{"id":2655,"date":"2005-03-17T03:35:10","date_gmt":"2005-03-17T03:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=2655"},"modified":"2021-05-30T15:12:33","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T20:12:33","slug":"what-happened-to-ishmaels-descendants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happened-to-ishmaels-descendants\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened to Ishmael’s descendants?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

What happened to Ishmael’s descendants?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

God promised Abraham, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation<\/i>” (Genesis 17:20).<\/p>\n

Ishmael’s initial descendants are recorded for us in the Bible: “Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations<\/i>” (Genesis 25:12-16).<\/p>\n

One of Ishmael’s daughters, Mahalath, married Isaac’s son, Esau (Genesis 28:9). She was Esau’s third wife. Esau and his descendants eventually founded the nation of Edom, which is named after Esau’s nickname.<\/p>\n

Most of Ishmael’s descendants founded the Arab nations. According to Bill Cooper, in his book\u00a0After the Flood<\/i>, 1995 (p. 183-185):<\/p>\n

Nebaioth:<\/h3>\n
\"\"

The furthest extent of the Nabatean Kingdom<\/p><\/div>\n

He settled with his descendants to the south of the Dead Sea, where they were known to the Chaldeans as the\u00a0Nabat<\/b>, and to the Assyrians as the\u00a0Nabaiate<\/b>. Their own inscriptions render the name as ‘nbtw<\/b>.’ The Greek historian, Diodorus, mentions them, and Ptolemy knew them as the\u00a0Nabatei.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0The Nabataeans’ final demise was brought about by Augustus Caesar, who cut off the trade routes of Arabia. By the time of Tiberius Caesar, all the land east of Judea was known as\u00a0Nabataea<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Kedar:<\/h3>\n

\"\"Known to the Hebrews as the\u00a0Qedar<\/b>, and the Assyrians as the\u00a0Qidri<\/b>, his descendants became the great tribe of Arabs who settled in the northwest Arabian peninsula, and whose black tents were to become proverbial in the ancient world. We are informed in Babylonian sources that the armies of Nebuchadnezzar confronted the tribe of Kedar in a major skirmish of the year 599 BC, an incident that was foretold by Jeremiah (49:28 and 29). The tribe of Kedar is also mentioned in the annals of Ashurbanipal, with whom they clashed, and in various other Assyrian documents. In these, the men of Kedar are mentioned in close association with the men of Nebaioth. The founder of Islam, Mohammed, was to trace his own direct descent from Kedar.<\/p>\n

Adbeel:<\/h3>\n

He was the founder of a tribe known to the Akkadians as the Idibilu<\/b>. These same people were subsequently mentioned in the annals of Tiglath-pileser III, who tells us how he conquered the\u00a0Idiba’leans<\/b>\u00a0and employed them to guard the approaches to Egypt’s borders. Their area of settlement was in northwest Arabia, close to the lands of Kedar and Nebaioth.<\/p>\n

Mibsam:<\/h3>\n

An otherwise unknown Bedhouin chieftain.<\/p>\n

Mishma:<\/h3>\n

He settled with his descendants in what is known today as\u00a0Jebel Mishma<\/b>\u00a0in the vicinity of Tema.<\/p>\n

Dumah:<\/h3>\n

\"\"The Assyrians and Babylonians knew Dumah’s descendants as the\u00a0Adammatu<\/b>. Nabonidus later tells us how he conquered the\u00a0Adummu<\/b>. Ptolemy referred to them as the\u00a0Domatha<\/b>, and Porphyry recorded their name as the\u00a0Dumathi<\/b>.\u00a0<\/i>We know them today as the\u00a0Idumaeans<\/b>. The name of Dumah is still preserved in the modern Arab city of\u00a0Dumat-al-Jandal<\/b>, the erstwhile capital of his tribe.<\/p>\n

Massa:<\/h3>\n

The descendants of Massa were known to the Assyrians as the\u00a0Mas’a<\/b>, who with the tribe of Tema were forced to pay tribute to Tiglath-pileser III. He tells us how he conquered them along with the peoples of Haiappa, the Idiba’leans, and others. Ptolemy knew the tribe as the\u00a0Masanoi<\/b>, who lived to the northeast of Dumah. Josephus records their name as\u00a0Mesanaeans<\/b>, and that in his day their lands were known to the Romans as\u00a0Charax Spasini<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Hadad:<\/h3>\n

The name is rendered as\u00a0Haddu<\/b>\u00a0in Akkadian inscriptions as the name of a pagan god. Hadad himself, however, seems to be unknown in extra-biblical sources.<\/p>\n

Tema:<\/h3>\n

\"\"Still known by today’s Arabs as\u00a0Taima’<\/b>, the city of Tema’s descendants lies some 70 miles northeast of Dedan. Nabonidus, king of Babylon, (556-539 BC), passed his years of exile in this city, which he also knew as\u00a0Tema<\/b>. The city of Tema, with those of Dedan and Dumah, formed stages in the caravan route from Babylon to Sheba.<\/p>\n

Jetur:<\/h3>\n

\"\"He was the progenitor of the Ituraeans<\/b>, who were known to the Greeks as the\u00a0Itouraia<\/b>. The Ituraeans are mentioned in the works of Dio Cassius, Josephus, Pliny, Strabo, and others; and were known to the Roman authorities as a tribe of robbers. The descendants of Jetur perpetrated a massacre of Lebanese Christians in AD 1860.<\/p>\n

Naphish:<\/h3>\n

He and his lineage are variously known in the biblical records as\u00a0Nephish<\/b>, the children of the\u00a0Nephusim<\/b>, and the\u00a0Nephishesim<\/b>. They are seemingly unknown from extra-biblical sources.<\/p>\n

Kedemah:<\/h3>\n

\"\"He and his descendants settled in what was later known as the Wilderness of Kedemoth. The tribe dwelt in the city that is known today as\u00a0es-Za’feran<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\n

I recommend the following book if you are interested in where various nations and people mentioned in the Bible settled, especially those found in the Table of Nations:<\/p>\n

After the Flood<\/i>, Bill Cooper, B.A. Hons., New Wine Press, 1995, ISBN: 187436740X.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: What happened to Ishmael’s descendants? Answer: God promised Abraham, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation” (Genesis 17:20). Ishmael’s initial descendants are recorded for us…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[556,279,569],"class_list":["post-2655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-genealogy","tag-history","tag-ishmael"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-esau-and-ishmaels-descendants-considered-gentiles\/","url_meta":{"origin":2655,"position":0},"title":"Were Esau and Ishmael’s descendants considered Gentiles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We are studying Genesis 36 and the generations of Esau.\u00a0 Several questions arose that have generated some good discussion, but we are needing some help. The questions asked \"Were Esau and Ishmael's families considered Gentiles? Or were they Jews?\u00a0 We are a little confused about when the Jewish nation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4843,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-do-the-arabs-come-from\/","url_meta":{"origin":2655,"position":1},"title":"Where do the Arabs come from?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where do the Arabs come from? From which patriarch? Many people say Ishmael, but Ishmael had an Egyptian mother. Where in the Bible is the name Arab first used? Answer: In the answer to a prior question, \"What happened to Ishmael's descendants?\" I gave a detailed list of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41871,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-confused-by-the-names-of-esaus-wives\/","url_meta":{"origin":2655,"position":2},"title":"I’m confused by the names of Esau’s wives","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a question regarding the question asked to you: \"Was Mahaleth a Canaanite and did Esau marry her to get back at his father Isaac?\" Part of your reply mentioned Genesis 28:9, \"so Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael.\" In my Bible,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56405,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-witness\/","url_meta":{"origin":2655,"position":3},"title":"The Witness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant We are all familiar with the role witnesses fill in our lives. If we have a document that needs some verification, we go to a Notary Public and sign it, and then the notary places a seal on it as proof that the notary has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/moon-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24602,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-religion-did-the-arabs-follow-prior-to-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":2655,"position":4},"title":"What religion did the Arabs follow prior to Islam?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'd like to know what religion, if any, did the current Muslims have before Mohammad came. Since they are sons of Ishmael, were they following Judaism? Answer: Judaism is the following of the Law of Moses, which was given exclusively to the sons of Israel. \"And Moses called all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-i-be-a-descendant-of-ishmael\/","url_meta":{"origin":2655,"position":5},"title":"Could I be a descendant of Ishmael?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently found out my grandmother's maiden name is Ishmael. I've been curious as to the origins of this last name and thought back to Ishmael in the Bible. Could it be possible that I'm a descendant of Ishmael? 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