of Kilab, son of Murra, son of Kaab, son of Luei, son of Ghalib, son of Fihr, son of Malik, son of Nadhr, son of Kinana, son of Khuzeima, son of Mudrika, son of Alya, son of Mudhar, son of Nizar, son of Maad, son of Adrian, son of Udd, son of Mukawwam, son of Nahor, son of Teira, son of Yarub, son of Yashyub, son of Nabit, son of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the Friend of God, son of Tara, son of Nahor, son of Sarukh, son of Rau, son of Falih, son of Eiber, son of Shalih, son of Arphakhsad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamek, son of Metushalakh, son of Khanukh, - who, as is believed, was the prophet Idris, the first prophet, and the first who wrote with the reed, - son of Yared, son of Mahaleel, son of Kainanan, son of Yanish, son of Sheth, son of Adam, to whom may God be gracious!

See also

• List of names referring to El

Ismael Ismael Ismael Iŝmael Ismaël ישמעאל Ismaël Ismael Ismael 伊希梅尔