Bible Names

Ishmael: meaning of the name

Ishmael means “God that hears.”
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869)boy name

Ishmael in Hebrew and Greek

יִשְׁמָעֵאל H3458

Yishmâʻêʼl (yish-maw-ale') — Jishmael, the name of Abraham's oldest son, and of five Israelites

from H8085 (שָׁמַע) and H410 (אֵל); God will hear;

People named Ishmael in the Bible

Ishmael in Scripture

“Ishmael” appears in 44 verses of the King James Version; here are the first 8.

  • Genesis 16:11

    And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

  • Genesis 16:15

    And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

  • Genesis 16:16

    And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

  • Genesis 17:18

    And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

  • Genesis 17:20

    And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

  • Genesis 17:23

    And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

  • Genesis 17:25

    And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

  • Genesis 17:26

    In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.