Difference between revisions of "Ishmael"

<p> (See [[Hagar]] ; ISAAC; ABRAHAM) ("God hears"); the name of God is Εl , "the God of might", in relation to the world at large; not [[Jehovah]] , His name in relation to His covenant people. </p> <p> '''1.''' Born of Hagar when [[Abraham]] was 86 (&nbsp;Genesis 16:15-16), dwelling at Mature. "Jehovah," in covenant with Abraham her husband, "heard her affliction" in the wilderness whither she had fled from Sarah. The angel of Jehovah described [[Ishmael]] in a prophecy which history is continually verifying, "he will be a wild man," [[Hebrew]] a wild donkey man, i.e. fierce and wild as the donkey of the desert, the type of restless unbridled lawlessness. &nbsp;Job 11:12; &nbsp;Job 24:5; "behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, go they forth to their work, rising betimes for a prey (for traveling in the East is at an early hour, to be before the heat): the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children"; i.e., these Bedouin robbers, with the unbridled wildness of the donkey of the desert, go thither. [[Robbery]] is "their work"; the wilderness which yields no food to other men "yieldeth food for them" by the plunder of caravans. </p> <p> "His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him"; an exact picture of Bedouin life." Many conquerors have marched into the [[Arabian]] wilderness, but they have never been able to catch this wild donkey and to tame him" (Baumgarten). "And he shall dwell in the presence of (in front of) his brethren," in close proximity to their kindred races, hovering round, but never mingling with them, never disappearing by withdrawal to some remote region, but remaining in that high table land S.E. of [[Judaea]] to which [[Judea]] may be said to look. Or else "to the E. (for as the orientals faced toward the E. in taking the points of the compass, the front meant the E.) of his brethren." In &nbsp;Job 1:3 the Arabs are called "the sons of the East." Ishmael was circumcised at 13 (&nbsp;Genesis 17:25), at which age Arabs and Muslims therefore still circumcise. </p> <p> Abraham's love for him appears in his exclaiming, upon God's giving the promise of seed by Sarah, then 90, Abraham himself being 100, "Oh that Ishamel might live before Thee!" whether the words mean that he desires that Ishmael (instead of the seed promised to Sarah) might be heir of the promises, or, as is more consonant with Abraham's faith, that Ishmael might be accepted before God so as to share in blessings. Then God promised: "I have blessed him, ... twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation" (compare &nbsp;Genesis 25:12-17). See [[Isaac]] on Ishmael's expulsion for "mocking," and (See [[Hagar]] on Ishmael being called a "child," or "lad" (&nbsp;Genesis 25:14-15; &nbsp;Genesis 25:17), being at the time 15 or 16; the bread and bottle, but not the child, were "put on her shoulder.") </p> <p> After God's saving them they "dwelt in the wilderness of Paran," the [[El]] Tih, the desert of Israel's wanderings; stretching from the wady [[Arabah]] on the E. to the gulf of [[Suez]] on the W., and from [[Sinai]] on the S. to [[Palestine]] on the N. According to eastern usage she, as a parent, chose a wife for her son, an Egyptian, possibly the mother of his 12 sons; rabbinical and [[Arab]] tradition give him a second wife; the daughter being termed "sister of Nebaioth" implies probably that the other brothers had a different mother. [[Esau]] married his daughter [[Mahalath]] before Ishmael's death, for it is written "Esau went unto Ishmael" (&nbsp;Genesis 28:9). At 137 Ishmael "died in the presence of all his brethren" (&nbsp;Genesis 25:17-18); i.e., fulfilling the prediction of the angel of Jehovah to Hagar (see above), Ishmael died, his nomad descendants stretching from [[Havilah]] S.E. and [[Shur]] S.W. toward the N.E., i.e. Assyria, in fact traversing the whole Arabian desert from the [[Euphrates]] to the Red Sea. </p> <p> Ishmael himself cannot have settled far from Abraham's neighbourhood, for he joined with Isaac in the burial of his father (&nbsp;Genesis 25:9), and burial in the East follows a few hours after death. Ishmael first went into the wilderness of Beersheba, then into that of Paran. "The East country" unto which Abraham sent away his sons by concubines, not to be in the way of Isaac, must therefore have been in those regions (&nbsp;Genesis 25:6; &nbsp;Genesis 25:18). The people of [[Arabia]] are called "children of the East," Bene Kedem (&nbsp;Judges 6:3; &nbsp;Job 1:3), in modern times Saracens, i.e. "Easterns" (See [[East]] .) Ishmael's 12 sons enumerated &nbsp;Genesis 25:13-15 were fathers of tribes, as "their towns and their castles," or rather "hamlets," called after them, imply (&nbsp;Numbers 31:10). These "hamlets" were collections of rude dwellings of stones piled on one another and covered with tent cloths, often ranged in a circle. (See [[Hazeroth]] .) </p> <p> The Bible does not, as scepticism asserts, state that all the Arabs sprang from Ishmael. Nay, Joktanites and even Cushites in the S. and S.E. form a large element in Arab blood. In all the northern tribes which are of [[Ishmaelite]] descent, the characteristics foretold appear, they are "wild ... their hand against every man, and every man's hand against them"; but in S. Arabia, where Joktanite and other blood exists, these characteristics are less seen. The Ishmaelite element is the chief one of the Arab nation, as the native traditions before Muhammed and the language concur with the Bible in proving. The pagan law of blood revenge necessitates every Arab's knowing the names of his ancestors for four generations, so that the race is well defined. </p> <p> The term" Ishmaelites" was applied in course of time to the Midianites, sprung from Abraham and Keturah, and not from Ishmael, because the [[Ishmaelites]] being the more powerful tribe gave their name as a general one to neighbouring associated tribes (&nbsp;Genesis 37:25; &nbsp;Genesis 37:28; &nbsp;Genesis 37:36; &nbsp;Psalms 83:6), the nomad tribes of Arabia (&nbsp;Judges 8:24). Before Muhammed, religion in the middle and S. of Arabia was fetish and cosmic worship, but in the N. relics of the primitive faith of Ishmael survived, and numbers became Karaite [[Jews]] or held the corrupt form of [[Christianity]] which was all they knew of it. The dissatisfaction felt with both of these creeds pioneered the way for Muhammed's success. The Arab conquerors have won a hundred thrones and established their Mohamedanism from the [[Senegal]] to the Indus, from the Euphrates to the Indian Ocean. </p> <p> '''2.''' &nbsp;1 Chronicles 8:38; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:44. </p> <p> '''3.''' &nbsp;2 Chronicles 19:11. </p> <p> '''4.''' &nbsp;2 Chronicles 23:1. </p> <p> '''5.''' &nbsp;2 Chronicles 10:22. </p> <p> '''6.''' Son of Nethaniah, son of [[Elishama]] of the seed royal of Judah (&nbsp;Jeremiah 40:7-41;&nbsp;Jeremiah 40:15; &nbsp;2 Kings 25:23-25). Possibly descended from Elishama, David's son (&nbsp;2 Samuel 5:16). During the siege of [[Jerusalem]] Ishmael had fled to Baalis, king of Ammon, E. of Jordan. Probably Ishmael was of [[Ammonite]] blood on the mother's side, as some [[Jewish]] kings had Ammonite women in their harem (&nbsp;1 Kings 11:1). [[Baalis]] (called from the idol Baal) his host, urged him to slay [[Gedaliah]] who under the [[Babylonian]] king governed Judaea and the population which had not been carried away. Ishmael's royal descent fired his envy and ambition; hence, he lent a ready ear to the plot proposed by the ancient foe of Judah. Ishmael as well as the brothers [[Johanan]] and Jonathan, sons of Kareah, had commanded separate bands which watched the issue of the siege from the S.E. side of Jordan; "the forces in the fields," i.e. the pasture grounds of [[Moab]] (&nbsp;Jeremiah 40:7; &nbsp;Jeremiah 40:13), the modern Belka. </p> <p> These captains crossed the [[Jordan]] to pay their respects to Gedaliah at Mizpah, N. of Jerusalem, upon his appointment. In spite of Johanan's open warning of Ishmael's intention, and even private offer to slay Ishmael in order to avert the death of Gedaliah and its evil consequences to the Jewish remnant, the latter in generous unsuspiciousness refused to believe the statement. Thirty days after, in the seventh month Ishmael and "ten men, princes of the king," at an hospitable entertainment given them by Gedaliah slew him with such secrecy that no alarm was given (compare &nbsp;Psalms 41:9), and then slew the Jews and Chaldeans, the men of war immediately about his person (not the rest, &nbsp;Jeremiah 40:16), with him. Jeremiah, who usually was residing there, was providentially elsewhere. No man knew it outside [[Mizpah]] for a time. </p> <p> So on the second day fourscore devotees with shaven beards, rent clothes, having cut themselves with pagan mutilations (see &nbsp;Leviticus 19:27-28; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 14:1), were seen by Ishmael from the higher ground on which he was, advancing from the N. with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to "the house of the Lord," i.e. to the place where the temple had stood, and which was still sacred. They came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, where such pagan usages prevailed, expressive of sorrow; they hereby indicated their grief at the destruction of the temple and city. Ishmael met them, pretending to weep like themselves, and said, "Come to Gedaliah," as if he were one of his retinue. When they came into the midst of the city, or of the courtyard (Josephus), he closed the entrances and butchered all, except ten who promised, if spared, to show him treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey. </p> <p> His greediness and needs overcame his cruelty, or he would not have spared even the ten. The 70 corpses he threw into the pit or cistern made by Asa to have a water supply when [[Baasha]] was about to besiege the city (&nbsp;1 Kings 15:22); as [[Jehu]] did to Ahaziah's 42 relatives, and as Nana [[Sahib]] did in our own times at Cawnpore. Next he carried off king Zedekiah's daughters, with their eunuchs and Chaldaean guard; and, doubtless being largely reinforced, carried away all the remaining people at Mizpah by way of [[Gibeon]] on the N. (Josephus says by [[Hebron]] round the S. end of the [[Dead]] Sea) toward Ammon, where probably he meant to sell them as slaves (&nbsp;Jeremiah 41:10; &nbsp;Jeremiah 41:16). Johnnan pursued and overtook him at the great waters in Gibeon (&nbsp;2 Samuel 2:13). His captives gladly "cast about," i.e. came round and joined Johanan, who slew two of the ten princes (&nbsp;Jeremiah 41:1-2; &nbsp;Jeremiah 41:15), leaving Ishmael with but eight to escape to Ammon. </p> <p> The result was a panic among the Jewish remnant in Judaea, as Johanan had foreseen when he warned Gedaliah. But now, in spite of Jeremiah's remonstrance from the Lord, he, instead of checking, promoted the panic, and led all the recovered captives, Jeremiah included, into Egypt (&nbsp;Jeremiah 41:16-17; &nbsp;Jeremiah 41:42; &nbsp;Jeremiah 43:5-7). The calamity, Gedaliah's murder and the consequent dispersion of the Jews, was and is commemorated by the fast of the seventh month (&nbsp;Zechariah 7:5; &nbsp;Zechariah 8:19), the third of Tisri. Ammon's share in this tragedy was avenged in accordance with the Lord's word (&nbsp;Jeremiah 49:1-6; &nbsp;Ezekiel 25:1-7). The lessons from the history are, so long as pride, ambition, and revenge are harboured, men will ever scheme afresh to their own hurt. </p> <p> [[Scarcely]] had Jerusalem paid the awful penalty of her sin than her princes began new plots of violence and bloodshed. Zedekiah's perfidious rebellion had hardly been crushed when Ishmael devised a fresh conspiracy. Nothing short of God's grace can correct the desperate depravity of man. The mystery that men of guileless simplicity fall victims to murderous treachery is one of many proofs that there is an enemy disordering the present world course. Faith looks above the cloud, and sees God ordering all things for the good of His people and for the punishment of the transgressors at the last. </p> <p> The coming judgment will vindicate God's ways, glorify the saints with Christ their King, deliver the earth from the ungodly and Satan their prince, who shall be cast out for ever. Even now one bad man is made the scourge of another. The nemesis of crime is sure to overtake the guilty at last. However cunningly and laboriously he weaves iniquity, the web which was on the point of success is in a moment scattered to the winds by the breath of God, and the victims escape. The only fruit Ishmael derived from his crimes was being forced to flee as an outlaw, bearing about, [[Cain]] like, the murderer's brand, and a self torturing conscience, the earnest of the worm that never dieth. </p>

<p> [[Ishmael]] (''Ísh'Ma-El'' ), whom ''God Heareth.'' 1. The son of Abraham by Hagar, and the ancestor of Arabian tribes, generally called "Ishmaelites." &nbsp;Genesis 25:12-18; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 2:17; &nbsp;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. &nbsp;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, &nbsp;Genesis 16:12; he was distinguished for lawless predatory habits, as his descendants have always been. &nbsp;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. &nbsp;Genesis 37:25; &nbsp;Genesis 39:1. Isaac and Ishmael amicably met at the burial of their father. &nbsp;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. &nbsp;Genesis 17:20. The prophecies concerning him, &nbsp;Genesis 16:12; &nbsp;Genesis 17:20; &nbsp;Genesis 21:13; &nbsp;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. &nbsp;Genesis 21:13; &nbsp;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. &nbsp;Jeremiah 40:7-16; &nbsp;Jeremiah 41:1-18. There are six persons of this name mentioned in the Scriptures. </p>

<li> The son of Nethaniah, "of the seed royal" (&nbsp;Jeremiah 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." <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Ishmael'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/i/ishmael.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> Ishmael, 1 </p> <p> Ish´mael (heard of God), Abraham's eldest son, born to him by Hagar; the circumstances of whose birth, early history, and final expulsion from his father's tents, are related in the articles Abraham, Hagar [see also ISAAC, INHERITANCE]. He afterwards made the desert into which he had been cast his abode, and by attaching himself to, and acquiring influence over, the native tribes, rose to great authority and influence. It would seem to have been the original intention of his mother to have returned to Egypt, to which country she belonged; but this being prevented, she was content to obtain for her son wives from thence. Although their lots were cast apart, it does not appear that any serious alienation existed between Ishmael and Isaac; for we read that they both joined in the sepulchral rites of their father Abraham . This fact has not been noticed as it deserves. It is full of suggestive matter. As funerals in the East take place almost immediately after death, it is evident that Ishmael must have been called from the desert to the death-bed of his father; which implies that relations of kindness and respect had been kept up, although the brevity of the sacred narrative prevents any special notice of this circumstance. Ishmael had probably long before received an endowment from his father's property, similar to that which had been bestowed upon the sons of Keturah . Nothing more is recorded of him than that he died at the age of 137 years, and was the father of twelve sons, who gave their names to as many tribes . He had also two daughters, one of whom became the wife of Esau. </p> <p> It has been shown, in the article Arabia, that Ishmael has no claim to the honor, which is usually assigned to him, of being the founder of the Arabian nation. That nation existed before he was born. He merely joined it, and adopted its habits of life and character; and the tribes which sprung from him formed eventually an important section of the tribes of which it was composed. The celebrated prophecy which describes the habits of life which he, and in him his descendants, would follow, is therefore to be regarded not as describing habits which he would first establish, but such as he would adopt. The description is contained in the address of the angel to Hagar, when, before the birth of Ishmael, she fled from the tents of Abraham:—'Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael (God hears), because the Lord hath heard thine affliction. And he shall be a wild man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren' . This means, in short, that he and his descendants should lead the life of the Bedouins of the Arabian deserts; and how graphically this description portrays their habits, may be seen in the article Arabia, in the notes on these verses in the Pictorial Bible, and in the works of Niebuhr, Burckhardt, Lane, etc.; and, more particularly, in the Arabian romance of Antar, which presents the most perfect picture of real Bedouin manners now in existence. The last clause, 'He shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren,' is pointedly alluded to in the brief notice of his death, which states that 'he died in the presence of all his brethren' . Of this expression various explanations have been given, but the plainest is the most probable: which is, that Ishmael and the tribes springing from him should always be located near the kindred tribes descended from Abraham. </p> <p> Ishmael, 2 </p> <p> Ishmael, a prince of the royal line of Judah, who found refuge among the Ammonites from the ruin which involved his family and nation. After the Chaldeans had departed he returned, and treacherously slew the too-confiding Gedaliah, who had been made governor of the miserable remnant left in the land [GEDALIAH]. Much more slaughter followed this, and Ishmael, with many people of consideration as captives, hastened to return to the Ammonites. But he was overtaken near the pool of Gibeon, by Johanan, a friend of Gedaliah, and was compelled to abandon his prey and escape for his life, with only eight attendants, to Baalis, king of the Ammonites, with whom he appears to have had a secret understanding in these transactions: B.C. 588 (Jeremiah 41). </p>