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 Hagar to her husband so that they could have a child by her. Abraham took Hagar as his wife and conceived a child with her. Hagar began to show contempt for Sarah, who responded by treating her harshly. Hagar then fled into the desert region between Abraham's settlement and Shur. describes the naming of Ishmael, and God's promise to Hagar concerning Ishmael and his descendants. This occurred at the well of Beer-lahai-roi, where Hagar encountered an angel of God, who said to her "Behold, you are with child / And shall bear a son; / You shall call him Ishmael,