Ishmaelite

Ishmaelite refers to a person descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, in biblical genealogies. The given name Ishmael comes from Hebrew Yishma'el, meaning "God will hear."

In the Hebrew Bible, Ishmael is born to Hagar after she becomes Abraham's wife or concubine, and God promises to make him into a great nation. Hagar and Ishmael are later sent away, but God blesses him and his descendants. Ishmael's twelve sons are described as princes of twelve tribes (Genesis 25:12-16). In addition to genealogies, the term Ishmaelite is used to describe a broader group—often depicted as caravan merchants—who interact with Isaac's family; for example, Ishmaelite traders are said to have bought Joseph from his brothers (Genesis 37).

In Jewish and Christian traditions, Ishmael is the elder half-brother of Isaac. The Abrahamic covenant is associated with Isaac, and Ishmael is frequently portrayed as an ancestor of certain Arab peoples, though interpretations vary. The term appears in some translations and later writings to denote the descendants of Ishmael and the people they inhabited.

In Islam, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet and an ancestor of the Arabs; many traditions hold that he aided Abraham in the building of the Kaaba and that he taught submission to God. The modern term Ismaili refers to a separate Islamic branch named after Ismail, not directly about Ishmael. The Ismaili movement and Ismaili Muslims are distinct from references to Ishmael in biblical narratives.

Scholars today use Ishmaelite mainly in historical-biblical contexts. The term does not denote a distinct contemporary nation or ethnicity, and today it is mainly encountered in older translations and commentaries on the Hebrew Bible.