Ishmael

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The repudiation of Ishmael and his mother, portrayal by Gustave Doré

Ishmael ( Hebrew יִשְׁמָעֵאל jischmaʿel , “God (he) hears”, Arabic إسماعيل Ismāʿīl ) is the name of a person from the Tanakh , the Old Testament and the Koran . Ishmael is one of the prophets in Islam. According to the three Abrahamic religions , he is Abraham's firstborn son.

etymology

The name Ismael יִשְׁמָעֵאל jischmaʿel is a sentence name, from the verb שׁמע šm ' "to hear" in the past tense combined with the theophoric element אֵל' el "God". So it means “May (he) hear” or “God has heard”. This name interpretation is alluded to in Gen 16.11  EU , 17.20 EU and 21.17 EU . In the Septuagint the name is given with Ισμαηλ Ismaēl , in the Vulgate with Ismahel . In the Koran the name appears as إسماعيل Ismāʿīl .

Ishmael in the Tanach / in the Bible

Narrative representation

Josef Danhauser - Abraham casts out Hagar and Ishmael

The biblical narrative , according to Ismael Abraham's son by Hagar , an Egyptian servant of Abraham's wife Sarah ( Gen 16:15  EU ). Sarah caused her husband to marry Hagar so that she could give Abraham a son in her place. When Hagar became pregnant, she despised her mistress Sara. When she wants to humiliate Hagar, she flees into the desert. There an angel appears to her who promises a great offspring for her son, whom she is to name Ishmael, and asks her to return to her mistress. Ishmael grows up with his father Abraham. When Ishmael was 13 years old, God made a covenant with Abraham. Thereupon Abraham circumcises all of his male relatives, including Ishmael ( Gen 17.25  EU ). After the birth of Isaac , Hagar and Ishmael are expelled from Abraham's household and sent into the desert. There an angel appears again, who saves her from dying of thirst. Ishmael then lives in the Pharan desert , where he marries an Egyptian woman ( Gen 21.8–21  EU ). He returns to Canaan again for Abraham's funeral ( Gen 25.9  EU ). His sons are named Nebajot, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mischma, Duma, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Nafisch and Kedma. They become the twelve princes of the tribes of the descendants of Ishmael ( Gen 25: 13-16  EU ). His daughter Mahalat later becomes Esau's wife ( Gen 28.8f  EU , in 36.3 EU called Basemat). Ishmael dies at the age of 137 ( Gen 25.17  EU ).

Ishmael is considered to be the progenitor of the Arabs , as stated in Gen 25.12–18  EU . Thus he represents the original kinship between the Israelites and the Arabs.

interpretation

Context analysis: comparison to Gen 20 and Gen 21

The endangerment of Ishmael (Gen 21,8-21) has some parallels to the endangerment of Isaac (Gen 22,1-19) and to the endangerment of Abimelech (Gen 20).

general description Ishmael Gen 21: 8-21 Gen 21 Isaac Gen 22: 1-19 Gen 22 Abimelech Gen 20 Gen 20
A paradoxical command from God is issued with life-threatening consequences initial speech from God (to Abraham), which creates the danger 12 initial speech from God (to Abraham), which creates the danger 1 initial speech from God (to Abimelech), which creates the danger 3
The wordless and immediate execution takes place. Abraham gets up early in the morning 14th Abraham gets up early in the morning 3 Abimelech gets up early in the morning 8th
Abraham's Travel Preparations (for Hagar) 14th Abraham's Travel Preparations (on Your Own) 3
Apparently unstoppable danger to the life of the child, who was portrayed as the child of promise in God's speech 15f Apparently unstoppable danger to the life of the child, who was portrayed as the child of promise in God's speech 9f
God intervenes to save (in Gen 21 + Gen 22 through an angel) an angel calling from heaven, who averts the deadly danger and seamlessly merges into God's speech 17f an angel calling from heaven, who averts the deadly danger and seamlessly merges into God's speech 11f the divine speech refers to the possibility of averting the danger of death 6f
The process of rescue is through seeing and walking (saw a well with water and walked) 19th The process of rescue is done by seeing and walking (saw a ram ... and walked) 13
In "living" (Ismaels in Paran) the narrative comes to rest 21st In the “dwelling” (Abraham in Beersheba) the story comes to rest 19th Abimelech offers Abraham to "live" anywhere in his country 15th

Both texts (Gen 21 and 22) are stories of salvation in which God shows a way out of the danger of life from a seemingly hopeless situation; by an angel who takes away fear (21:17) or keeps it from the worst (22:12). Salvation lies ahead of them, but seeing is first taught and happens by opening or lifting the eyes (21.19; 22.13).

The two narratives (Gen 21 and 22) also have differences:

V. Gen 21: 8-21 Ishmael Gen 22: 1-19 Isaac V.
15f Ishmael experiences the physical distress of dying of thirst. The divine demand on Abraham is to sacrifice his own son. 2
20f Ishmael will experience the threat of dying of thirst again and again because he settles in the Paran desert. Isaac's life is saved once and for all. Instead of a child sacrifice, there is regular animal sacrifice 13
10-12 Abraham initially disagrees with Sarah and in this case also disagrees with God: Abraham initially does not want to send Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. So the starting point is a human conflict Only God's incomprehensible word and Abraham's deed are portrayed. Abraham's opinion is not presented. 1-3
17th The angel of Elohim calls from heaven. The angel Adonais calls from heaven. 11-14
13 Abraham is consoled with Ishmael's promise of increase before he is expelled. This eases the harshness of the command. Abraham does not yet know the outcome at the beginning, but in the end he keeps the son on whom the promise lies. 16f
No conversation between Abraham and Ishmael is described. There is a conversation between Abraham and Isaac. 7f

The big difference between these stories and Gen.20 lies in the fact that salvation takes place in a different way, and not through an angel, but only after the cause of the guilt has been eliminated and through the intercession of the prophet Abraham. The relationship to God is indirect in Gen.20: salvation and blessings can only be conveyed to Abimelech through Abraham (cf. Gen 12: 3).

Elements of enhancement
V. Gen 21: 8-21 Ishmael Gen 22: 1-19 Isaac V.
15th The danger to life consists in running out of water. The danger to life is increased until the slaughter of the son is almost complete. 10
14th The danger to life takes place far away in the desert without Abraham's direct involvement. Abraham is the direct acting subject. 9f
14th Obedience to Abraham Obedience of Abraham is more clearly outlined than fear of God. 3.12

Theological statements and individual observations

Gen 21 takes Hagar's first expulsion from Gen 16, but has a different focus: While Gen 16 is the main theme of a son for the childless Sarai, Gen 21 is about securing the inheritance for Isaac. Gen 21 deals with the self-inflicted consequences of Sarai's idea of ​​guaranteeing the offspring through the slave girl. Because now there are two sons, both of whom should be entitled to inheritance according to ancient oriental law (Codex Hammurapi §170). What Ishmael does with Isaac (v. 9 מְצַחֵק) alludes to Isaac's name (v. 3 יִצְחָק), which can be interpreted in such a way that the role of the two sons threatens to mix up here. In Sarah's statement, her son and the maid's son are therefore explicitly opposed to each other in terms of language and content: Sarah wants only her own son to inherit. It also suggests the toughest solution to the expulsion, which Abraham initially disagrees with. The expulsion implies the coming difficulties, which are already hinted at in Abraham's caring provision of water and bread. The family conflict over the inheritance is at the popular level the conflict over the Promised Land: Who is allowed to inherit it, but who is expelled? Exactly this vocabulary is also known from the land grab issue, in which Israel inherits the land and God drives out the enemies. In contrast to the land grab, it is not about annihilation, but at least “only” about displacement to another habitat (in the case of the story in the Paran desert).

It is unclear in the narrative whether Ishmael is already at an advanced age (about 17 years, if one follows the biblical chronology and one assumes a weaning period of about three years; for Abraham was 86 when he received Ishmael and 100 when he was he gets Isaac, so the festival of weaning will be around when Abraham is 103 years old; so Ishmael would be 17). After the expulsion, however, Ishmael is portrayed as a small child who is laid down, screams and has to be taken by the hand. It only grows up in the desert. Theologically it should not be neglected that God not only speaks to Abraham, but also hears the cry of Ishmael (although in the text only Hagar cries at first). And last but not least, Ishmael is also blessed as the son of Abraham. The separation of Ishmael from the Abraham family is then sealed by the marriage with an Egyptian woman, whereby the question of inheritance is clearly clarified in favor of Isaac / Israel. In contrast, there are other interpretations such. B. in Gen 25, which does not assume a clear separation of Isaac and Ishmael, but has both sons buried their father.

Ishmael in the Koran

Fresco sacrifice of Ismail , Shiraz , 18th century.

In the Koran, the story of Ishmael is interpreted differently than in the Bible:

According to a revelation , Abraham marries Hagar, the servant of his first wife Sarah, who cannot have children. During a trip to southern Arabia , Hagar gives birth to his son Ishmael. When they reach what is now Mecca , Abraham receives a revelation from God to leave Hagar and her child Ishmael in this place, which will one day become the holiest place on earth for Muslims . Abraham does so and moves on, convinced that God will take care of them.

While in the Bible ( Gen 22  EU ) explicitly Isaac sacrificed to be (finally sacrificed a ram), remains in the Koran which is nameless sacrificial son and by most Muslim commentators with Ismael identified ( Sura 37 , 102-107). Early Islamic traditions considered either Isaac or Ishmael, but today most Muslims are deemed to have been Ishmael.

In the Koran, Ishmael is regarded as the messenger of God and together with Abraham as the builder of the Kaaba :

“And when Abraham and Ishmael built the foundations of the house (he said): 'Our Lord, receive from us; because verily, you are the all-hearing, the all-knowing. '"

- Sura 2 , 127

Although no specific prophecies have come down from him, Ishmael is held in high regard:

"And he used to urge his relatives to pray and zakah, and to please his Lord."

- Sura 19 , 55

The Quran mentions Ismail with other prophets such as Elisha, Jonas and Lot , where they are described as righteous and chosen by God:

“And remember Ishmaels, Elisha, and Dhul-Kifls ; they all belong to the best. "

- Sura 38.48 also 6.86

The Arab tradition sees the merging of the descendants of Ishmael's son Adnan with the South Arab descendants of the Patriarch Qahtan as the origin of the Arab people. Ishmael himself was married to a descendant of Jorham, a son of Qahtan. According to Islamic tradition, he was buried in Mecca next to the Kaaba.

Ishmael in literature and art

literature

  • For Herman Melville , Ismael stands for the outcast - first in the novel Redburn and finally in Moby Dick , where the narrator, whose real name is not disclosed, calls himself Ismael.
  • In Gustavo Martín Garzo's novel The Little Heir , the main character - a boulder - is named Ishmael.
  • In the novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn the gorilla Ishmael philosophizes about the people and their history.

painting

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jörg Jeremias: Gen 20-22 as a theological problem . In: On the way to the final form from Genesis to II. Regum . S. 59-73 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Friedhelm Hartenstein: The concealment of the saving God. Exegetical and theological remarks on Genesis 22. In: Isaac's Sacrifice (Gen 22) in the denominations and media of the early modern period . 2006, pp. 1–22.
  3. ↑ Blum, Erhard: The composition of the father's story. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1984 (WMANT 57), p. 314.
  4. ↑ a b Matthias Köckert: Abraham. Ancestor, role model, cult founder . S. 175-186 .
  5. ↑ F. Leemhuis: Ibrahim's sacrifice of his son in the early post-koranic tradition , in: E. Noort / EJC Tigchelaar: The sacrifice of Isaac, Brill, Leiden 2002, pp. 125-139. Comprehensive Reuven Firestone: Abraham's Son as the Intended Sacrifice . Issues in Qur'anic Exegesis, in: Journal of Semitic Studies 34 (1989), 95-131 and esp. Reuven Firestone: Journeys in Holy Lands . The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis, New York 1990.