the Fourth Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Dictionaries
Ishmael
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Ishmael (ísh'ma-el), whom God heareth. 1. The son of Abraham by Hagar, and the ancestor of Arabian tribes, generally called "Ishmaelites." Genesis 25:12-18; 1 Chronicles 2:17; 1 Chronicles 18:3. Previous to his birth Hagar was informed by an angel what would be the character of her son, and that his posterity would be innumerable. Genesis 16:11. When Hagar was banished to the wilderness, God directed her to a fountain, and renewed his promise to make him a great nation. Ishmael married an Egyptian woman, and dwelt in the wilderness, Genesis 16:12; he was distinguished for lawless predatory habits, as his descendants have always been. Genesis 21:20-21. So rapidly did Ishmael's family multiply, that in a few years afterwards they are spoken of as a trading nation. Genesis 37:25; Genesis 39:1. Isaac and Ishmael amicably met at the burial of their father. Genesis 25:9. Ishmael died, perhaps in battle, at the age of 137 years. He was the father of twelve sons, who gave their names to as many tribes, who dwelt in the wilderness, from Havilah unto Shur. Genesis 17:20. The prophecies concerning him, Genesis 16:12; Genesis 17:20; Genesis 21:13; Genesis 21:18, confirm the Bible; being literally carried out for nearly 4000 years to the present day. Ishmael no doubt became a wild man of the desert, the progenitor of the roaming Bedouin tribes of the East, so well known as robbers to this day that travellers through their territory must be well armed and hire a band of robbers to protect them against their fellow-robbers. Ishmael is also the spiritual father of the Mohammedans, who are nothing but bastard Jews. They apply to themselves the promise of a large posterity given to Ishmael. Genesis 21:13; Genesis 18:2. A prince of the royal family of Judah, who murdered the governor Gedaliah, with several of the Hebrews and Chaldeans who were attached to him. He fled to the Ammonites. Jeremiah 40:7-16; Jeremiah 41:1-18. There are six persons of this name mentioned in the Scriptures.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Ishmael'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/i/ishmael.html. 1893.
