ISHMAEL (⅛J⅛', “God hears”; ⅛ατ∕λ), the son of Abraham by his Egyptian concubine Hagar, was born when his father was eighty-six years old, received circumcision along with Isaac when thirteen years of age, and some three or four years later (apparently in his sixteenth year) was, on account of the jealousy of Sarah, who had seen him “playing” (Hebrew), turned out of doors along with his mother. It had been foretold to his mother before his birth that he should be “a wild ass among men,” and that he should dwell “before the face of” (that is, to the eastward of) his brethren. It is subsequently stated that after leaving his father’s roof he “grew, and became an archer, and dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.” It is also related that he was present at the burial of Abraham. His twelve sons are enumerated by their “villages” and “encampments” in Gen xxv., where also (ver. 18) their locality is indicated by the expressions that “they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is east of Egypt, and he settled to the eastward of his brethren” (Heb.). Of the twelve names given, only a few have historical associations apart from the Biblical records. Nebajoth and Kedar suggest the Nabataei and Cedrei of Pliny (v. 12), the first-mentioned of whom were an important Arab people after the time of Alexander, and for some time both before and after the Christian era formed an independent kingdom (Nabatene). Dumah may perhaps be the same as the Domata of Pliny (vi. 32) and the ∆oυ∕*∈0α or ∆oυ∕zcu‰ of Ptolemy (v. 19, 7; viii. 22, 3), and Jetur is obviously the Ituraea of classical geographers. The word “Ishmaelite” is sometimes used in Scripture in a wide sense, which includes ...

the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar, his Egyptian bond-maid. Ishmael was born B. C. 1910, and his name, founded on a circumstance which afforded relief to his mother, when she was wandering from her master’s house toward Egypt, her native country, is derived from the Hebrew ישמעאל, formed of שמע, _to hear_, and אל, _God_, and denoting, “the Lord hath hearkened.” The heavenly messenger who appeared to Hagar in the wilderness, and instructed her by what name to call her future son, predicted also that he and his posterity would prove fierce and warlike, engaged in repeated hostilities, and yet able to maintain their independence. Hagar, deriving encouragement from this circumstance, returned to the house of Abraham, and was soon delivered of her promised son. The father regarded Ishmael as the heir of his wealth, till Sarah had the promise of her son Isaac. After the birth of Isaac, Abraham was persuaded by his wife to dismiss Hagar and her son; and the patriarch probably provided for their subsistence in some distant situation, where they could not encroach on the patrimony of Isaac. Having wandered for some time in the wilderness of Beersheba, they proceeded farther to the wilderness of Paran, which bordered on Arabia; and here Ishmael arrived at maturity, and became an expert archer, or a hunter and warrior. In process of time his mother procured for him a wife out of Egypt, by whom he had twelve sons, who eventually established themselves as the heads of so many distinct Arabian tribes. Accordingly, the descendants of Ishmael are mentioned in history under the general name of Arabians and Ishmaelites. Of Ishmael’s personal history, we merely learn from the sacred writings, that he joined with his brother Isaac in paying the last ...