Ishmael: Prophet in the Quran, Outcast in the Bible?

In the Bible, Ishmael is the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, who are identified as the Arabian tribes.^[1] Indeed, the book of Jubilees (2^nd cent. B.C.E.), when retelling the scene in which Abraham sends off all his sons except Isaac to the east, writes:

^{Jub 20:12} Ishmael, his sons, Keturah’s sons, and their sons went together and settled from Paran as far as the entrance of Babylon—in all the land toward the east, opposite the desert. ^20:13 They mixed with one another and were called Arabs and Ishmaelites.^[2]

Similarly, Josephus (37–ca. 100 C.E.), commenting on the story in which Ishmael is circumcised at age thirteen, states:

^{Ant. 1.214} The Arabs defer the ceremony to the thirteenth year, because Ishmael, the founder of their race, born of Abraham’s concubine, was circumcised at that age.^[3]

The medieval commentators also take this for granted. Thus, Radak (R. David Kimchi, ca. 1160–ca. 1235) states outright (Gen 16:12): וְהָעַרְבִיִּים הֵם יִשְׁמְעֵאלִים “and the Arabs are Ishmaelites.”

Following the Muslim conquest, Jewish texts use Ishmaelites as a catch-all for Muslims—similar to referring to Christians as children of Esau.^[4] Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer (8^th/9^th century C.E., §30) and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Gen 21:21) give two of Ishmael’s wives the names Ayesha and Fatima, the names of Muhammad’s respective wife and daughter:

^{תרגום ירושלמי (יונתן) בראשית כא:כא} ויתיב במדברא דפארן ונסיב איתא ית עדישא ותרכה ונסיבת ליה אימיה ית פטימא אתתא מארעא דמצרים.^[5]

^{Pseudo-Jonathan Gen 21:21} And he dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran, and he took as wife Adesha (=Ayesha), and he divorced her and his mother took for him as wife Fatima, a woman from the land of Egypt.^[6]

Islam Integrates Ishmael into Arab History

The advent of Islam in Arabia, and its later expansion to Persia, threw new light on Ishmael’s Arabness. The Quran mentions Ishmael several times, but never describes him as the progenitor of the Arabs. Islamic thinkers adapted the biblical concept of Arab descent from Abraham through Ishmael to be compatible with their traditional genealogical history, according to which all Arabs are derived from one of two great ancestors:

• Qaḥṭān—father of the southern or the authentic Arabic-speaking Arabs (Al-ʿArab al-ʿĀriba).
• ʿAdnan—father of the northern, Arabized Arabs (Al-ʿArab al-Mustaʿriba), who joins with the southern Arabs, and adopts the Arabic language. (Muhammad’s Quraysh clan is part of this group.)

Thus, Hishām ibn al-Kalbī (737–819 C.E.) in his foundational work Jamharat al-Nasab (The Compendium of Genealogy) traces ʿAdnan—the great ancestor of the northern tribes—back to Ishmael, making the latter the patriarch of the northern tribes, and thus the ancestor of Muhammad. Ishmael marries a noble woman from the (legendary) southern Jurhum tribe— from the Qaḥṭān group and affiliated with the holy city of Mecca—and he adopts their language, Arabic.

The Righteous Ishmael

Unsurprisingly, the Quran presents Ishmael in a positive light. He is the son who assists Abraham in raising the foundations of the holy sanctuary, the Kaʿba (Q 2:127),[7] to which Muslims are to make pilgrimage at least once in their lives. Ishmael is also described as a prophet (nabi) and messenger (rasul) of God:

^{Quran 6:86} and Ishmael, and Elisha, and Jonah, and Lot – each one We favored over the worlds.

In the 19^th Sura, the angel tells Muhammad to remember to discuss Ishmael in his book (the Quran), along with other great figures from the past.^[8] As for being the son almost offered as a sacrifice, the Quran never specifies whether it was Ishmael or Isaac, and medieval Islamic exegesis debates the question, though in the end, the dominant tradition became that it is Ishmael. But what does the Torah think about Ishmael?

Abraham’s Firstborn

Ishmael is first mentioned in the story in which Hagar runs away from Sarai, in which he is named by a messenger of God (angel) for how God listens to Hagar’s suffering:

^{בראשית טז:יא} וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ מַלְאַךְ יְ־הֹוָה הִנָּךְ הָרָה וְיֹלַדְתְּ בֵּן וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ יִשְׁמָעֵאל כִּי שָׁמַע יְ־הֹוָה אֶל עׇנְיֵךְ.‏

^{Gen 16:11} The angel of YHWH said to her further, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for YHWH has paid heed to your suffering.”^[9]

Abraham loves Ishmael, and when God promises him another son by Sarah, Abraham’s first response is a plea for the son he already has:

^{בראשית יז:יח} וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים לוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל יִחְיֶה לְפָנֶיךָ.‏

^{Gen 17:18} And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live by Your favor!”

God reiterates that Sarah’s future son Isaac shall inherit (17:19), but God also announces having “heard” (shamaʿ) Abraham’s concern for Ishmael (a play on his name), and that this son too will be blessed as a father of a great nation:

^{בראשית יז:כ} וּלְיִשְׁמָעֵאל שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ הִנֵּה בֵּרַכְתִּי אֹתוֹ וְהִפְרֵיתִי אֹתוֹ וְהִרְבֵּיתִי אֹתוֹ בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר נְשִׂיאִם יוֹלִיד וּנְתַתִּיו לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל.‏

^{Gen 17:20} As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and exceedingly numerous. He shall be the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation.

Several biblical verses underscore Ishmael’s unequivocal sonship, and how he is part of the covenant of circumcision:

^{בראשית יז:כג} וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָהָם אֶת יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּנוֹ... ^יז:כה וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּנוֹ בֶּן שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בְּהִמֹּלוֹ אֵת בְּשַׂר עׇרְלָתוֹ.‏ ^יז:כו בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִמּוֹל אַבְרָהָם וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּנוֹ.‏

^{Gen 17:23} Then Abraham took his son Ishmael... ^17:25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^17:26 Thus Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very day.

And yet, many traditional Jewish sources see Ishmael as a maleficent character, based on certain places in the narrative that seem to present him in a negative light.

A Wild Donkey Who Fights with His Brothers?

In the divine message to Hagar, referenced above, the angel continues its message with a description of what Ishmael will be like:

^{בראשית טז:יב} וְהוּא יִהְיֶה פֶּרֶא אָדָם יָדוֹ בַכֹּל וְיַד כֹּל בּוֹ וְעַל פְּנֵי כׇל אֶחָיו יִשְׁכֹּן.‏

^{Gen 16:12} He shall be a wild ass of a person; his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he shall dwell alongside all his kin.”

The connotation of “a wild ass of a man” is ripe for interpretation,^[10] and what does it mean that his hand will be against everyone and vice versa? Radak understands it to mean that Ishmael fights his neighbors:

^{רד"ק בראשית טז:יב} "יָדוֹ בַכֹּל"—לְפִי שֶׁהָיָה מִדְבָּרִי יִהְיֶה שְׁלוּחַ יָד בְּכָל שְׁכֵנָיו וְגַם שְׁכֵנָיו בּוֹ. וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן לֹא יִבְרַח מִפְּנֵיהֶם אֶלָּא יִשְׁכּוֹן עַל פְּנֵיהֶם... וּשְׁכֵנָיו הֵם אֶחָיו.

^{Radak, Gen 16:12} “His hand against everyone”—because he was a desert-dweller, he would raise his hand against all his neighbors, and his neighbors theirs against him. Even so, he would not flee from them but would dwell in their face… and his neighbors are his kin.

R. Moses Nahmanides (Ramban, ca. 1194–ca. 1270) interprets the passage to mean that Ishmael and his descendants will be violent, but understands this as a prophetic punishment to Sarah, that Hagar’s descendants (Arabs/Muslims) will persecute hers (Jews):

^{רמב"ן בראשית טז:ו} וַתְּעַנֶּהָ שָׂרַי וַתִּבְרַח מִפָּנֶיהָ חָטְאָה אִמֵּנוּ בָּעִנּוּי הַזֶּה, וְגַם אַבְרָהָם בְּהַנִּיחוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת כֵּן, וְשָׁמַע ה' אֶל עָנְיָהּ וְנָתַן לָהּ בֵּן שֶׁיְּהֵא פֶּרֶא אָדָם לְעַנּוֹת זֶרַע אַבְרָהָם וְשָׂרָה בְּכָל מִינֵי הָעִנּוּי

^{Ramban, Gen 16:6} “Sarai afflicted her, and she fled from her”—our mother sinned in this affliction, and so did Abraham, by allowing her to do so. And God heard her [Hagar’s] affliction and gave her a son who would be a wild ass of a man, to afflict the seed of Abraham and Sarah with every kind of affliction.^[11]

Nevertheless, Rashi (R. Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040–1104) sees this as a depiction of a hunter,[12] and Rabbi Menachem ben Shlomo (12^th cent.) in his Sekhel Tov as a depiction of a free-roamer, unrestrained by an agrarian lifestyle.[13]

The Angel Blesses Ishmael: Rashbam

Rashbam (R. Samuel ben Meir, ca. 1080–ca. 1160) reads each phrase about Ishmael as positive. He says that “wild ass” is a reference to the lifestyle of a traveling merchant:

^{רשב"ם [המשוחזר] בראשית טז:יב} "פרא אדם" – סוחר ותגר שילך לסחורה למרחוק, כדרך סוחרים שהולכים למרחוק בסחורה, ובמקומות שילך יהיה שם כאיש פרא. שלויין בלעז. כי הוא לא יכיר באיש ובלשונו, וגם לא יכירוהו...^[14]

^{Rashbam [reconstructed] Gen 16:12} “Wild ass of a man”—a merchant and trader who will travel far for trade, in the way of merchants who go far with merchandise. In the places he goes he will be like a wild man—salvain (“of the woods”)[15] in the vernacular—for he will not know anyone there or their language, and they will not know him…

Indeed, Rashbam extends this to an understanding of the “hand against everyone” passage as well:

^{רשב"ם [המשוחזר] בראשית טז:יב} "ידו בכל"—שיש עמו כל מיני סחורה, ויקנה מכל העולם סחורה.

^{Rashbam [reconstructed] Gen 16:12} “His hand against everyone”—for he has all sorts of goods for purchase, and he will buy his goods from people all over the world.

"ויד כל בו"—גם כל אדם יקנה ממנו, כדרך תגרים שנושאים ונותנין עם כל אדם.

“And everyone’s hand against him”—Also, all people will buy from him, as is the way with merchants who do business with everyone.^[16]

Rashbam then offers the principle behind his interpretation:

כשתפרש פסוק זה, נמצאת למד שכולו נאמר ברכה על ישמעאלים. וזה המפרשו לקללה טועה בו, כי המלאך לא בא לקללו, לכך צריך לפרשו כן.

When you interpret this verse, you see that all of it is a blessing for the Ishmaelites. And whoever interprets it as a curse is making an error, for the angel came to bless, not to curse; therefore, it is necessary to interpret it this way.

As we shall see, Rashbam here captures the basic thrust of the biblical narrative about Ishmael.

Does Ishmael “Fall”?

The final phrase—וְעַל פְּנֵי כׇל אֶחָיו יִשְׁכֹּן “he shall dwell alongside all his kin”—which sounds benign, is restated differently in a later chapter:

^{בראשית כה:יח} ...עַל פְּנֵי כׇל אֶחָיו נָפָל.‏

^{Gen 25:18} …he fell alongside all their kin.^[17]

Genesis Rabbah, a fifth-century Palestinian midrash, reads the change of verb as a fall into sin or wickedness:

^{בראשית רבה מה:ט} (בראשית טז, יב): עַל פְּנֵי כָל אֶחָיו יִשְׁכֹּן, הָכָא אַתְּ אָמַר יִשְׁכֹּן, וְהָתָם כְּתִיב (בראשית כה, יח): נָפָל, אֶלָּא כָּל זְמַן שֶׁהָיָה אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ קַיָּם יִשְׁכֹּן, וּכְשֶׁמֵּת אַבְרָהָם נָפָל...

^{Gen. Rab. 45:9} “He shall dwell (yishkon) alongside all his kin”—here you say “dwell,” but there it is written “fell” (nafal; Gen 25:18)! Rather, as long as our father Abraham was alive, he “dwelt”; when Abraham died, he “fell”…^[18]

This, however, is a midrashic reading, interested in reconciling two texts that seem contradictory. Others read this as a reference to fighting with his brothers.^[19] Nevertheless, many of the medieval peshat commentators recognized that the word “fell” (nafal) here is a synonym for “dwelt.”^[20]

What Was Ishmael Doing at Isaac’s Weaning?

Another source for the negative assessment of Ishmael comes from the interpretation of an incident that takes place on the day of Isaac’s weaning:

^{בראשית כא:ח} וַיִּגְדַּל הַיֶּלֶד וַיִּגָּמַל וַיַּעַשׂ אַבְרָהָם מִשְׁתֶּה גָדוֹל בְּיוֹם הִגָּמֵל אֶת יִצְחָק.‏ ^כא:ט וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת בֶּן הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָם מְצַחֵק.‏ ^כא:י וַתֹּאמֶר לְאַבְרָהָם גָּרֵשׁ הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת בְּנָהּ כִּי לֹא יִירַשׁ בֶּן הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת עִם בְּנִי עִם יִצְחָק.‏

^{Gen 21:8} The child grew up and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ^21:9 Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham metzacheq. ^21:10 She said to Abraham, “Cast out that slave-woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

What exactly is Ishmael doing in this story to make Sarah decide to have him cast out of the household? The term metzacheq derives from the same root as Isaac’s name Yitzhaq, and the piʿel form of the verb has many meanings that connote positive activities such as laughing, playing, and rejoicing, as well as negative, abusive behavior such as mocking and deriding.

Negative Framings

Lisbeth Fried, among others, has argued that the verb should be understood in a sexual sense, that Ishmael was molesting Isaac.^[21] The closest parallel for this usage comes five chapters later, when Abimelech looks out his window and sees Isaac metzacheq et Rivkah ishto “playing with Rebecca, his wife,” in a connotation that is clearly sexual:

^{בראשית כו:ח} וַיְהִי כִּי אָרְכוּ לוֹ שָׁם הַיָּמִים וַיַּשְׁקֵף אֲבִימֶלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּים בְּעַד הַחַלּוֹן וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה יִצְחָק מְצַחֵק אֵת רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ.‏

^{Gen 26:8} When some time had passed, Abimelech king of the Philistines, looking out of the window, saw Isaac playing with his wife Rebecca.^[22]

The Tosefta, a collection of tannaitic teachings from third-century Palestine, goes further, recording the opinions of three sages who each find one of the three cardinal sins^[23] in the word metzacheq: idolatry,^[24] sexual impropriety,^[25] and murder.^[26] These readings justify the expulsion, envisioning Sarah as having no reasonable choice but to have this dangerous and problematic boy removed from their home. There are, however, other ways of understanding the meaning of the word metzacheq that need not indict Ishmael’s character.

Playing with Isaac

Many modern commentators translate the verb as “playing” or “laughing,” activities that are positive. The book of Jubilees perhaps the oldest retelling of the story we have, paints Ishmael as close to his father, and relates the incident as Ishmael playing and dancing in joy in front of his happy father:

^{Jub 17:1} In the first year of the fifth week, in this jubilee, Isaac was weaned. Abraham gave a large banquet in the third month, on the day when his son Isaac was weaned. ^17:2 Now Ishmael, the son of Hagar the Egyptian, was in his place in front of his father Abraham. Abraham was very happy and blessed the Lord because he saw his own sons and had not died childless. ^17:3 ...He was very happy because the Lord had given him descendants on the earth to possess the land. With his full voice he blessed the creator of everything.

In contrast, Jubilees paints Sarah’s reaction as negative:

^{Jub 17:4} When Sarah saw Ishmael playing and dancing and Abraham being extremely happy, she became jealous of Ishmael. She said to Abraham: “Banish this girl and her son because this girl’s son will not be an heir with my son Isaac.” ^17:5 In Abraham’s opinion the command regarding his servant girl and his son—that he should banish them from himself—was saddening.^[27]

Similarly, the medieval commentator Abraham ibn Ezra (1089–1167) took the verb in its everyday sense:

^{אבן עזרא בראשית כא:ט} מצחק – כי כן מנהג כל נער, ותקנא בו בעבור היותו גדול מבנה.

^{Ibn Ezra, Gen 21:9} Metzacheq—for this is the way of every lad. And she was jealous of him because he was older than her son.

Ibn Ezra’s Ishmael is an ordinary boy at play. The problem lies with Sarah, who sees her son’s older brother and is jealous. A bond between her own son and Hagar’s could be deemed a threat to Sarah. After all, the picture of them peacefully playing with each other on equal footing would be enough to feed Sarah’s jealousy and fear that he would be a rival to Isaac.

Indeed, Sarah virtually says as much by noting that the problem was not Isaac somehow in danger from Ishmael’s predations, but in danger of having to split his inheritance with this older brother, son of a handmaiden.

Inheritance with Isaac

The problem of inheritance may even be hinted at in the verb metzacheq, a play on Isaac’s name: Ishmael was “Isaac-ing,” i.e., acting as an equal to Isaac. “And this is perhaps what Sarah is complaining about in the next verse,” writes Jo Ann Hackett:

[T]hat she noticed he was doing something to indicate he was just like Isaac, that they were equals, and it is this that threatens her so.^[28]

In the Tosefta, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, after recounting the three very negative interpretations quoted above, offers a negative reading of his own, but also understands the problem as one of inheritance:

^{תוספתא סוטה ו:ו} ואני אומר: "^[29]...אלא אין צחוק האמור כאן אלא לענין ירושה, שכשנולד אבינו יצחק לאברהם אבינו היו הכל שמחין ואומרין 'נולד בן לאברהם, נולד בן לאברהם, נוחל את העולם ונוטל שני חלקים',

^{t. Sotah 6:6} But I say: “…Rather, the tzechoq mentioned here concerns inheritance. When our father Isaac was born to our father Abraham, everyone was rejoicing and saying, ‘A son has been born to Abraham, a son has been born to Abraham! He will inherit the world and take two portions [of inheritance].’

והיה ישמעאל מצחק בדעתו ואומר 'אל תהי שוטים, אל תהי שוטים, אני בכור ואני נוטל שני חלקים' – שמתשובת הדבר אתה למד, שנאמר (בראשית כא:י) 'כי לא יירש בן האמה וגו'..."^[30]

And Ishmael was laughing (metzacheq) to himself and saying, ‘Don’t be fools, don’t be fools! I am the firstborn, and I take two portions.’ For you learn this from the reply to the matter: ‘for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance…’ (Gen 21:10).”

Rabbi Shimon’s Ishmael is expecting the firstborn’s double portion (Deut 21:17), and is a serious threat to Isaac’s inheritance. While this is a fanciful overreading like the other three, it points to the main thrust of the text, that the issue is not Ishmael’s behavior but his position in the family. Ishmael’s presence alone alarms Sarah, and she again reacts with cruelty, which distresses Abraham, but God tells Abraham to abide by Sarah’s demands (Gen 21:11–13).^[31]

While God does not express a desire to hurt Ishmael, Sarah’s demand seems built upon a visceral dislike of the enslaved wife and her son. Indeed, Genesis Rabbah imagines Sarah placing an evil eye on Ishmael, causing him to become sick and to drink all the water in the skin his father has given Hagar, so that mother and child are then in danger of dying in the wilderness:

^{בראשית רבה נג:יג} (בראשית כא:יד): "עַל שִׁכְמָהּ וְאֶת הַיֶּלֶד"—בֶּן עֶשְׂרִים וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים, וְאַתְּ אֲמַרְתְּ: שָׂם עַל שִׁכְמָהּ?! אֶלָּא מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהִכְנִיסָה בּוֹ שָׂרָה עַיִן רָעָה וְנִכְנְסָה בּוֹ חַמָּה וְאַכְאָבִית, תֵּדַע לְךָ שֶׁכֵּן, דִּכְתִיב (בראשית כא:טו): "וַיִּכְלוּ הַמַּיִם מִן הַחֵמֶת," שֶׁכֵּן דֶּרֶךְ הַחוֹלֶה לִהְיוֹת שׁוֹתֶה הַרְבֵּה וּבְכָל שָׁעָה.

^{Gen. Rab. 53:13} “[He placed them] over her shoulder, together with the child”—he was twenty-seven years old, and you say “he placed [him] over her shoulder”?! Rather, this teaches that Sarah cast an evil eye on him, and fever and pains entered him. You can know that this is so, for it is written, “When the water in the skin was gone” (Gen 21:15)—for such is the way of a sick person, to drink a lot and all the time.

The midrash at once portrays Abraham as abundantly providing for Ishmael and Hagar and captures Sarah’s resentment of the firstborn of Abraham.

Ishmael Remains in the Family

Even though some texts contain ambiguous statements about Ishmael, the depictions of him at the end of his father’s life are unambiguously positive, suggesting that even after being sent away, Ishmael remains part of the family. This is indicated by Abraham’s burial scene:

^{בראשית כה:ט} וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ יִצְחָק וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל בָּנָיו אֶל מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה אֶל שְׂדֵה עֶפְרֹן בֶּן צֹחַר הַחִתִּי אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי מַמְרֵא.‏

^{Gen 25:9} His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre.

Noticing the order, Genesis Rabbah comments:

^{בראשית רבה סב:ב} וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ יִצְחָק וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל אֶל מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה (בראשית כה, ט), כָּאן בֶּן הָאָמָה חוֹלֵק כָּבוֹד לְבֶן הַגְּבִירָה.

^{Gen. Rab. 62:2} “Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah”—here the son of the slave-woman [Ishmael, who is mentioned second even though he is the firstborn] shows honor to the son of the mistress [Isaac].^[32]

Though the birth order is reversed—Isaac is mentioned before Ishmael—there is no sign of tension or question of domination here, so the reversal of names may be symbolic of acceptance of the divine plan.^[33] Genesis Rabbah, while maintaining the negative perception of Ishmael, explains that Ishmael’s coming to bury his father is why the Torah later records his lifespan:

^{בראשית רבה סב:ד} (בראשית כה, יז): וְאֵלֶּה שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל, מָה רָאָה הַכָּתוּב לְיַחֵס שָׁנָיו שֶׁל רָשָׁע כָּאן, עַל יְדֵי שֶׁבָּא מִקָּדְקָדָהּ שֶׁל מִדְבָּר לִגְמֹל חֶסֶד לְאָבִיו.

^{Gen. Rab. 62:4} “These were the years of the life of Ishmael” (Gen 25:17)—why did Scripture see fit to record the years of this wicked man here? Because he came from the edge of the wilderness to do kindness for his father.

Picking up on the residual connection Ishmael feels for his father, Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer tells how Abraham visits Ishmael in the wilderness, checking to see if his son is living wisely, a narrative that is also found in Islamic sources.^[34] The story captures the steadfast concern Abraham had for Ishmael throughout his life, and the strong connection between them.

Ishmael and Isaac Retain Their Relationship

Notably, Isaac at one point settles in Beer-lahai-roi (Gen 25:11),^[35] where Ishmael was blessed by the angel in utero. The image of the two sons burying their father and living in proximity evokes reunion, reconciliation, and renewal.

Perhaps most telling is that when Esau learns that his having married Hittite wives embitters his mother and father (Gen 26:34–35), he decides to rectify the situation by marrying his first cousin, Ishmael’s daughter:

^{בראשית כח:ח} וַיַּרְא עֵשָׂו כִּי רָעוֹת בְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן בְּעֵינֵי יִצְחָק אָבִיו.‏ ^כח:ט וַיֵּלֶךְ עֵשָׂו אֶל יִשְׁמָעֵאל וַיִּקַּח אֶת מָחֲלַת בַּת יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן אַבְרָהָם אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹת עַל נָשָׁיו לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה.‏

^{Gen 28:8} Esau realized that the Canaanite women displeased his father Isaac. ^28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took to wife, in addition to the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth.^[36]

In other words, Esau understands that his father would be happy with this, and Ishmael goes along with it, implying that the brothers Isaac and Ishmael are still connected and have fondness for each other.

Brothers Without Conflict

The biblical accounts of Ishmael and Isaac have striking parallels. Both become fathers of nations, have a near-death experience—they are each nearly sacrificed by their own father at the command of God—and each is saved through divine intervention. Nothing in the Torah suggests reading Ishmael in a negative light.

It is often assumed that, like Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, the relationship between Ishmael and Isaac is marked by rivalry. They do indeed fit the pattern of the supplanting of the firstborn in the Bible (Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Leah and Rachel, Manasseh and Ephraim),^[37] but their relationship is uncontentious.

In the end, the Torah depicts two brothers diverging in their lives on account of their mothers’ conflict with each other,^[38] yet they remain connected to each other and to a father who holds each dear.