🌿 The Silent Years of Ishmael: Reconstructing the Lost Narrative Between Genesis 16 and 17

I. Introduction

The Genesis account offers a striking gap in the life of Ishmael. After his birth in Genesis 16, the narrative falls silent until Genesis 17, where Ishmael suddenly reappears as a thirteen-year-old about to be circumcised with his father Abraham. What happened between his infancy and adolescence remains untold.

This silence invites deeper scrutiny, especially when the subsequent chapters—Genesis 21:14–20 and Genesis 22:1–19—are examined in sequence. The first passage unmistakably portrays Ishmael as a baby, a helpless child carried by his mother and laid under a bush to die of thirst in the wilderness. The second describes Abraham being commanded to sacrifice his “only son,” which—when read semantically—must refer to Ishmael, since the phrase “only son” naturally denotes the sole existing child at that point in Abraham’s life, before Isaac’s birth.

Read together, these two episodes describe successive divine tests upon Abraham: first, the anguish of separation (Genesis 21), and second, the trial of sacrificial obedience (Genesis 22). Both scenes center on the destiny of Abraham’s firstborn and only son at that time, through whom God’s promise is put to the test, revealing Ishmael’s enduring place at the very heart of the Abrahamic narrative.

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II. Ishmael’s Infancy and the Test of Separation (Genesis 21:14–20)

In Genesis 21:14–20, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away into the wilderness of Beersheba. The narrative’s tone and imagery unmistakably convey Ishmael’s vulnerability:

“She put the child on her shoulder, and departed…” (Gen. 21:14)

“She cast the child under one of the shrubs.” (Gen. 21:15)

Such descriptions imply not a teenager of thirteen, but a young child—or even an infant—unable to walk or fend for himself. The Hebrew expression naʿar (often translated “lad”) has a wide semantic range, encompassing infancy through adolescence, but the surrounding context narrows it here to early childhood.

This impression is strengthened by Genesis 21:20, which states, “And God was with the lad, and he grew.” The verb vayigdal (“and he grew”) signals a developmental progression that follows infancy, not late adolescence. It marks the beginning of Ishmael’s independent life after divine deliverance, underscoring that God’s covenantal care accompanied him from his earliest years.

Many textual scholars observe that Genesis 21:9–10—which abruptly introduces Sarah’s jealousy toward Ishmael—is a later editorial interpolation. Its purpose appears to justify the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael by appealing to covenantal exclusivity: “Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac.” This editorial insertion reframes the episode to align with later Israelite theology, which sought to centralize divine election in Isaac’s line.

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III. The Offering of the “Only Son” (Genesis 22:1–19)

The following chapter, Genesis 22, narrates the binding (ʿAqedah) of Abraham’s “only son.” The phrase itself—“Take now your son, your only son, whom you love”—raises crucial questions. At this point in the canonical sequence, Abraham has two sons. Ishmael is alive, blessed, and dwelling in the wilderness of Paran (Gen. 21:21). How then could Isaac be called the “only son”?

This tension has long suggested to many critical scholars that the original narrative of Genesis 22 concerned Ishmael, not Isaac. The later insertion of Isaac’s name may have been an editorial act to reinterpret the story within Israel’s covenantal theology, transforming the universal Abrahamic test into an Israelite-specific typology.

The scene of the “only son,” the wood, and the divine intervention—“Do not lay your hand on the boy!”—mirrors the earlier scene of the dying child in the wilderness, where an angel also calls out from heaven to save Ishmael. Both episodes reveal Abraham’s faith under trial, and both culminate in divine reaffirmation of blessing. The structural and thematic symmetry between Genesis 21 and 22 suggests they were originally two versions of one theological motif: the testing and vindication of Abraham through Ishmael.

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IV. Editorial Interpolations and Covenant Theology

The redactional tendencies within Genesis reflect a theological evolution from a broader Abrahamic covenant—embracing Ishmael—to a narrower Israelite identity through Isaac.

1. Genesis 21:9–10 functions to justify Ishmael’s exclusion, aligning with the later national theology of Israel.

2. The mention of Isaac in Genesis 22 serves to recast the universal test of faith into an Israel-centered narrative of election.

In both cases, the editorial hand shapes the text to reinforce Israel’s covenantal self-understanding. Yet beneath these layers, the original tradition—one of Abraham’s trial through Ishmael—remains visible through narrative inconsistencies, linguistic clues, and theological echoes.

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V. Conclusion

Both Genesis 21:14–20 and Genesis 22 should be understood as events that precede Genesis 17, where the covenant is formally ratified and the birth of Isaac is announced. In these earlier accounts, Abraham's faith is challenged by the events surrounding Ishmael, his firstborn and only child at the time, who represents the manifestation of divine mercy. His deliverance in the wilderness (Genesis 21) and the offering of the “only son” (Genesis 22) demonstrate Abraham’s complete submission to God, establishing the moral and spiritual foundation upon which the covenant later stands. Thus, Genesis 17 serves as the divine confirmation and formal sealing of a relationship already proven through obedience.

Although Genesis 17 appears earlier in the canonical arrangement, the internal logic of the narrative suggests that the trials described in Genesis 21:14–20 and Genesis 22 occurred beforehand. In this reconstructed chronology, Abraham’s faith is tested through Ishmael before the covenant is formally established. Thus, Genesis 17 functions not as the starting point of the covenant but as its divine ratification—confirming Abraham as the father of many nations (Genesis 17:4–5), as the outcome of the promise articulated in Genesis 22:17 when read in non-canonical sequence. The subsequent birth of Isaac then serves as the joyful culmination of Abraham and Sarah’s lives, bestowed as a reward for Abraham’s steadfast obedience during the trials that preceded the covenant’s formalization.

— Azahari Hassim

Founder, The World of Abrahamic Theology