Ishmael and Isaac

Ishmael and Isaac were both sons of Abraham. Ishmael is the ancestor of the Arab people, and Isaac is the ancestor of the Jewish people.

The story of Ishmael is found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, chapters 16-21. Hagar was Sarah’s Egyptian maidservant. Because Sarah was unable to conceive after many years of marriage to Abraham, she gave Hagar to her husband to be his concubine. Soon after, Hagar became pregnant. This change in status caused her to look down on her mistress. Sarah grew angry and treated Hagar harshly, forcing her to flee. In the wilderness, she met an angel. After the angel comforted her, Hagar returned and soon gave birth to a son whom she named Ishmael, meaning “God hears.”

Fourteen years after Ishmael’s birth, through God’s grace, Sarah also gave birth to Isaac. When Isaac was weaned, Sarah saw 14-year-old Ishmael making fun of Isaac and was displeased. She then told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Although this grieved Abraham, God instructed him to do as Sarah said. So, early the next morning, he gave Hagar a skin of water and some bread and sent them away.

Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba and got lost. When the water in the skin was gone, she left Ishmael under a bush and sat down a bowshot away, weeping loudly. An angel appeared again, telling Hagar that God would make Ishmael’s descendants into a great nation. The angel then opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well of water. She filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. When Ishmael grew up, he became known as a skilled archer, living in the wilderness of Paran and becoming the ancestor of the Arab people.

When Isaac was forty years old, Abraham sent his servant back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac: Rebekah (the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor, daughter of Bethuel, and sister of Laban). Because his wife was childless, “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, and the Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebekah became pregnant” (Genesis 25:19-21). When Isaac was sixty years old, Rebekah gave birth to the twin brothers Esau and Jacob (Jacob became the ancestor of the Israelites).

God chose Abraham’s family and promised that his descendants would be numerous, filling the whole earth like the sand of the sea. Yet the Bible also highlights the issue of infertility in key figures like Sarah and Rebekah. Their children were born only through God’s grace, to teach us that what is impossible for man is possible for God. Humans cannot override God’s will; we must not rely on our own methods. Instead, we must humble ourselves before God, pray for His guidance, and submit to His will.

(Compiled and edited based on the Chinese Union Version and a comprehensive biblical interpretation.)