Why Scripture Records Ishmael's Lifespan and the Word for a Righteous Death

Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 25:17

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred years, etc." (Genesis 25:17). And why were the years of his life written? So that we may know through it how many years Jacob was when he was blessed by his father. "And he expired and died" (Genesis 25:17). Every place where "expiring" is stated, he was a righteous man.

Themes

AbrahamBibleDeathRighteousnessCreation

Biblical References

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Targum JonathanAbraham Bought the Cave That Adam BuiltSarah died at one hundred and twenty-seven years old. The Torah records the number. The Targum records the aftermath: Abraham came from "the mountain of worshipYalkut Shimoni on TorahThe World Lost Its Leader When Abraham DiedThe Torah marks Abraham's passing with two words, "he expired and died," and the sages pause over the loss those words contain. Rav Chanan bar Rava, in the nameYalkut Shimoni on NachWhy Abraham Was Called the Great Man Among the AnakimThe verse names a giant, "the great man among the Anakim," and the sages startle us: this is Abraham. But why crown him with the word great? Several answers gatMidrash AggadahWhy God Blessed Isaac After Abraham Died and Left Out IshmaelWhen Abraham died, a blessing waited unspoken. All his life he had withheld it. He had two sons, and to bless one openly was to wound the other. Ishmael was theMidrash AggadahWhy Abraham Began His Plea for Sodom at Fifty RighteousWhen Abraham stepped forward to bargain for the doomed cities of the plain, the Maggid asks why he opened his plea at fifty and not at some lesser number. The aMidrash AggadahIshmael the Wild Ass of Man Who Dwelt and Then FellThe angel's blessing over Hagar bent toward her unborn son, and the sages bent close to listen. "He shall be a wild ass of a man" — not an insult, the Midrash i