Why the Angel Named Hagar's Son Ishmael in the Desert

Midrash Aggadah Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 16:11 View source

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published January 18, 2025

In the wilderness, Hagar meets an angel. And the angel does what angels rarely do — he names a child. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 16:11 keeps the name-meaning the Hebrew encodes, and spells it out plainly.

Behold, thou art with child, the Angel of the Lord says. Thou shalt bear a son. Call his name Ishmael — Yishma-El, God hears — because thy affliction is revealed before the Lord.

The name is itself the explanation. The Lord hears. Not the mighty Sarah, whose household it is. Not the patriarch Abraham, whose seed it is. The runaway Egyptian slave, pregnant and alone, alongside a desert spring — she is the one whose affliction is revealed upward. Hagar had echoed Sarah's own word for affliction just a verse before (Genesis 16:6), and here it comes back to her on an angel's lips.

The Maggid reads this as one of the Hebrew Bible's quiet theological revolutions. A woman outside the covenant, fleeing the covenant's household, is stopped by heaven and told that her cry has been received in the Throne Room. Her son will wear the news as his name. Every time anyone ever says Ishmael out loud, the meaning is God heard (Genesis 16:11). That is not a minor footnote. That is an announcement written into a child's breath for the rest of his life.

Themes

Angels Women of the Bible Prayer Prophecy

Biblical References

Continue Reading

Midrash Aggadah Why God Despises Fools Who Laugh at Sin to a fascinating passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, that grapples wit... Midrash Rabbah Yerovam at the Dawn of Creation It's like peeling back the layers of an onion – the deeper you go, the more you discover. Today, we're diving into Bamid... Midrash Rabbah When Solomon's Temple Doors Refused to Open for the Ark We find in Bamidbar Rabbah 14 a fascinating exploration of the verse, "Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up... Midrash Rabbah Did Hagar Speak Directly to God or an Angel We find ourselves pondering this in Bereshit Rabbah 49, where Rabbi Eleazar raises a fascinating question. How do we und... Midrash Rabbah Elazar — Adam at the Dawn of Creation It’s a question that bubbles up from the depths of Jewish tradition, and Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of Rabbinic ... Other Texts How the Israelites Bowed Before God's Glory Without Idolatry It’s a question that has echoes through Jewish tradition, and one that comes up in a fascinating discussion about bowing... Apocrypha Enoch Remembered The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text, offers us a glimpse into his extraordinary life. This book, considered scr... Apocrypha Ancient Chronicle Something went terribly wrong in the early days of the world. According to the Book of Jubilees, a group of ancient text... Apocrypha Hannah Weeps as Her Son Departs on the Journey It’s a feeling that resonates across generations, and it’s right at the heart of the Book of Tobit. Our story begins wit...