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Ish-boshethAid to Bible Understanding
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Ish-bosheth’s short rule was marked by both internal and external troubles. The war between his house and that of David “came to be long drawn out”; he lost 360 men to David’s 20 in one engagement. (2 Sam. 2:12-31; 3:1) At the same time his relative Abner kept strengthening himself at the expense of Ish-bosheth, even to the point of having relations with one of Saul’s concubines, which, according to Oriental custom, was tantamount to treason. When rebuked for this by Ish-bosheth, Abner withdrew his support and made a covenant with David, part of which stipulated the return of David’s wife, Michal, who was Ish-bosheth’s own sister. (3:6-21) Abner’s death at the hand of Joab further weakened Ish-bosheth’s position, and shortly thereafter two of his own captains assassinated him while taking his midday siesta. (3:22-27; 4:1, 2, 5-7) However, when these murderers, in seeking a reward, brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David, he had them put to death and ordered the head interred in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.—4:8-12.
Thus it was that the dynasty of Saul, which could have lasted “to time indefinite,” came to its abrupt and humiliating end, not because of the sins of Ish-bosheth but, instead, because of those of his father. (1 Sam. 13:13; 15:26-29) It is true, Ish-bosheth was a weak ruler, one who gained and held the throne principally because of the strength of Abner. Nevertheless, David referred to him as “a righteous man.”—2 Sam. 4:11.
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IshhodAid to Bible Understanding
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ISHHOD
(Ishʹhod) [man of majesty].
A descendant of Manasseh whose mother was Hammolecheth.—1 Chron. 7:14, 18.
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IshiAid to Bible Understanding
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ISHI
(Ishʹi) [salutary].
1. A descendant of Judah; son of Appaim and father of Sheshan.—1 Chron. 2:3, 31.
2. Another descendant of Judah.—1 Chron. 4:1, 20.
3. A leader and family head of the half tribe of Manasseh that lived E of the Jordan.—1 Chron. 5:23, 24.
4. A Simeonite whose four sons are noted in the Chronicles for having led five hundred to victory against the Amalekites living in Mount Seir.—1 Chron. 4:42, 43.
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IshmaAid to Bible Understanding
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ISHMA
(Ishʹma) [desolate].
An early descendant of Judah.—1 Chron. 4:1, 3.
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IshmaelAid to Bible Understanding
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ISHMAEL
(Ishʹma·el) [God hears].
1. Son of Abraham by Sarah’s Egyptian slave girl Hagar; born in 1932 B.C.E., his father being eighty-six years old at the time. (Gen. 16:1-4, 11-16) When informed that Sarah would also have a son from whom “kings of peoples” would come, Abraham petitioned God in behalf of his firstborn: “O that Ishmael might live before you!” God’s reply, after declaring that the future son Isaac would be the covenant heir, was: “As regards Ishmael I have heard you. Look! I will bless him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him very, very much. He will certainly produce twelve chieftains, and I will make him become a great nation.” (Gen. 17:16, 18-20) Ishmael was then circumcised, at the age of thirteen, along with his father and his father’s servants.—Gen. 17:23-27.
A year later Isaac was born; Ishmael was now fourteen. (Gen. 16:16; 21:5) Five years after that, in 1913 B.C.E., on the day of Isaac’s being weaned, Ishmael was caught “poking fun” at his younger half brother. (Gen. 21:8, 9) This was no innocent child’s play on the part of Ishmael. Rather, as implied by the next verse in the account, it may have involved a taunting of Isaac over heirship. The apostle Paul says these events were “a symbolic drama” and shows that the mistreatment of Isaac by the half-blooded Egyptian Ishmael was persecution. Hence, this was the beginning of the foretold four hundred years of Israel’s affliction that ended with deliverance from Egyptian bondage in 1513 B.C.E.—Gal. 4:22-31; Gen. 15:13; Acts 7:6; see ISAAC.
Ishmael’s demonstration of scorn toward Isaac led to the dismissal of him and his mother from Abraham’s household, but not without provisions for their journey. Abraham “took bread and a skin water bottle and gave it to Hagar, setting it upon her shoulder, and the child, and then dismissed her.” (Gen. 21:14) Some have interpreted this to mean that Ishmael, now nineteen years old, was also placed on the back of Hagar, and indeed this is the way some translations read. (JB, Mo, Bagster’s LXX) Certain scholars, however, consider the phrase “setting it upon her shoulder” as only parenthetical, inserted to explain how the bread and water were carried, and so, if this phrase is placed in parentheses or set off by commas the difficulty is removed. Professor Keil asserts that the expression “and the child” depends upon the sentence’s principal verb “took,” not on the verb “gave” or the word “setting.” This tie-in of “the child” with “took” is made by the conjunction “and.” The thought, therefore, is this: Abraham took bread and water and gave them to Hagar (placing them on her shoulder) and took the child and also gave it to her.—Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Vol. I, “The Pentateuch,” pp. 244, 245.
Hagar apparently lost her way in the wilderness of Beer-sheba, and so when the water ran out and Ishmael became exhausted, “she threw the child under one of the bushes.” (Gen. 21:14, 15) This expression “threw the child” does not mean Ishmael was a baby in arms. The Hebrew word yeʹledh (child) does not necessarily refer to an infant, but is often applied to an adolescent boy or a young man. Hence, it was said of the youth Joseph (seventeen at the time), that he was sold into slavery over Reuben’s protest, “Do not sin against the child [yeʹledh].”—Lamech likewise spoke of “a young man [yeʹledh]” as having wounded him.—Gen. 42:22; 4:23; see also 2 Chronicles 10:8.
Neither does Hagar’s act of ‘throwing’ the child down Imply she was carrying him in her arms or on her back, though she was evidently supporting her tired son. She apparently withdrew her support suddenly, as did those who brought lame and infirm ones to Jesus and “fairly threw them at his feet.”—Matt. 15:30.
In accord with the meaning of Ishmael’s name, “God heard” his cry for help, provided the necessary water and allowed him to live to become an archer. As a nomadic inhabitant of the Paran wilderness he fulfilled the prophecy that said of him: “He will become a zebra of a man. His hand will be against everyone, and the hand of everyone will be against him; and before the face of all his brothers he will tabernacle.” (Gen. 21:17-21; 16:12) Hagar found an Egyptian wife for her son and he in time fathered twelve sons, chieftains and family heads of the promised “great nation” of Ishmaelites. Ishmael also had at least one daughter, Mahalath, who married Esau.—Gen. 17:20; 21:21; 25:13-16; 28:9; see ISH-MAELITE.
At the age of eighty-nine Ishmael assisted Isaac in burying their father Abraham. After that he lived another forty-eight years, dying in 1795 B.C.E. at the age of 137. (Gen. 25:9, 10, 17) There is no record of Ishmael’s being buried in the cave of Machpelah where Abraham and Isaac, along with their wives, were then entombed.—Gen. 49:29-31.
2. A descendant of Saul through Jonathan; son of Azel of the tribe of Benjamin.—1 Chron. 8:33-38, 40; 9:44.
3. Father of Zebadiah who was appointed by Jehoshaphat to serve as a royal representative in judicial matters; of the tribe of Judah.—2 Chron. 19:8, 11.
4. One of the “chiefs of hundreds” who entered the covenant with High Priest Jehoiada for the overthrow of wicked Athaliah and the enthronement of
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