Ishmael (Moby-Dick) Biblical in origin: in Genesis 16:1-16; 17:18-25; 21:6-21; 25:9-17, Ishmael was the son of Abraham by the servant Hagar. In 16:11-12, the most significant verses for Melville's allegory, Hagar was cast off after the birth of Isaac, who inherited the covenant of the Lord instead of his older half-brother. Melville shapes his allegory to the Biblical Ishmael as follows: And so the name points to a Biblical analogy that marks Ishmael as the prototype of "wanderer and outcast," the man set at odds with his fellows. Wright says that all Melville's heroes—with the exception of Benito Cereno and Billy Budd—are
Ishmael (). 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 to the east of all his brothers."(). 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 (the Hebrew word מְצַחֵֽק "meṣaḥeq" is ambiguous) and Sarah asked