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under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a
good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of
the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out
of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath
heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise lift up the lad, and hold him
in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes,
and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the bottle with water,
and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in
the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of
Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt."
    Ishmael was exiled when he was fourteen and was old enough to be extremely
bitter over the way he and his mother had been treated by Sarah. He probably,
also was upset at his father, Abraham, who loved him, for the lack of support
shown by his actions. His rage and hatred could only grow over the next
seventy five years before Abraham's death. He settled in Paran which is the
western half of the Sinai Peninsula. The Amalekites, who were descendents of
Esau, wandered between this area and Canaan, and were a constant worry to the
Israelites. Petra is on the western edge of where the peninsula connects to
the main land, and west of Petra is the land of Midian, Ishmael's exiled half
brother, which is present day Arabian desert.
    In Genesis chapter 25:1-18, after Sarah's death, we continue Ishmael's
story: "Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she
bare him Zimram, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and
Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch,
Abida, and Aldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave
all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which
Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while
he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. And these are the days of

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Hittite, which is before Mamre; The field which Abraham purchased of the sons
of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. And it came to pass
after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by
the well Lahairoi.
    Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the
Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham: And these are the names of the
sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn
of Ishmael Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Abdeel, and Mibsam, And Mishma, and Dumah,
and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: These are the sons of
Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles,
twelve princes according to their nations. And these are the years of the
life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty seven years: and he gave up the ghost
and died; and was gathered unto his people.".
    In verse 5 we read that Ishmael lost his birth right as first born. In
verse 9 we read that he continued to be a loyal and loving son, in that he and
Isaac buried their father, in accordance with his wishes. It doesn't say that
he showed love towards Isaac, just that he showed last respects to his father,
Abraham. In verse 11 we see that God blessed Isaac, who was living at the
same well that Hagar had originally fled to, while she was expecting Ishmael.
    The Ishmaelites figure prominently in the continuing story of Isaac's
descendents. Their connection to Egypt is shown by the statement that
Ishmael lived among his brethren. In Genesis 37 it can be seen that this
connection was solid to the days when Joseph's brothers sold him to the
Ishmaelites who in turn traded him in Egypt. Even unto the days after David
when Asaph showed even stronger alliances between the exiles, with the reasons
for those alliances, in Psalm 83. "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy
peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and
they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel
against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said,
Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may

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