Questions tagged [yishmael]

Ishmael, Yishmael. Questions regarding the biblical figure, Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar.

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Why weren’t the descendants of Esav or Yishmael also given the Torah alongside the benei Yaakob?

As we all know, Abraham had two descendants, Yishmael and Yitschak. Yitschak also had two descendants, Esav and Yaakob; however only the children of Yaakob were the nation that was chosen for the ...
Kyotiq's user avatar
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4 votes
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Parallel between the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 princes of Ishmael?

Genesis 35:22 ויהי בשכן ישראל בארץ ההוא וילך ראובן וישכב את בלהה פילגש אביו וישמע ישראל ויהיו בני יעקב שנים עשר And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with ...
Deuteronomy's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
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Why did Hagar go back?

This one has bugged me for a long time. Why would Hagar go back to a pressured existence especially when she was told that her son would become a wild man and a thief?
Ethan Leonard's user avatar
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0 answers
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Did all the midyanim die? [duplicate]

In the war with Midyon, the Torah infers all of their men were killed, and girls not of mature age were spared Now if they were all killed, how do they appear in Shoftim as being the oppressors of ...
KapinKrunch's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
571 views

Earliest Identification of Ishmael as Arabs / Muslims

Both Jewish sources and Muslim sources seem to take for granted that at least some Arabs and/or Muslims are somehow descended from Abraham's son Ishmael (whether biologically or spiritually). See, for ...
Avraham's user avatar
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Do we have any idea how old Ishmael's daughter, Mahalath, was when she married Esau?

Esau married Mahalath after learning that his father had told Jacob not to marry an Canaanitess. Jacob's flight to Padan-Aram took place when he was 77¹, so Esau was probably in the ballpark of 80 ...
A.O.'s user avatar
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A prophet from the seed of Ishmael is necessary to fufill Genesis 17:7?

In Genesis 17:7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after ...
ميخائيل مينا's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
146 views

Who are the Ishmaelites whom God regrets creating (Sukkah 52b:)?

(to help Kenny with his question). "אָמַר רַב חָנָא בַּר אַחָא, אָמְרִי בֵּי רַב: ארבעה מתחרט עליהן הקדוש ברוך הוא שבראם ואלו הם: גלות, כשדים, וישמעאלים ויצר הרע There are four that the Holy One,...
Al Berko's user avatar
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The angels who accused Yishmoel – what action were they suggesting?

Beraishis 21 (17) Hashem judges Yishmoel “בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא שָׁם " - “in that condition in which he now is”. The ministering angels according to the Medrash said, “Master of the Universe, for him ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
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1 answer
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Hashem vindicates Sarah's jealousy?

According to the Ibn Ezra (21,9), Sarah's demand to banish Yishmael was based purely on jealousy. Why would Hashem agree with her and instruct Avraham to send him away?
Nochie Wolf's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
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Names of Ishmael's 1st and 2nd wife

It seems there is a dispute regarding the names of Ishmael's 1st and 2nd wife. According to Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 30:6, Ishmael's first wife is Ayesha עישה from the daughters of Moav. ibid 2nd wife ...
Re'eh's user avatar
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Why was Abraham cheap with Hagar and his son Yishmael?

Following "why-would-Hagar-go-to-the-desert-to-die", IIRC Abraham was freakishly wealthy and he should be full of Chessed (toward his former wife and his own son), Sarah didn't deny any ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Why would Hagar go to the desert to inevitable death?

"Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away. And she wandered about in ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Do Arabs have a distinct stature among non-Jews as they descend from Abraham?

To best of my knowledge, according to Judaism, both Arabs and Jews descend from Abraham. In particular, Arabs are believed to be descended from Ishmael, and Jews are believed to be descended from ...
SpiderRico's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
239 views

Why not interpret consistently the way the age at death is expressed?

The Torah says: וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה׃ Sarah’s lifetime came to one hundred years and twenty years and seven years ...
Maurice Mizrahi's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
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Did Ishmael return home to his father Abraham?

The Torah says, on the matter of the Akedah: So early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his lads and his son Isaac. [Gen. 22:3] The Midrash comments: His two lads were [...
Maurice Mizrahi's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
409 views

Yishmael - if he did Teshuva why does he continue to be punished

We know that Yishmael early on acted in an improper manner (see for example Bereishis Rabbah 53:11) and was resultantly banished from Avraham's household - Bereishis 21:9-10 However, we learn later on ...
Dov's user avatar
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Why Ishmael never claimed the right of firstborn?

Note: the question should have read "did he ever claim" but I assumed he didn't as I didn't hear of it. (I'm aware of the Midrash that says that his descendants claimed before Alexander the Great the ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Rashi's explanation of why we are told that Avram was 86 at the birth of Yishma'el

Bereishit 16:16: וְאַבְרָ֕ם בֶּן־שְׁמֹנִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֵׁ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֑ים בְּלֶֽדֶת־הָגָ֥ר אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל לְאַבְרָֽם׃‏ Avram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Yishma'el to Avram. ...
Joel K's user avatar
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Yishmael turning down the Torah

The medrash tells us as quoted here: https://www.ou.org/holidays/shavuot/offering_the_torah_to_the_nations/ that hashem first offered the Torah to the nations of the world. Each nation asked what does ...
Draizy-Levi Pine's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
856 views

If a convert is already a descendant of Abraham, does he become Ben Avraham Avinu?

A convert is considered to be the child of Abraham when called up to the Torah - ben Avraham Avinu. Does this still apply if the convert was born as a non-Jewish paternal descendant of Abraham? For ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Are there any Jewish traditions that can place Abraham in the location of present day Mecca? [closed]

The Quran states... And (remember) when Ibrahim (Abraham) and (his son) Isma'il (Ishmael) were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah), (saying), "Our Lord! Accept (this service)...
aska123's user avatar
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5 votes
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Yishmael is the corruption of chesed

I once heard the following idea, and I'm wondering what is the source for it. Avraham was the pillar of chesed. His son Yishmael was rejected as being part of the Jewish people. Chazal say that ...
robev's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
137 views

If Sarah's anger was only toward Ishmael, then could Sarah have halakhically asked Abraham to only expel Ishmael?

If Sarah's anger was only toward Ishmael, then could Sarah have halakhically asked (or within her rights, from whichever source, to ask) Abraham to only expel Ishmael and not Hagar, seeing Hagar is ...
ninamag's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
101 views

Is there a non-grammatical reason why יִשְמָעֵאל is written with the tzeirei under the ayin and not under the aleph?

The word יִשְמָעֵאל is written with the tzeirei under the ayin and not under the aleph (like this: יִשְמָעאֵל). I think that the suffix אֵל refers to Hashem and therefore would have expected the ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
321 views

Is Yishmael a nabi (prophet) or tzaddik of some sort?

Is Yishmael a nabi (prophet) or tzaddik of some sort? The reason why I ask this is because when I read the midrash version of the Torah I found out that it said that Yishmael near the end of Avraham's ...
user12053's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
323 views

Are Esau/Edom and Yishmael included among the 70 nations?

We all know that all the people on the earth came actually of 70 nations (even though lots of them became mixed recently). And we all know that every one of these nations has an angel to guard it. ...
mil's user avatar
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15 votes
1 answer
223 views

Is there a connection between Hagar's distance and Yishmael's profession?

The Torah tells us that Hagar sat an archer's distance away from Yishmael as he lay crying, Genesis 21 verse 16. After he is miraculously saved he lives in the desert and is described as a רובה קשת, ...
user6591's user avatar
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20 votes
2 answers
605 views

Do we have any proof (Biblical or other Judaic) that current-day Arabs have lineage from Yishma'el?

I am relating my question to Hashem and Arabs. Offhand, I thought that Islam claims ties to Yisma'el. If true, I don't know how or why it makes that claim. If it's all Arabs, even non-Muslims, how do ...
DanF's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Why were some Jews called Yishmael? [duplicate]

Why is it that we find Jews (and even sages) by the name Yishmael? It seems rather strange that we would choose to name our children after someone who was the progenitor of a nation seen to be an ...
AKayser's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
844 views

Why did Sarah banish Hagar and Yishmael - Meaning of צחק

Genesis 21: ט וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת-בֶּן-הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית, אֲשֶׁר-יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָם--מְצַחֵק. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, 'making sport.' י ...
Shmuel's user avatar
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11 votes
5 answers
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Why was Yishmael saved?

In bereshis 21:17 it says And G-d heard the lad's voice, and an angel of G-d called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What is troubling you, Hagar? Fear not, for G-d has heard the lad's voice ...
please remove my account's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
249 views

Years and years and years of Yishmael

Genesis 25:17 says: וְאֵלֶּה שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל מְאַת שָׁנָה וּשְׁלשִׁים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים וַיִּגְוַע וַיָּמָת וַיֵּאָסֶף אֶל עַמָּיו׃ And these are the years of the life of ...
Danield's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
558 views

Why Avraham hated Yishmael if he was a tzadik

Rashi says that avraham sent yishmael out with only water but no money because he hated him for going out "tarbut raah". yet later on, the verse says G-d heard the cry of Yishmael dying of thirst "...
ray's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
221 views

Wasn't Yishmael already sent away from Avraham's house?

In Bereshit 22:3, Rashi tells us that when Avraham went to sacrifice Yitzchok, the two lads he took with him were Yishmael and Eliezer. Wasn't Yishmael already gone from Avraham's house? In Bereshit ...
Menachem's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
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Esav & Yishma'el today

Historically, how did Esav come to be associated with Rome/Christianity? How did Yishma'el come to be associated with Arabs/Islam?
Sam's user avatar
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17 votes
5 answers
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Naming after bad people

Why have there been famous(ly righteous) Jewish people named after Yishma'el, who, Chaza"l tell us, was evil and an enemy of Jews? Has anything similar happened with Esav? Korach? Others?
WAF's user avatar
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