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,Tzeror HaMorBereshit 16:1,3,5,12Bereshit 21:9,11,14About R. Avraham Saba, AbarbanelBereshit 16Bereshit 17Bereshit 21About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel

Prophecy to Hagar – These commentators see 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 free from the yoke of others.¹ The angel told Hagar that Yishmael would 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")‎.²
• Man of civilization – Abarbanel reads the opening words of the angel as a rhetorical question, "will your son be a man of the desert?"³  The angel is, thus, 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.⁴

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,⁵ questioning whether Yishmael will die young (being replaced by Yitzchak)⁶  and whether he 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 commentators⁷ suggest that Yishmael was simply happily dancing,⁸ playing or laughing⁹ and that the word holds no derogatory connotation at all.

Why did Sarah want Yishmael expelled?

• According to Jubilees and Ibn Ezra, Sarah was simply jealous,¹⁰ while Tzeror HaMor asserts that she was insulted as she mistakenly thought that Yishmael was laughing at her.¹¹  
• 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 difficult disinheriting him would become.

Evaluation of Sarah – According to Tzeror HaMor,  Yishmael's actions did not warrant an expulsion and Sarah sinned in her actions.¹²  Her descendants were later punished when the Yishmaelites refused water to the Children of Israel, resulting in many deaths.¹³ Radak too suggests that Sarah was deserving of rebuke, saying that Avraham only kept quiet for "peace in the house" (שלום בית).

Why did Hashem reject Yishmael? According to Abarbanel, as Hashem wanted the chosen line to emerge form Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak alone was to inherit.  Hashem, thus, agreed with Sarah that in order to ensure this and prevent any contesting of the inheritance, Yishmael had to be expelled from the home.¹⁴

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"‎.¹⁵

בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא שָׁם

Yishmael after the expulsion – Radak points to Yishmael's success as an archer, and lauds him for teaching this skill to his descendants, the Children of Kedar.  He even suggests that this part of the story was written so that all can learn from Yishmael the important lesson of passing on skills to one's children.

Polemical Motivations?

Mildly Negative

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

Sources:R. Shimon b. YochaiTosefta Sotah 6:6About the Tosefta, R. Saadia GaonBereshit 16:11Bereshit 21:9About R. Saadia Gaon, R. Avraham b. HaRambamBereshit 21:9-10, 13,17, 20About R. Avraham Maimonides, RambanBereshit 16:6,12Bereshit 17:18Bereshit 21:9,17Bereshit 25:17About R. Moshe Nachmanides, SefornoBereshit 16:6,12Bereshit 21:9-14About R. Ovadyah Seforno

Prophecy to Hagar – Both Ramban and Seforno¹⁶ assert that the prophecy pointed to some of Yishmael's negative character traits:

• Ramban maintains that Avraham and Sarah sinned in the harsh treatment of Hagar and they were punished through the birth of Yishmael himself, as was to become a "פֶּרֶא אָדָם",‎¹⁷ ready to oppress Avraham's children.¹⁸

• According to Seforno, the dual term "פֶּרֶא אָדָם" reflects what Yishmael inherited from both parents, from his mom, a donkey-like nature, and from his father, a more human side, reflected in his repentance later in life.¹⁹

Avraham's plea: "לוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל יִחְיֶה לְפָנֶיךָ" – According to Ramban, Avraham is literally praying for Yishmael's life.  Knowing that Yitzchak is to inherit alone makes him wonder whether that means that Yishmael is to die early.  Though Yishmael might have faults, Avraham had always viewed him as the heir, and as a father was filled with love for him.

"מְצַחֵק" – All these commentators understand the word to refer to scornful laughter or mockery:

• Related to the inheritance –  R. Shimon B. Yochai has Yishmael laugh at the concept of Yitzchak inheriting while Seforno has him suggest that Yitzchak was born of Avimelekh (which would thereby disqualify him).
• Degrading Yitzchak – R. Saadia suggests that Yishmael was scornfully speaking of Yitzchak's death while Ramban has him more simply poking fun at Yitzchak and the party.
• Foolish play - According to R. Avraham b. HaRambam, Yishmael was acting foolishly, laughing and speaking in an unbecoming manner. 

Why did Sarah want Yishmael expelled?

• Protect Yitzchak's character– According to R. Avraham b. HaRambam, Sarah wanted to prevent Yitzchak from learning from the bad example set by Yishmael.  Sarah was not worried about his sharing in a monetary inheritance, but about the two brothers inheriting together, in the sense of growing up together.
• Prevent Yishmael's inheritance – Seforno asserts that since Hagar was trying to ensure, through her son's libel, that Yishmale inherit all, sarah banished them so that they would not inheirt at all.
• Punishment – Ramban asserts that Sarah viewed Yishamel's actions as a forgetting of his rightful place as servant. Though this normally would deserve death or corporeal punishment, Sarah instead decided to expel Hagar and Yishmael.

Why did Hashem reject Yishmael?

Why is Avraham "upset about his son"?

Yishmael after the expulsion

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 Such a prophecy would be very encouraging to Hagar who was suffering from her servitude to Sarah.

² Compare R. Yosef Bekhor Shor who similarly connects Yishmael's future with teh wilderness but suggests that Yishmael (and descendats) will be a merchant who travels in the desert, buying and selling his wares ("יָדוֹ בַכֹּל וְיַד כֹּל בּוֹ").  This fits with the later mentions of Yishmaelite caravans, like the one who bought Yosef.

³ Abarbanel 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.

⁴ 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.

⁵ Cf. Rashi and Ramban who each take one  of these two possibilities.

⁶ See Ramban who has Avraham wonder if the reason Yitzchak is to inherit all is because Yishmael is to die before Avraham.

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". Such behavior, though not laudable, is nonetheless quite normal in youthful bantering.

⁸ This is Jubilees' stance.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ The BiurBereshit 21:8About Netivot HaShalom questions this read, finding it inconceivable that the righteous Sarah could possibly banish Hagar and Yishmael to the desert simply out of petty jealousy.  See, though, below, that Tzeror HaMor asserts that this was indeed considered a sin and that Sarah was punished for her actions.

¹¹ 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.

¹² 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 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.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ The expulsion then had nothing to do with the specifc actions of Yishmael.

¹⁵ See above that Avraham would have rebuked Sarah for her request had it not been that he wanted to preserve peace between them.

¹⁶ R. Saadia reads the angel's words much more positively, suggesting that Yishmael is to grow to be  a man of the desert, yet one who will still maintain contact with people ("יָדוֹ בַכֹּל וְיַד כֹּל בּוֹ") and civilization, marrying and doing business with them.

¹⁷ It is unclear from Ramban whether he thinks it is Yishmael himself, or his descendants, who will take on this character trait and oppress.  In the first part of his comments he suggests that the phrase "פֶּרֶא אָדָם" refers to Yishmael, but later he has it refer to his offspring.

¹⁸ He asserts that the term refers to one who spends his day attacking and devouring others, referring to a militant personality.

¹⁹ Seforno points to the discussion in Bava Batra 16b which discusses this.