Birth of Ishmael

When did it happen?

Modern reckoning

≈ 2081 BC (placed between the dated events around it)

Traditional reckoning

1910 BC

Dates before about 900 BC depend on how the Bible's own numbers are added up. Why the two reckonings differ.

Where is it in the Bible?

• Genesis 16:11–16

Who was there, and where?

• Ishmael (Son of Hagar)
• Abraham
• Hagar

Which verses connect to Genesis 16:11?

The strongest cross-references of the key verse, ranked by reader votes (OpenBible.info).

1. Exodus 2:23–2414 votes

   After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God. So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

2. Exodus 3:712 votes

   The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.

3. Isaiah 7:1410 votes

   Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

4. Genesis 17:199 votes

   But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

5. Genesis 41:51–529 votes

   Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.” And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

6. 1 Samuel 1:209 votes

   So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”