1. Abraham’s first son. His mother was Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian handmaid. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, herself suggested this action. God had promised to make a great nation of the childless Abraham (Genesis 12:2). God assured him that his son would be his heir (15:4). But Sarah was past seventy-five years old and still childless. Custom allowed a childless wife to give her maid to her husband as a secondary wife and then lay claim to the offspring of their union (16:1-2). When Hagar conceived, she was filled with contempt toward her mistress. With Abraham’s consent Sarah dealt harshly with her, and Hagar fled. An angel sent Hagar back to submit to her mistress. Hagar was promised a son named Ishmael, meaning “God hears” (16:9-11). The boy was born near Hebron when Abraham was eighty-six years old (13:18; 16:16).
Abraham and Sarah received him as the son of God’s promise. They both laughed in disbelief when the birth of Isaac was announced (17:17; 18:12). Abraham wished that Ishmael would be accepted of God (17:18). At age thirteen he participated in the custom of circumcision as a witness of God’s covenant with Abraham (17:9-14, 22-27). The Lord promised to make Ishmael the father of twelve princes, from which would come a great nation. But the covenant would be established with Isaac (17:20-21).
There is no evidence that Ishmael was out of favor until Isaac’s weaning at about three years of age. Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. She determined that the son of a slave woman should not be heir with her son. She demanded that Ishmael and Hagar be banished. Although troubled, Abraham received reassurance from the Lord and sent them away with some supplies. It was then clear to Abraham that Isaac, not Ishmael, was the son of God’s promise.
Hagar survived in the wilderness with the guidance of an angel. Ishmael became a hunter of wild animals. He settled in the wilderness of Paran and married an Egyptian woman (Genesis 21:20-21). Little else is recorded of him, except that he lived to assist in the burial of Abraham (25:9-10). He also gave his daughter Mahalath in marriage (28:9), and died at the age of 137 (25:17). The names of his twelve sons and their settlements are recorded in 25:13-16. Later on, Ishmaelite traders (also called Midianites, compare Judges 8:22-24) bought Joseph from his brothers and sold him in Egypt (Genesis 37:25-28; 39:1).
Isaac, not Ishmael, inherited the blessings of the covenant. But the covenant was not the only means to receive divine favor. Abraham and Sarah overestimated the importance of Ishmael in God’s plan. They thought he would be the heir of covenant promises, and he was not. But they also underrated God’s intentions for him.
In the New Testament, Paul mentions Ishmael. He states that those who trust the law instead of putting their faith in God’s promises do not inherit the kingdom. This was just as the son of the slave woman did not receive inheritance with the son of the free woman (Galatians 4:30).
2. Ishmael was also the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family of Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:25). He was prompted by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, to assassinate Gedaliah. He was the Judean governor of the regime which Nebuchadnezzar left behind at Mizpah at the time of the Babylonian exile. Gedaliah ignored advance warning of the plot. He refused to allow Johanan to assassinate Ishmael first (Jeremiah 40:14-16). While sharing a meal with Gedaliah, Ishmael and ten companions killed him. They also killed the Babylonian troops who were with him. The next day 80 pilgrims were passing from the north to the temple at Jerusalem to enter Mizpah. Ishmael killed all but 10 who saved their lives with stores of food. Hiding all the bodies in a cistern, Ishmael took captive the rest of the population of Mizpah. This included the prophet Jeremiah and women of the royal family. They set out to join the Ammonites. But Johanan, with an armed force, overtook Ishmael at Gibeon and rescued the captives. Ishmael fled to Ammonite territory (41).
3. Ishmael was also the son of Azel, a Benjamite of the family of Saul (1 Chronicles 8:38; 9:44).
4. Ishmael was also the father of Zebadiah, the governor of the house of Judah under Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:11).
5. Ishmael was also the son of Jehohanan, and a commander. He worked with Jehoiada the priest to put the child Joash on the throne. That ended the reign of Athaliah (2 Chronicles 23:1).
6. Ishmael was also the son of Pashhur, and one of the priests who put away foreign wives during Ezra’s reforms (Ezra 10:22).