| |  Hagar and Ishmael Banished by Abraham. Artist: Pieter Jozef Verhaghen. Date: 1781. Oil on canvas, 168 x 195 cm. Location: Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
(larger image)"I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael, because I have heard your cry for help." (Genesis 16:11) In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Ishmael's life is described in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 16, 17, 21, 25) 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 (Genesis 16:2). Hagar became pregnant and despised Sarai (Genesis 16:4) who then expelled Hagar from the home of Abraham in retaliation. |  Expulsion of Ishmael and His Mother. Part of Art by Gustave Doré.
(larger image)  Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness, by Karel Dujardin
(larger image) Judaism has generally viewed Ishmael as wicked though repentant. Judaism maintains that Isaac (the father of the Jewish people) rather than Ishmael was the true heir of Abraham. The New Testament contains few references to Ishmael. Islamic tradition, however, has a very positive view of Ishmael, giving him a larger and more significant role. The Qur'an views him as an Islamic prophet. According to the interpretation of some early Islamic theologians whose view prevailed later, Ishmael was the actual son that Abraham was called on to sacrifice, as opposed to Isaac 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." 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 obtained a wife for him from Egypt. The child of the promise. Isaac or Ishmael? Isaac is mentioned 132 times in 123 verses in the KJV in the book of Genesis but only mentioned 33 times elsewhere. God called Isaac the only son of Abraham. 12"Don't hurt the boy or harm him in any way!" the angel said. "Now I know that you truly obey God, because you were willing to offer him your only son." (Genesis 22:12) 16"You were willing to offer the LORD your only son, and so he makes you this solemn promise.." (Genesis 22:16) The phrase "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" occurs 23 times in the Hebrew Bible. Chapters 17-28 of the book of Genesis contain the stories of Isaac. Historians and academics in the fields of linguistics and source criticism believe that the stories of Isaac largely belong to the J, or Yahwist source (See Documentary hypothesis). The beginnings of Genesis 17:15-27 and the end from Genesis 27:46 to Genesis 28:9 is however believed to belong to the P, or Priestly source while Genesis 21:1-7 and Genesis 22:1-19 is considered to be the E, or Elohist source. The account of the life of Isaac according to the Hebrew Bible God gave the news of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was beyond the age of having children and privately laughed at the prediction. When the child was born, she said "God had made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me". Isaac was the only child that Abraham and Sarah had together. Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac and urged her husband to banish Hagar and her child so that Isaac would be the only heir of Abraham. Abraham was hesitant but at God's order he listened to his wife's request. Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when the boy was eight days old. According to the book of Genesis, a great feast was held for his being weaned. The angel hinders the offering up of Isaac, by Rembrandt Several years later, God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his son. Abraham obeyed and took Isaac to the mount Moriah. Without murmuring, Isaac let Abraham bind him and lay him upon the altar as a sacrifice. Abraham took the knife and raised his hand to kill his son. At the last minute, an angel of the Lord prevented him from doing so. Instead of Isaac, Abraham sacrificed a ram that was trapped in a thicket nearby. Abraham was 75 when he arrived in Canaan. Abraham was married to his half sister Sarah who was ten years younger than him. Sarah could not bear children. As a result, she gave her handmaid Hagar as a wife to Abraham. Hagar became pregnant when Abraham was 86. Hagar was twice driven away by Sarah, before the child was born and after the child was born. Abraham took his only son to be sacrificed. Isaac was born when Abraham was 100. When Isaac was forty years of age, Abraham sent Eliezer, his steward, into Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac, from Bethuel, his brother-in-law's family. Eliezer chose Rebekah for Isaac. After twenty years of marriage to Isaac, Rebekah had still not given birth to a child and was believed to be barren. Isaac prayed for her and she conceived. Rebekah gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Isaac favoured Esau, and Rebekah Jacob. Some years later, a famine forced Abraham to move to Gerar, where Abimelech was king; and he referred to Sarah as his sister. Abimelech, having discovered that she was his wife, reproved him for the deception. As Abraham grew very rich and his flocks multiplied, the Philistines of Gerar became so envious that they filled up all the wells which Abraham's servants had dug. At the desire of Abimelech he departed and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar where he dug new wells, but was again put to some difficulties. At length, he returned to Beersheba where he fixed his habitation. Here the Lord appeared to him, and renewed the promise of blessing him. Also Abimelech visited him to form an alliance. | Isaac grew very old and became completely blind. He called Esau, his eldest son, and directed him to procure some venison for him. But while Esau was hunting, Jacob deceptively misrepresented himself as Esau to his blind father and obtained his father's blessing, making Jacob Isaac's primary heir, and leaving Esau in an inferior position. Isaac lived some time after this, and sent Jacob into Mesopotamia to take a wife of his own family. He died at the age of 180. Issac in Jewish traditions In rabbinical tradition the age of Isaac at the time of binding is taken to be 37 which contrasts with common portrayals of Isaac as a child. The Rabbis also thought that the reason for the death of Sarah was the news of intended sacrifice of Isaac. The sacrifice of Isaac was cited in appeals for the mercy of God in the later Jewish traditions. The post-biblical Jewish interpretations often elaborate the role of Isaac beyond the biblical description and largely focus on Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac, called the aqedah("binding"). According to a version of these interpretations, Isaac died in the sacrifice and was revived. According to many accounts of Aggadah, unlike the Bible, it is Satan who is testing Isaac and not God. Isaac's willingness to follow God's command at the cost of his death has been a model for many Jews who preferred martyrdom to violation of the Jewish law. According to the Jewish tradition Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer. This tradition is based on Genesis 24:63 ("Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide") Isaac was the only patriarch who stayed in Canaan during his whole life and though once he tried to leave, God told him not to do so(Genesis 26:2). Rabinnic tradition gave the explanation that Isaac was almost sacrificed and anything dedicated as a sacrifice may not leave the Land of Israel. Isaac is the longest-lived of the patriarchs, and the only biblical patriarch whose name was not changed. Rabbinic literature also linked Isaac's blindness in old age as stated in the Bible to the sacrificial binding: Isaac's eyes went blind because the tears of angels present at the time of his sacrifice fell on Isaac's eyes. References to Isaac in the New Testament The New Testament contains few references to Isaac. There are references to Isaac having been "offered up" by his father, and to his blessing his sons. Paul contrasted Isaac (symbolizing Christianity) with the rejected older son Ishmael (symbolizing Judaism); (see Galatians 4:21-30). In Galatians 4:28-31, Hagar is associated with the Sinai covenant, while Sarah is associated with the covenant of grace (into which her son Isaac enters). James 2:21-24 argues that the sacrifice of Isaac shows that justification requires both faith and works. In the early Christian church, Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice Isaac was used as an example of faith (Hebrews 11:17) and of obedience (James 2:21). While the epistle to the Hebrews views the release of Isaac from sacrifice as analogous to the resurrection of Jesus, the idea of the sacrifice of Isaac being a prefigure of sacrifice of Jesus on the cross dates back to the end of first Christian century. It first appeared in the apocryphal epistle of Barnabas and later became an important theme for many renowned artists. Academic view of Isaac Some scholars have described Isaac as "a legendary figure" while others view him "as a figure representing tribal history, though as a historical individual" or "as a seminomadic leader." The stories of Isaac, like other patriarchal stories of Genesis, are generally believed in liberal western scholarship (in contrast with conservative western scholarship, which believes the stories of Isaac, and other patriarchal stories in Genesis, to be factual) to have "their origin in folk memories and oral traditions of the early Hebrew pastoralist experience." The Cambridge Companion to the Bible makes the following comment on the Biblical stories of the patriarchs: Yet for all that these stories maintain a distance between their world and that of their time of literary growth and composition, they reflect the political realities of the later periods. Many of the narratives deal with the relationship between the ancestors and peoples who were part of Israel’s political world at the time the stories began to be written down (eight century B.C.E.). Lot is the ancestor of the Transjordanian peoples of Ammon and Moab, and Ishmael personifies the nomadic peoples known to have inhibited north Arabia, although located in the Old Testament in the Negev. Esau personifies Edom (36:1), and Laban represents the Aramean states to Israel’s north. A persistent theme is that of difference between the ancestors and the indigenous Canaanites… In fact, the theme of the differences between Judah and Israel, as personified by the ancestors, and the neighboring peoples of the time of the monarchy is pressed effectively into theological service to articulate the choosing by God of Judah and Israel to bring blessing to all peoples.” According to Martin Noth, a renowned scholar of the Hebrew Bible, the narratives of Isaac date back to an older cultural stage than that of the West-Jordanian Jacob. At that era, the Israelite tribes were not yet sedentary. In the course of looking for grazing areas, they had come in contact in southern Palestine with the inhabitants of the settled countryside. The biblical historian A. Jopsen believes in the connection between the Isaac traditions and the North and in support of this theory adduces Amos 7:9 ("the high places of Isaac"). Albrecht Alt and Martin Noth hold that "The figure of Isaac was enhanced when the theme of promise, previously bound to the cults of the 'God the Fathers' was incorporated into the Israelite creed during the southern-Palestinian stage of the growth of the Pentateuch tradition." According to Martin Noth, at the southern-Palestinian stage of the growth of the Pentateuch tradition, Isaac became established as one of the biblical Patriarchs, however his traditions were receded in the favor of Abraham. Isaac in Islam Isaac is a prophet in Islam, mentioned in 15 Qur'anic passages. Like many other Hebrew prophets, the Qur'anic references to Isaac assume the audience is already familiar with him and his stories. There is little narrative of Isaac in the Qur'an. The Qur'an recalls that Isaac was given to Sarah, when she and her husband Abraham were both old. God gave Abraham the good news of the birth of Isaac "a prophet, one of the Righteous," via messengers sent against the people of Lut. Sarah, however, is said to have laughed at the glad tidings of Isaac, and after him, of Jacob. Several other verses of the Qur'an talking about Isaac and Jacob being given to Abraham, and that God “made prophethood and the Book to be among his offspring”. The formula "We gave Abraham Isaac and Jacob" has been "thought by some scholars to demonstrate that in the early revelations Jacob was considered to be a son of Abraham and not his grandson." In some instances, the Qur'an joins together Isaac and Ishmael and "Abraham praises God for giving him the two although he was old." In other instances Isaac's names occurs in the lists Isaac is also mentioned alongside the twelve asbat (meaning tribes), who were the descendants of Isaac from Jacob. The Qur'an states that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son. The son is not however named in the Qur'an and in early Islam, there was a dispute over the identity of the son. However, Muslim scholars came to endorse that it was Ishmael. The argument of those early scholars who believed in Isaac rather than Ishmael (notably Ibn Ḳutayba, and al-Ṭabarī) was that "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. The other party held that the promise to Sarah of son Isaac and grandson Jacob excluded the possibility of a premature death of Isaac. The early dispute was more concerned with Persian rather than Jewish rivalry with Arabs, since the Persians claimed to be of descendants of Isaac. Al-Masudi for example reports a Persian poet (902 CE) who claimed superiority over Arabs through descent from Isaac. Ishmael in Jewish tradition |  The dismissal of Hagar, by Pieter Pietersz Lastman
(larger image) Ishmael is also mentioned in the Book of Jasher, which states (chapter 25) that the sons of Ishmael were "Twelve princes according to their nations. The families of Ishmael afterward spread forth, and Ishmael took his children and all the property that he had gained, together with the souls of his household and all belonging to him, and they went to dwell where they should find a place. | And they went and dwelt near the wilderness of Paran, and their dwelling was from Havilah to Shur. And Ishmael and his sons dwelt in the land, and they had children born to them, and they were fruitful and increased abundantly." Ishmael in New Testament According to the Genesis account, at the instigation of Sarah, Ishmael and his mother were expelled 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) Ishmael and Islam In Islam and the Qur'an, Ishmael is considered one of the prophets. Islam In Islam, Ishmael (circa 1781 BC - 1638 BC?) is known as the first-born son of Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) from Hagar, and as an appointed prophet and messenger ("Rasul") of God. It is believed that Ishmael lived between 120 to 143 years.after giving birth to over 12 different children, three of which were born to different mothers, he decided to live in a cave. The name of the son who was supposed to be sacrificed is not mentioned in the Qur'an and in early Islam, there was a fierce controversy over the identity of the son. However the belief that it was Ishmael prevailed later. Life In Islamic beliefs, Abraham had prayed to God for a son (Isma in Arabic means 'to listen' i.e answer prayer, and ell is derived from the Hebrew word el, meaning God). God delivered this child to Abraham, and later tested Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his only son at the time. However, just as Abraham was to kill his only son, God halted him, praised him for his loyalty, and commanded him to sacrifice a ram instead. This leads to the Muslim practice of sacrificing domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, cows or camels on the celebration to mark this event known as Eid ul-Adha. Ishmael in the Qur'an Ishmael is a highly regarded person in the Qur'an. Ishmael enjoined upon his people worship and almsgiving, and was acceptable in the sight of his Lord (Qur'an 19:55). The Qur'an mentions Ishmael with other people like Elisha, Jonah and Lot, who are considered righteous, good or chosen (Qur'an 6:86 and Qur'an 38:48) 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). Meccans, and most Arabs at the time of Muhammad, believed that Isma'il settled in Mecca and built with Abraham the Ka'ba which they revered from old times. The story of the Abraham and his wives Sarah and Hagar (Hajar in Arabic) plays an important role in Islamic tradition. Abraham conceives a son with Hagar when Sarah is unable to bear children. Then, after many years, Sarah miraculously gives birth to Isaac. After some time upon God's command, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael to the desert with God's promise of protection. The Quran takes a special interest in Hagar and her son, through whom Arabs trace their connection to Abraham. Each year during the Hajj (the ritual pilgrimage) in Mecca, pilgrims re-enact Hagar’s desperate search for water for her infant son, running seven times between two hills and drawing water from the well of Zam Zam, said to have sprung miraculously from the dry earth at the baby Ishmael’s feet. The full story is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari. Other references to Ishmael in the Qur'an The Qur'an stresses twice that it does not make distinction between the revelations by Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes (i.e. the sons of Jacob), and that which Moses and Jesus revealed, and that which other prophets received from their Lord. (Qur'an 2:136 and Qur'an 3:84) Another reference where the name of Ishmael appears is where the Qur'an states that he was inspired in the same manner as prophets like Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon and Jesus. According to the Qur'an, God also inspired David to write the Psalms (Qur'an 4:163). |  Picture of the Kaaba taken in 1880. Islamic traditions hold that the Ka'aba was rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael.
(larger image) 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). 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. 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. 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." | | 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.". 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. According to The Oxford Companion To The Bible, "Because Ishmael was circumcised (Gen. 17:25), so are most Muslims. And, analogous to Paul's reversal of the figures of Isaac and Ishmael (Gal. 4:24-26), Muslim tradition makes Ishmael rather than Isaac the son Abraham was commanded to sacrifice." Notes - Fredrick E. Greenspahn, Encyclopedia of Religion, Ishmael, p.4551-4552
- Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)
- "Hagar." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- William Montgomery Watt, Encyclopedia of Islam, Ishaq
- Nikaido(2001), p.1
- Genesis 16:2
- Personalities biography of Abraham at Who2, LLC
- Jewish Encyclopedia, Ishmael
- Hagar, Jewish Encyclopedia
- Genesis 25:2-6
- Genesis 21:11-13
- Columbia Encyclopedia, Ishmael
- Genesis 21:17-21
- Jewish Encyclopedia, Mahalath
- Genesis 25:9
- Yvonne Domhardt,"Ishmael, Ishmaelites", Brill's New Pauly
- Shalom Paul in The Oxford Dictionary of Jewish Religion, p.358
- http://www.divreinavon.com/pdf/GodRegretsFourThings.pdf God Regrets Four Things
- Galatians 4:28-31
- Encyclopedia of Christianity(Ed. John Bowden), Isaac
- Certain Western scholars have suggested that Muhammad was not aware of this connection in the early period of his preaching. Their argument is that in the early verses of the Qur'an, Ishmael appears in lists mentioning prophets like Jonah, Lot and Idris without any association with Abraham. (e.g. see Qur'an 6:86, Qur'an 21:85, Qur'an 38:48). Reuven Firestone in Encyclopedia of the Qur'an says that there is some evidence to the contrary of claim of those western scholars.
- The Qur'an generally lists Ishmael in the formula: “Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes” (e.g. see Qur'an 2:136, Qur'an 3:84), sometimes as "Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac". In verse Qur'an 2:133 Ishmael is mentioned as “Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac” and in some other lists Ishmael's name is absent from the list :"Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" such as Qur'an 6:84; Qur'an 12:38 cf Ishmael, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
- Ishmael, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
- Azraqi, Akhbar Makkah, vol. 1, pp. 58-66
- Bruce M Metzger and Michael D Coogan (1993), pp. 329 (Under 'Ishmael').
- Bahá'u'lláh (1976). Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, pp. 75-76. ISBN 0877431876.
- Cole, Juan R.I. (1995). "Interpretation in the Bahá'í Faith". Baha'i Studies Review 5.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá [1904-06] (1981). Some Answered Questions. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, p. 13. ISBN 0877431906.
- Concerning the appearance of two Davids; there is a Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá in which He says that just as there have been two Ishmaels, one the son of Abraham, and the other one of the Prophets of Israel, there have appeared two Davids, one the author of the Psalms and father of Solomon, and the other before Moses." (Shoghi Effendi, Dawn of a New Day, pp. 86-87)
References Books and journals - Metzger, Bruce M; Michael D Coogan (1993). The Oxford Companion To The Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195046458.
- Nikaido, S. (2001). "Hagar and Ishmael as Literary Figures: An Intertextual Study". Vetus Testamentum 51.
- Werblowsky, R.J. Zwi; Geoffrey Wigoder (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Jewish Religion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508605-8.
Encyclopedias Brill's New Pauly- Antiquity. (2005). Ed. Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 978 9004122703. The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th). (2000). Ed. Paul Lagasse, Lora Goldman, Archie Hobson, Susan R. Norton. Gale Group, ISBN 978-1593392369. Encyclopedia of Christianity (1st). (2005). Ed. John Bowden. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-522393-4. Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers, ISSN 1573-3912. Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd). (2005). Ed. Lindsay Jones. MacMillan Reference Books, ISBN 978-0028657332. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. (2005). Encyclopedia Britannica, Incorporated; Rev Ed edition, ISBN 978-1593392369. Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. (2005). Ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe. Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-9004123564. | |