Breakneck Through the Bible: Ep. 55. Why Save Ishmael?
Episode 55
Why Save Ishmael?
Abraham rises early, loads bread and a skin of water onto Hagar’s shoulder along with their son Ishmael, and sends them into the desert. It is a task he dreads, and he does it at dawn. Rabbi Epstein explains why Abraham gave them no money, why a 16-year-old had to be carried, and what the Torah means when it says Hagar “strayed” in the wilderness of Beersheba after 27 years in Abraham’s house. He also points to a single Hebrew letter in G-d’s promise about Isaac that predicts another split in the family, a generation before Jacob and Esau are born.
The water runs out. Hagar leaves Ishmael under a bush and sits a bowshot away so she won’t have to watch him die. She weeps and prays. Yet the verse says G-d heard the cry of the boy.
Before Ishmael is saved, the angels object. They point to what his descendants will one day do to Jewish captives marched into exile after the destruction of the First Temple. G-d answers that Ishmael is judged “as he is there,” and right now he is righteous. Tom asks the obvious question: Abraham just sent him away for idolatry, immorality, and murder. How can anyone call him righteous? The two work through several answers before Rabbi Epstein offers one rooted in how heaven measures accountability.
