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 [299]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."

Definition of Ishmael:
"God that hears"