In the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

, Ishmael¹ () is the righteous friend of the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

Lehi in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. When Lehi takes his family into the wilderness, Lehi brings Ishmael and his family too. The daughters of Ishmael marry the sons of Lehi, but the sons of Ishmael join Laman and Lemuel in their rebellion against Nephi. Ishmael dies in the wilderness, and is buried at Nahom. (''See

Archaeology and the Book of Mormon The relationship between archaeology and the Book of Mormon is based on the claims made by the Book of Mormon that the ancient Americas were populated by Old World immigrants and their corresponding material culture, a claim that can be verified o ...

'') After their arrival in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, the children of Ishmael side with the

Lamanites In the Book of Mormon, the Lamanites () are one of the four peoples (along with the Jaredites, the Mulekites, and the Nephites) described as having settled in the ancient Americas. The Lamanites also play a role in the prophecies and reve ...

, except for those daughters who married Sam, Nephi, and Zoram¹. A second Ishmael² is the grandfather of

Amulek Amulek () is a man referred to in the Book of Alma, a section of the Book of Mormon. After being visited by an angel, he gives food to the prophet Alma, listens to his preaching, and becomes his missionary companion. Alma and Amulek preach in A ...

Name

According to

Hugh Nibley Hugh Winder Nibley (March 27, 1910 – February 24, 2005) was an American scholar and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who was a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) for nearly 50 years. He was a prolif ...

, the proverbial ancestor of the Arabs is Ishmael. His name is one of the few

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

names which is also at home in ancient

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

: " husin Lehi's friend "Ishmael" (1 Nephi 7:2) we surely have a man of the desert. The interesting thing is that Nephi takes Ishmael (unlike Zoram) completely for granted, never explaining who he is or how he fits into the picture--the act of sending for him seems to be the most natural thing in the world, as does the marriage of his daughters with Lehi's sons. Since it has ever been the custom among the desert people for a man to marry the daughter of his paternal uncle (bint 'ammi), it is hard to avoid the impression that Lehi and Ishmael were related. There is a remarkable association between the names of Lehi and Ishmael which ties them both to the southern desert, where the legendary birthplace and central shrine of Ishmael was at a place called Be'er Lehai-ro'i."

Family

According to John L. Sorenson, both Ishmael's sons had "families" (1 Nephi 7:6) who accompanied them. The term "families" implies a wife and at least one child each, but there likely were more children. John L. Sorenson, "The Composition of Lehi's Family," in
By Study and Also by Faith
'', p. 188

Book of Mormon Movie

In '' The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey'', adapted from First and Second Nephi, Ishmael was portrayed by Ron Frederickson. The portrayals were highly influenced by

Arnold Friberg Arnold Friberg (December 21, 1913 – July 1, 2010) was an American illustrator and painter noted for his religious and patriotic works. He is perhaps best known for his 1975 painting ''The Prayer at Valley Forge'', a depiction of George Was ...

paintings of the characters.

References

External links

Ishmael
in the

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The encyclopedia's five volumes have been digitized and ar ...

Chapter 5: Traveling in the Wilderness
''Book of Mormon Stories'', (1997), 13–15 Book of Mormon people {{LDS-stub