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ishmael

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ishmael

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Ishmael 
  God  hears.  (1.)  Abraham's  eldest  son,  by  Hagar  the  concubine 
  (Gen.  16:15;  17:23).  He  was  born  at  Mamre,  when  Abraham  was 
  eighty-six  years  of  age,  eleven  years  after  his  arrival  in 
  Canaan  (16:3;  21:5).  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was  circumcised 
  (17:25).  He  grew  up  a  true  child  of  the  desert,  wild  and 
  wayward.  On  the  occasion  of  the  weaning  of  Isaac  his  rude  and 
  wayward  spirit  broke  out  in  expressions  of  insult  and  mockery 
  (21:9,  10);  and  Sarah,  discovering  this  said  to  Abraham,  "Expel 
  this  slave  and  her  son."  Influenced  by  a  divine  admonition, 
  Abraham  dismissed  Hagar  and  her  son  with  no  more  than  a  skin  of 
  water  and  some  bread.  The  narrative  describing  this  act  is  one 
  of  the  most  beautiful  and  touching  incidents  of  patriarchal  life 
  (Gen.  21:14-16).  (See  {HAGAR}.) 
 
  Ishmael  settled  in  the  land  of  Paran,  a  region  lying  between 
  Canaan  and  the  mountains  of  Sinai;  and  "God  was  with  him  and  he 
  became  a  great  archer"  (Gen.  21:9-21).  He  became  a  great  desert 
  chief,  but  of  his  history  little  is  recorded.  He  was  about 
  ninety  years  of  age  when  his  father  Abraham  died,  in  connection 
  with  whose  burial  he  once  more  for  a  moment  reappears.  On  this 
  occasion  the  two  brothers  met  after  being  long  separated.  "Isaac 
  with  his  hundreds  of  household  slaves,  Ishmael  with  his  troops 
  of  wild  retainers  and  half-savage  allies,  in  all  the  state  of  a 
  Bedouin  prince,  gathered  before  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  in  the 
  midst  of  the  men  of  Heth,  to  pay  the  last  duties  to  the  'father 
  of  the  faithful,'  would  make  a  notable  subject  for  an  artist" 
  (Gen.  25:9).  Of  the  after  events  of  his  life  but  little  is 
  known  He  died  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years, 
  but  where  and  when  are  unknown  (25:17).  He  had  twelve  sons,  who 
  became  the  founders  of  so  many  Arab  tribes  or  colonies,  the 
  Ishmaelites,  who  spread  over  the  wide  desert  spaces  of  Northern 
  Arabia  from  the  Red  Sea  to  the  Euphrates  (Gen.  37:25,  27,  28; 
  39:1),  "their  hand  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand 
  against  them." 
 
  (2.)  The  son  of  Nethaniah,  "of  the  seed  royal"  (Jer.  40:8, 
  15).  He  plotted  against  Gedaliah,  and  treacherously  put  him  and 
  others  to  death.  He  carried  off  many  captives,  "and  departed  to 
  go  over  to  the  Ammonites." 
 
 
  From  Hitchcock's  Bible  Names  Dictionary  (late  1800's)  [hitchcock]: 
 
  Ishmael,  God  that  hears




more about ishmael