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 former kingdom of Israel, and are apparently in mourning (Jeremiah 41:7), possibly for the destruction of the Temple. All but ten of them are slaughtered and thrown into a cistern, the ten being spared because they have access to otherwise scarce food supplies (Jeremiah 41:8). After this fresh slaughter, Ishmael and his band make their way towards Ammon, with hostages from Mizpah. But before they get there, they are engaged in battle by Johanan son of Kareah at Gibeon, a place which in the time of Jeremiah already resonated with previous acts of treachery for the Israelites. Ishmael’s band releases