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A reference to defending the Bible's account of origins

How old was Ishmael?

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"How old was Ishmael?" (Alleged Contradiction #E9395)
And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

Genesis 17:25

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

Genesis 21:14-18

Response

Ishmael was at least 13 years old.  Phrases like “the child” and “the lad” in the Bible do not refer just to young children, but to “younger” people as well.

For instance, Benjamin’s brothers called him a “lad,” “child,” and “a little one” in Genesis 40:20-22, though Benjamin was certainly grown (he had children; see Genesis 46:21).  The terms “child” and “lad” are relative to the one using them.  Even in our culture today, an older brother can refer to his younger as his “baby brother.”

The fact that Hagar “cast the child under one of the shrubs” and later “[held] him in [her] hand” does not imply that the child was an infant.  A teenager who is dying of dehydration may not be able to move for himself, and so his mother may have placed him in the shade under the shrub, and later held Ishmael’s head in her hands as she gave him water to drink. 1  Thus, there is no contradiction.


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Notes

  1. http://www.lookinguntojesus.net/ata20031221.htm, accessed 23 July 2014 ↩
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