A Portrait of Yishmael/2

Yishmael – Overview

Exegetical Approaches

Neutral to Positive

Yishmael is a neutral character.  He does not actively sin nor behave negatively in any way, but neither does he do any exemplary deeds.

Sources:Jubilees17:6-18About Jubilees, Ibn EzraBereshit 16:12Bereshit 21:9About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, RadakBereshit 16:12Bereshit 17:20,25Bereshit 21:9,11,17,20,21Bereshit 25:9, 12About R. David Kimchi, AbarbanelBereshit 16Bereshit 17Bereshit 21About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, Tzeror HaMor

Prophecy to Hagar – These commentators read in the prophecy either a positive or neutral characterization of the soon to be born Yishmael, but differ in the details.

• Free – According to Ibn Ezra, "פֶּרֶא אָדָם" is a metaphor for a non-submissive person who is not under the yoke of others. Yishmael will be a powerful individual, victorious over his neighbors ("יָדוֹ בַכֹּל"), but simultaneously inviting others to fight back ("יַד כֹּל בּוֹ").
• Man of the desert – Radak asserts that "פֶּרֶא אָדָם" refers to a man of the desert, who due to this nomadic lifestyle will constantly be battling his neighbors ("יָדוֹ בַכֹּל...").  However, he will not flee from them, but manage to dwell amongst them ("עַל פְּנֵי כָל אֶחָיו יִשְׁכֹּן").
• Man of civilization – Abarbanel reads the opening words of the prophecy as a rhetorical question, "will your son be a man of the desert?"¹  The angel is informing Hagar that Yishmael will live amongst men ("עַל פְּנֵי כָל אֶחָיו יִשְׁכֹּן"), intermingling and socializing with them ‎("יָדוֹ בַכֹּל")‎ and not alone in the wilderness.²

Avraham's plea: "לוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל יִחְיֶה לְפָנֶיךָ" – According to Abarbanel, Avraham is asking Hashem what will become of Yishmael once Yitzchak is born.  He worries about both Yishmael's physical and spiritual well being,³ and questions whether Yishmael will die young (being replaced by Yitzchak)⁴  and whether, Yishmael will be part of Hashem's covenant.  The question assumes that, in Avraham's eyes, there was no intrinsic disqualification which would automatically cause Yishmael to be rejected.

"מְצַחֵק" – Most of these commentators suggest that Yishmael was simply happily dancing,⁵ playing or laughing⁶ and that the word holds no derogatory connotation at all.⁷

Why did Sarah want Yishmael expelled?

• According to Jubilees and Ibn Ezra, Sarah was simply jealous, while Tzeror HaMor asserts that she was insulted as she mistakenly thought that Yishmael was laughing at her.⁸  
• Abarbanel asserts that even before the incident, Sarah was planning to expel Yishmael, fearing that otherwise he would claim rights to the inheritance. Seeing Yishmael being the center of attention simply confirmed her suspicions that the longer he stayed, the more it would simply be assumed that he too was to inherit.

Evaluation of Sarah – According to Tzeror HaMor  Yishmael's actions did not warrant an expulsion and Sarah sinned in her actions.⁹  Her descendants were later punished when the Yishmaelites refused water to the Children of Israel, resulting in many deaths.¹⁰

Why did Hashem reject Yishmael?

Why is Avraham "upset about his son"? Avraham's reaction is understandable given that Yishmael did nothing to deserve expulsion.  Radak asserts that Avraham loved him, for after all, "בדרך טובה היה הולך".

בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא שָׁם

Polemical Motivations?

Mildly Negative

Yishmael has several negative traits, but he is not completely wicked.

Prophecy to Hagar

Avraham's plea: "לוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל יִחְיֶה לְפָנֶיךָ"

"מְצַחֵק"

Why did Sarah want Yishmael expelled?

Why did Hashem reject Yishmael?

Why is Avraham "upset about his son"?

Polemical Motivations?

Extremely Negative

The character of Yishmael is evil, and he commits the most heinous of crimes, including the threesome of idolatry, murder and illicit relations.

Prophecy to Hagar

Avraham's plea: "לוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל יִחְיֶה לְפָנֶיךָ"

"מְצַחֵק"

Why did Sarah want Yishmael expelled?

Why did Hashem reject Yishmael?

Why is Avraham "upset about his son"?

Polemical Motivations?

¹ Abrbanel agrees with Radak's understanding of the phrase "פֶּרֶא אָדָם", but due to his new punctuation, comes to an opposite conclusion of what the prophecy says about Yishmael's abode.

² He points out that the context of the prophecy is an attempt to make Hagar return to Avraham. The angel thus tells her that her son's future lies in civilized land, amongst people and not in the desert where she presently finds herself.

³ Cf Rashi and Ramban who each pick up on one  of these two possibilities.

⁴ See Ramban who has Avraham wonder if the reason Yitzchak is to inherit is because Yishmael is to die before Avraham.

⁵ This is Jubilees stance.

⁶ See Ibn Ezra, "מצחק כי כן מנהג כל נער" Abarbanel similarly depicts him happily playing("שהי' משתעשע בבית") as everyone around tried to please and serve him.

⁷ Radak is the one exception.  He suggests that Yishmael was laughing at Yitzchak for having been born to such old parents.  Radak apparently does not consider this laughter particularly negative, though, as he says of Yishmael immediately afterwards, "ובדרך טובה היה מהלך". 

⁸ He suggests that the elderly in general are very sensitive to people's laughter, assuming that they might be the subject.  Thus, too, Sarah in her old age, concluded that she was being made fun of. Tzeror HaMor

⁹ He assumes that the original harsh treatment of Hagar in chapter 16 was similarly sinful, and blames both Avraham and Sarah for their part.  Avraham should never have agreed to take Hagar as a wife in the first place nor allow Sarah's treatment of her afterwards.  Yishmael's birth itself served as a punishment, for his descendants were to bring destruction to Israel.  Cf. the Zohar and Ramban below who probably influenced Tzeror HaMor's reading.  Ramban differs, though, in his understanding of Yishmael's actions in chapter 21 where he justifies the banishment.

¹⁰ Tzeror HaMor suggests that it would have been better had Yishamel died from the lack of water, since then he would never have borne a nation who was to oppress the Israelites.