The story of Ishmael is an important one in the Bible, spanning several books and involving many key biblical figures. Ishmael was the firstborn son of Abraham, born to Abraham’s wife Sarah’s servant Hagar. Although Ishmael was Abraham’s first son, God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child of their own. After Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah, conflict arose between Sarah and Hagar, leading to Hagar and Ishmael being sent away. However, God provided for Hagar and Ishmael, and Ishmael grew up in the wilderness. Later, Ishmael and Isaac reunited to bury Abraham after he passed away. Ishmael went on to have twelve sons who became tribal leaders. The story of Ishmael illustrates God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises and how He cares for all people.
Ishmael’s Birth
The story of Ishmael begins in Genesis 16. God had promised Abram (later called Abraham) that he would have a son and become a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3). However, Abram and his wife Sarai (later called Sarah) remained childless into old age. Seeking to take matters into her own hands, Sarai gave her servant Hagar to Abram as a wife so that he could have a child through her. Hagar conceived, and when she realized she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress Sarai (Genesis 16:4). Sarai responded harshly, causing Hagar to run away into the wilderness. There, Hagar encountered an angel who told her to return and submit to Sarai and prophesied that her son would be named Ishmael, meaning “God hears,” because the Lord had heard Hagar’s affliction (Genesis 16:7-11).
Hagar returned and gave birth to Abram’s son, naming him Ishmael as the angel had commanded (Genesis 16:15). Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael (Genesis 16:16). At this point, Ishmael was Abram’s only son, but this was not the fulfillment of God’s promise. God had promised Abram a son through Sarai (Genesis 15:4). Ishmael was also the product of Abram and Sarai’s human effort to fulfill God’s promise, rather than waiting on God’s timing.
The Birth of Isaac
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him again to establish His covenant. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “father of many nations,” and Sarai’s name to Sarah, meaning “princess.” God promised that Sarah would give Abraham a son named Isaac, with whom He would establish an everlasting covenant (Genesis 17:15-19). A year later, when Abraham was one hundred and Sarah ninety, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, the child of promise (Genesis 21:1-5). Isaac’s birth when Sarah and Abraham were well past childbearing age demonstrated that this was a miraculous work of God.
Isaac’s birth created conflict in Abraham’s family. Ishmael was around fourteen years old when Isaac was born. On the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a great feast (Genesis 21:8). “But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac'” (Genesis 21:9-10). This caused Abraham great distress, but God told him to listen to Sarah and that He would also make Ishmael into a nation (Genesis 21:11-13).
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
Early the next morning, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away with provisions (Genesis 21:14). Genesis 21:14-19 recounts what happened after Abraham sent them away:
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
Even though Abraham had sent Hagar and Ishmael away, God still provided for them, hearing Ishmael’s voice and showing Hagar a well so they could drink and survive. God also reiterated that Ishmael would become a great nation, fulfilling His promise to Abraham about Ishmael.
Ishmael’s Later Life
The next time Ishmael is mentioned is when he and Isaac come together to bury Abraham after he died at age 175 (Genesis 25:7-9). “His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite” (Genesis 25:9). This brief mention indicates that Ishmael reconciled with Isaac later in life to jointly bury their father Abraham.
Genesis 25:12-18 then provides a short account of Ishmael’s descendants:
These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.
So Ishmael went on to have twelve sons who became princes of twelve tribes. Ishmael lived to the age of 137 years old before passing away. His descendants settled the region from Havilah to Shur by Egypt.
Later in Genesis, Esau’s wife Mahalath is identified as the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth (Genesis 28:9), and women from Ishmael’s line married some of the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s wife after Sarah died (Genesis 25:1; 1 Chronicles 1:32-33). Beyond this, Ishmael is generally not mentioned again in the Old Testament. The descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, are referenced occasionally. God demonstrated His faithfulness by making Ishmael into a great nation just as He promised Abraham.
New Testament References
In the New Testament, Ishmael is mentioned a handful of times as a reference to contrast with Isaac, the child of promise. These instances use Ishmael’s story to illustrate a spiritual point. Paul explains in Galatians 4:21-31 that Hagar represents the Old Covenant made at Mount Sinai that leads to slavery, while Sarah represents the New Covenant and freedom through Christ. Abraham had two sons – one by the slave woman Hagar and one by the free woman Sarah. Paul says, “His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise” (Galatians 4:23).
Paul argues that Christians are children of the promise, like Isaac. Just as Ishmael was persecuted by Isaac, the Judaizers were persecuting Christians, but Christians should “cast out the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son” (Galatians 4:30).
The author of Hebrews also uses Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac versus sending Ishmael away to demonstrate Abraham’s faith: “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
In contrast, “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son” (Galatians 4:30). Abraham showed true faith in God’s promise through Isaac by being willing to sacrifice Isaac, even though Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn son.
Key Lessons from Ishmael’s Story
The account of Ishmael in the Bible provides several important lessons:
- God keeps His promises in His perfect timing. Abraham and Sarah’s attempt to fulfill God’s promise through Ishmael only created problems. But God miraculously fulfilled His promise when the time was right with the birth of Isaac.
- God cares for all people, including outcasts. Even though Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, God protected them and blessed Ishmael with many descendants.
- We must rely on God to work through His Spirit rather than our own human effort. Isaac was the child of promise through supernatural work of God, not just human effort.
- True faith means trusting in God even when we don’t understand. Abraham trusted God would keep His promise through Isaac, even being willing to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command.
Ishmael ultimately submitted to Isaac as the line of promise, demonstrated by joining Isaac in burying their father Abraham. Yet God still made him into a great nation, providing for and blessing him even in his exile from Abraham’s household. The story of Ishmael ultimately highlights God’s faithfulness and care.