Ismael-jovem is Abraham's firstborn son, born to Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. Sarah's barrenness and impatience with God's promise lead her to offer Hagar to Abraham as a wife to produce an heir. Hagar conceives Ishmael. Tensions during Hagar's pregnancy cause her to flee into the wilderness. An angel intervenes, instructing Hagar to return and submit to Sarah, while prophesying Ishmael's future. The angel declares he will be named "God hears" because the Lord heard Hagar's affliction, and foretells he will live as a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, yet he will dwell in defiance of his brothers.

Circumcised alongside Abraham at age 13 as part of God's covenant, Ishmael later observes Isaac's birth to Sarah. At the feast celebrating Isaac's weaning, Ishmael is seen mocking Isaac. This prompts Sarah to demand Hagar and Ishmael's expulsion to prevent Ishmael sharing Isaac's inheritance. Distressed, Abraham complies after God reassures him that Ishmael will also become a nation because he is Abraham's offspring. Abraham provides Hagar with bread and water and sends them into the wilderness of Beersheba.

Exhausting their water, Hagar abandons Ishmael under a bush to avoid witnessing his death. An angel of God appears, reassures Hagar of God's promise, and reveals a well of water, saving them. Ishmael grows up in the wilderness of Paran, becoming a skilled archer. Hagar secures an Egyptian wife for him. God fulfills the promise: Ishmael becomes the father of twelve princes and a great nation, traditionally understood as the ancestor of many Arab peoples. He later returns to bury his father Abraham alongside Isaac.