Ishmael
Ishmael (Son of Hagar)
1909–1772 BC, 137 years traditional (Jones)
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).
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- The 22nd generation from Adam, counting Adam as the first.
- Born in the era of the Patriarchs, 1996–1707 BC.
- Alive at the same time as Eber for 93 years, Shem for 64 years, Jacob for 63 years, Sarah for 50 years, Salah for 32 years, and Arphaxad for 2 years.
- Named in the same verses as Abraham, Hagar, Nebajoth, Adbeel, Isaac, Kedar, Mibsam, and Bashemath.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children; a button shows the grandchildren. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent. Large families are folded into one node; select it to open them.
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Stories
3 events in which Ishmael takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).
- 1909 BCBirth of IshmaelGen 16:11-16
- 1909 BCLifetime of IshmaelGen 16:16–25:17
- 1772 BCDeath of IshmaelGen 25:17
Places
Places named in the same verses as Ishmael, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1943–1738 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around this life, with 6 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
17 tagged verses in 2 books. Select a book to read its verses.
Later verses tagged with Ishmael are about the Ishmael people, not the man: 1 verses, counted separately.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Ishmael 52 |
| KJV | Ishmael 48 |
| ASV | Ishmael 48 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 17 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
Genesis14 verses
- 16:11
The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
- 16:15
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
- 16:16
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
- 17:18
And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”
- 17:20
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
- 17:23
On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.
- 17:25
and his son Ishmael was thirteen;
- 17:26
Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.
- 25:9
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
- 25:12
This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
- 25:13
These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
- 25:16
These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes.
- 25:17
Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.
- 36:3
and Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
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).
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.”