(Septuagint 'Ismaél ; Vulgate Ismahel, in 1 Chronicles 1:28, 20,
31 ). The son of Abraham and Agar, the Egyptian. His history is
contained in parts of Gen., xvi-xxv, wherein three strata of
Hebrew tradition (J, E, P) are usually distinguished by
contemporary scholars. The name "Ismael", which occurs also in
early Babylonian and in Minæan, was given to the child before
its birth ( Genesis 16:11 ), and means: "may God hear". As
Sarai, Abram's wife, was barren, she gave him, in accordance
with the custom of the time, her handmaid, Agar, as concubine,
in order to obtain children through her. Agar's conception of a
child soon led to her flight into the wilderness, where the
angel of Yahweh appeared to her, bade her to return to her
mistress, and fixed the name and character of her future son.
After her return to Bersabee, she brought forth Ismael to Abram,
who was then eighty-six years old (xvi). Ismael was very dear to
the aged patriarch, as is shown by his entreaty of God in
Ismael's behalf, when the Almighty pr