Ishmael’s story doesn't simply vanish; it continues, filled with hardship, growth, and a surprising encounter with his father.
According to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, Ishmael's wife bore him four sons and a daughter in the wilderness. God, remembering Abraham, blessed Ishmael with flocks, herds, and tents, allowing him to prosper. Yet, despite this divine blessing, a rift formed between Abraham and his son, fueled by distance and, perhaps, Sarah's enduring influence.
Time passed, and Abraham, yearning to see his son, decided to visit Ishmael. "I will go and see my son Ishmael," he said to Sarah, "I yearn to look upon him, for I have not seen him for a long time." And so, he journeyed into the wilderness, riding his camel, driven by a father's love and a deep-seated longing.
Upon arriving at Ishmael’s tent around noon, Abraham found only Ishmael's wife and children. Ishmael was out hunting. Abraham, still mounted on his camel, for he had sworn to Sarah not to dismount, asked her for water. Her response? "We have neither water nor bread." She didn’t even offer him basic hospitality, nor did she inquire about his identity. Worse, she was inside the tent, berating her children and cursing Ishmael. Can you imagine Abraham's heartbreak, witnessing this scene?
Abraham, witnessing this lack of hospitality and respect, called the woman out of the tent. Still on his camel, he delivered a cryptic message: "When thy husband Ishmael returns home, say these words to him: A very old man from the land of the Philistines came hither to seek thee... When thou comest home, put away this tent-pin which thou hast placed here, and place another tent-pin in its stead."
What did this all mean? The "tent-pin," of course, was a metaphor. Abraham was telling Ishmael, through his wife’s behavior, that his marriage was not working.
When Ishmael returned and heard his wife's account, he immediately understood. He knew it was his father, and he recognized the wisdom in Abraham’s words. Heeding his father's veiled instruction, Ishmael divorced his wife.
Later, Ishmael moved to the land of Canaan and found another wife, whom he brought back to his tent, to the place where he dwelt.
This brief episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of Ishmael. It reveals the challenges he faced, the importance of honoring one's parents, and the subtle, yet powerful, ways in which familial bonds could still exert influence, even across vast distances and years of separation. It also underscores the importance of hospitality, a value deeply ingrained in Jewish tradition.
What does this story tell us about family, about legacy, and about the enduring power of even indirect communication? It's a reminder that even when relationships are strained, the echoes of family wisdom can still resonate, guiding us toward better choices and a more fulfilling life.
The wife of Ishmael bore four sons and a daughter, and afterward Ishmael, his mother, and his wife and children went and returned to the wilderness. They made themselves tents in the wilderness in which they dwelt, and they continued to encamp and journey, month by month and year by year. And God gave Ishmael flocks, and herds, and tents, on account of Abraham his father, and the man increased in cattle. And some time after, Abraham said to Sarah, his wife, "I will go and see my son Ishmael; I yearn to look upon him, for I have not seen him for a long time." And Abraham rode upon one of his camels to the wilderness, to seek his son Ishmael, for he heard that he was dwelling in a tent in the wilderness with all belonging to him. And Abraham went to the wilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about noon, and he asked after him. He found the wife of Ishmael sitting in the tent with her children, and her husband and his mother were not with them. And Abraham asked the wife of Ishmael, saying, "Where has Ishmael gone?" And she said, "He has gone to the field to hunt game." And Abraham was still mounted upon the camel, for he would not alight upon the ground, as he had sworn to his wife Sarah that he would not get off from the camel. And Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, "My daughter, give me a little water, that I may drink, for I am fatigued and tired from the journey." And Ishmael's wife answered, and said to Abraham, "We have neither water nor bread," and she was sitting in the tent, and did not take any notice of Abraham. She did not even ask him who he was. But all the while she was beating her children in the tent, and she was cursing them, and she also cursed her husband Ishmael, and spoke evil of him, and Abraham heard the words of Ishmael's wife to her children, and it was an evil thing in his eyes. And Abraham called to the woman to come out to him from the tent, and the woman came out, and stood face to face with Abraham, while Abraham was still mounted upon the camel. And Abraham said to Ishmael's wife, "When thy husband Ishmael returns home, say these words to him: A very old man from the land of the Philistines came hither to seek thee, and his appearance was thus and so, and thus was his figure. I did not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast not here, he spoke unto me, and said, When Ishmael thy husband returns, tell him, Thus did the man say, When thou comest home, put away this tentpin which thou hast placed here, and place another tent-pin in its stead." And Abraham finished his instructions to the woman, and he turned and went off on the camel homeward. And when Ishmael returned to the tent, he heard the words of his wife, and he knew that it was his father, and that his wife had not honored him. And Ishmael understood his father's words that he had spoken to his wife, and he hearkened to the voice of his father, and he divorced his wife, and she went away. And Ishmael afterward went to the land of Canaan, and he took another wife, and he brought her to his tent, to the place where he dwelt.
