Ishmael. Ishmael, a figure in the Tanakh and the Quran, was Abraham's first son according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born to Abraham and Sarah's handmaiden Hagar. According to the Genesis account, he died at the age of 137. According to Muslim tradition, Ishmael the Patriarch and his mother Hagar are buried next to the Kaaba in Mecca. The name Yishma'el existed in various ancient Semitic cultures, including early Babylonian and Minæan. It is a theophoric name translated literally as God has hearkened, suggesting thata child so named was regarded as the fulfillment of a divine promise. This is the account of Ishmael from In Genesis 16, the birth of Ishmael was planned by the Patriarch Abraham's first wife, who at that time was known as Sarai. She and her husband Abram sought a way to have children in order to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant that was established in Genesis 15. Sarai was 75 years old and had yet to bear Abraham a child. She had the idea to offer her Egyptian handmaiden Hagar to her husband so that they could have a child by her. Abraham took Hagar as his wife and conceived a child with her. Hagar began to show contempt for Sarah, who responded by treating her harshly. Hagar then fled into the desert region between Abraham's settlement and Shur. Genesis 16:7-16 describes the naming of Ishmael, and God's promise to Hagar concerning Ishmael and his descendants. This occurred at the well of Beer-lahai-roi, where Hagar encountered an angel of God, who said to her Behold, you are with child / And shall bear a son; / You shall call him Ishmael, / For the Lord has paid heed to your suffering. The Angel commanded Hagar, Return to your mistress and submit to her. Abraham was blessed so that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. God would make of Ishmael a great nation because he was of the seed of Abraham. However, God told Hagar that her son would be living in conflict with his relatives. When Ishmael was born, Abraham was 86 years old. When he was 13 years old, Ishmael was circumcised at the same time as all other males in Abraham's household, becoming a part of the covenant in a mass circumcision. His father Abram, given the new name Abraham, then 99, was circumcised along with the others. At the time of the covenant, God informed Abraham that his wife Sarah would give birth to a son, whom he was instructed to name Isaac. God told Abraham that He would establish his covenant through Isaac, and when Abraham inquired as to Ishmael's role, God answered that Ishmael has been blessed and that He will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. God also mentioned that He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be over everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live in the presence of his brethren. A year later, Ishmael's half-brother Isaac was born to Abraham by his first wife Sarah when she was 90 years old, after she had ceased showing any signs of fertility. On the day of feasting during which Abraham celebrated the weaning of Isaac, Ishmael was mocking or playing with Isaac and Sarah asked Abraham to expel Ishmael and his mother, saying: Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac. Her demand was painful for Abraham, who loved Ishmael. Abraham agreed only after God told him that in Isaac your seed shall be called, and that God would make a nation of the son of the bondwoman Ishmael, since he was a descendant of Abraham, God having previously told Abraham I will establish My covenant with, while also making promises concerning the Ishmaelite nation. At the age of 14, Ishmael was freed along with his mother. The Lord's covenant made clear Ishmael was not to inherit Abraham's house and that Isaac would be the seed of the covenant: Take your son, your only son, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah. Abraham gave Ishmael and his mother a supply of bread and water and sent them away. Hagar entered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba where the two soon ran out of water and Hagar, not wanting to witness the death of her son, set the boy some distance away from herself, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad and sent his angel to tell Hagar, Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.