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 son of Nethaniah desire to do the best for his beleaguered people (Jeremiah 40:9). Ishmael is described as approaching Gedaliah with ten men, and striking him down while a feast is in progress (2 Kings 25:25) – a gross offence against prevailing customs of hospitality at the time. Judeans and Chaldeans with him (whether the latter are officials or soldiers is unclear – the II Kings and Jeremiah accounts differ on this point) are also slaughtered. Jeremiah suggests Ishmael’s offence is further compounded by his slaughter of another group of men, pilgrims who arrive shortly afterwards from towns in the centre of the