ISHMAEL (Islfma-e1), (Heb. yish maw-ale', God hears).
/. Abraham's eldest son, borne trshim by Hagar (Gen. xvi:II) fourteen years beruce the birth of Isaac (B. C. about 2248), the circumstances of whose birth, early history, and final expulsion from his father's tents are related in the articles ABRAHAM and HAGAR (See also IsAAc ; INFIERIT ANCE). He afterwards made the desert into which he had been cast his abode, and by attaching him self to, and acquiring influence over, the native tribes, rose to great authority and influence. It would seem to have been the original intention lf his mother to have returned to Egypt, to which ..ountry she belonged; but this being prevented, she was contented to obtain for her son wives f rom thence.
(1) Friendship of Ishmael and Isaac. Al though their lots were cast apart, it does not ap pear that any serious alienation existed between Ishmael and Isaac; for we read that they both joined in the sepulchral rites of their father Abra ham (Gen. xxv :9). This fact has not been noticed as it deserves. It is full of suggestive matter. As funerals in the East take place almost immediately, after death, it is evident that Ishmael must have been called from the desert to the death bed of his father ; which implies that relations of kindness and respect had been kept up, although the brevity of the sacred narrative prevents any special notice of this circumstance. Ishmael had, probably, long before received an endowment from his father's property, similar to tbat which had been bestowed upon the sons of Keturah (Gen. xxv :6) .
(2) Death and Children. Nothing more is recorded of him than that he died at the age of 137 years, and was the father of twelve sons, who gave their names to as many tribes (Gen. xvii :2o; xxv :12-16). He had also two daughters, one of whom became the wife of Esau.
(3) Not the Founder of the Arabian Na tion. It has been shown, in the article ARABIA, that Ishmael has no claim to the honor, which is usually assigned to him, of tieing the founder of the Arabian nation. That nation existed before he was born. He merely, joined it, and adopted its habits of life and character ; and the tribes which sprang from him formed eventually an important section of the tribes of which it was composed.
The celebrated prophecy which describes the habits of life which he, and in him his descend ants, would follow as recorded in Gen. XVi :II, 12, ''A wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him," is, therefore, to be regarded not as describing habits which he would first establish, but such as he would adopt. This passage means that he and his descendants would lead the life of the Bedouins of the Arabian deserts; and how graphically this description por trays their habits, may be seen in the article ARABIA. The last clause, 'He shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren,' is pointedly alluded to in the brief notice of his death, which states that 'he died in the presence of all his brethren' (Gen. xxv :t8). Of this expression various ex planations have been given, but the plainest is the most probable; which is, that Ishmael and the tribes springing from him should always be lo cated near the kindred tribes descended from Abraham. And this was a promise of benefit in that age of migration, when Abraham himself had come from beyond the Euphrates, and was a stranger and sojourner in the land of Canaan. There was thus, in fact, a relation of some im portance between this promise and the promise of the heritage of Canaan to another branch of Abra ham's offspring. It had seemingly some such force as this—The heritage of Canaan is. indeed, destined for another son of Abraham; but still the lot of Ishmael, and of those that spring from him, shall never be cast far apart from that of his brethren. This view is confirmed by the circum stance, that the Israelites did, in fact, occupy, the country bordering on that in which the various tribes descended from Abraham or Terah had settled—the Israelites, Edomitcs, Midianites, Mo abites, Ammonites, etc. Most interpreters find in this passage, a promise that the descendants of Ishmael should never be subdued. But we are unable to discover this in the text • and, more over, such has not been the fact, wh'ether we re gard the Ishinaclites apart from the other Ara bians, or consider the promise made to Ishmael as applicable to the whole Arabian family.