Hagar as Mother of an Arab Nation

Within a short time, Abraham had a son by Sarah, as God had foretold to him, whom he named Isaac, meaning “laughter.” They gave him this name because Sarah had laughed when God told her that she would give birth, since she did not expect such a thing to happen when she was past the age of childbearing, for she was ninety years old and Abraham one hundred. The child was born to the couple the following year. They circumcised him on the eighth day, and from that time on, the Jews have maintained a custom of circumcising their sons within that number of days. But the Arabs circumcise after the thirteenth year, since Ishmael, the founder of their people, who was born to Abraham through his concubine, was circumcised at that age. [ . . . ]

As for Sarah, she at first loved Ishmael, who had been born of her maidservant Hagar, with an affection no less than that for her own son, for he was being raised to be the next leader. But when she herself gave birth to Isaac, she was unwilling for her son to be brought up with Ishmael, who was older and capable of harming him after their father died; so she began urging Abraham to cast him out with his mother to settle far away. At first, he did not agree to her plan, thinking it the greatest cruelty to send away a young child and a woman without basic necessities. But later, he was persuaded, since God approved of Sarah’s decision, and he handed Ishmael over to his mother, as he was not yet able to go on his own. He told her to bring both a skin full of water and a loaf of bread, using necessity as her guide. She departed, but as soon as her provisions ran out, she found herself in a terrible situation. When the water was almost gone, she laid the young child, who was ready to expire, under a fig tree and continued on, so that he might die while she was away. But a divine angel met up with her and told her about a fountain nearby, and urged her take care in bringing up the child, because great blessings were in store for her through the preservation of Ishmael. She then took courage from what was promised to her, and, joining some shepherds, she escaped her suffering through their care.

When the child reached adulthood, his mother took a wife for him from the Egyptian people, from which she herself had originally come. Ishmael had twelve sons by this wife: Nabaioth, Kedar, Abdeel, Mabsam, Idumas, Masmaos, Masaos, Chodad, Theman, Jetur, Naphesus, and Kadmas. They inhabited the whole region from the Euphrates to the Red Sea and called it Nabatene. They are an Arabian nation whose tribes are named after these [sons] in honor of both their own virtue and Abraham’s reputation.