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
Medan, son of Abraham commission to spread out and inhabit the globe. Little else is known about him. There is no known connection to the Madan people of Iran and Iraq. Medan, son of Abraham According to the Bible, Medan ( "contention; to twist, conflict"); also spelt Madan was the third son of Abraham, the patriarch of the Israelites, and Keturah whom he wed after the death of Sarah. Medan had five brothers, Zimran, Jokshan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Josephus tells us that "Abraham contrived to settle them in colonies; and they took possession of Troglodytis and the country of Arabia Felix (Arabia the