Ishmael Blessed and in the Covenant (IV)

“As for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him!” (Gen. 17:20). These words are uttered in God’s answer to Abraham’s prayer. Ishmael, by many, not by all, commentators is regarded as a reprobate. With them we disagree. Nor do we believe that the words quoted above mean only that God would in the future bless Ishmael not personally and individually, but in (a remnant of) his generations. None of us, of course, believe that in this text we have proof that God blesses even the...