Ishmael

The son of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian maid of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Ishmael was fourteen years old when Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac. Sarah did not want Isaac to be brought up in the same house with Ishmael, and when Ishmael was sixteen, she urged Abraham to send Ishmael and Hagar away. Abraham did not want to do this, for he loved Ishmael. An angel appeared to Abraham, however, and told him to let them go, for God would make the children of Ishmael into a great nation. When Ishmael and his mother went into the wilderness, he almost died of thirst. Then an angel of God appeared to his mother and assured her that God would care for them. When his father, Abraham, died, Ishmael went back to Canaan and helped Isaac with the funeral. Ishmael died when he was 137 years old. The people in his family line were the Ishmaelites and were known for their skill with bows and arrows. Some Ishmaelites bought Joseph from his brothers and took him to Egypt.