Philip the Arab and Christianity that appear—save for one reference to Ishmael—figure in the political history of the first three centuries of the Christian era. To Eusebius, the Saracens of the 4th century are direct-line descendants of the biblical Ishmaelites, descendants of the handmaid, Hagar, and the patriarch, Abraham. They are thus outcasts, beyond God's Covenant with the favored son of Abraham, Isaac. The twin images of the Ishmaelite and the Saracen—outcasts and "latrones", raiders of the frontiers—reinforce each other and give Eusebius' portrait of the Arab nation an unhappy color. He may have been reluctant to associate the first Christian emperor with a people
Ishmael ben Jose idols hidden there by Jacob (Gen. R. lxxxi.; comp. Gen. xxxv. 4). Sanh. 38b would indicate that he also had occasional passages with Christians. As a judge, Ishmael was noted for absolute integrity (Mak. 24a). His modest bearing called forth high praise from his master. The treasures of Tyre shall be "for them that dwell before the Lord" (Isa. xxiii. 18) refers, said R. Judah, to Ishmael b. Jose and to others who, like him, consider themselves as of little account, but for whom some day a greater glory waits (Eccl. R. i. 7). The following gives an instance of