(By : Dessy Ariadna – Stand To JESUS Writing Team)
There is an article that I found on the social media platform Tiktok, where the content creator wrote that the prophet Samuel was the same as Ishmael.
It turns out that the creator of this content is not a Christian, and it is very unfortunate that with very minimal knowledge of the Bible, he created content that contained a fatal error, where he said that the prophet Samuel was the same as Ishmael. Is it true that the prophet Samuel was the same as Ishmael? Let’s look at the facts :
1. The prophet Samuel was the first son of Elkanah and Hana. He was born after his mother Hannah made a vow to YAHWEH to ask for a son who would later be handed over to God. The priest Eli, who was serving God at that time, prophesied that Hannah would get what she asked for from YAHWEH.
1 Samuel 1:9-12 (IMB) Hannah woke up after they had eaten and drank at Shiloh. At that time Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost of the Temple of YAHWEH. Hannah experienced pain in her heart, then she prayed to YAHWEH, and she wept bitterly. He made a vow, then said, “O YAHWEH Tsebaot, YAHWEH of the Universe, if You really pay attention to the suffering of Your servant, will remember me and not forget Your servant, but give Your servant a son , then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor will touch his head. ” While Hannah was praying continually before YAHWEH, Eli looked at her mouth.
1 Samuel 1:17 (IMB) Eli answered him and said, “Go in peace, and let the God of Israel grant you the petition you have asked of Him. ”
Meanwhile, Ishmael was the son of Abraham and his servant Hagar. Ishmael was born because Sarah, Abraham’s wife, forced Abraham to approach Hagar.
Genesis 16:15-16 (IMB) Hagar gave birth to a son to Abram and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Abram Ishmael.
2. The second difference, Samuel and Ishmael are from different eras. Samuel was a contemporary of kings David and Saul, while Ishmael was a contemporary of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If calculated, the time span between Ishmael and the prophet Samuel is around 1000 years, because in the genealogy the number of descendants from Abraham to King David is 14 generations. So it is clear that Samuel is not Ishmael and the two are from different eras.
3. The Prophet Samuel was an Israelite and he came from the tribe of Ephraim, because his father Elkanah came from the tribe of Ephraim, while Ishmael was not an Israelite and did not come from any tribe among the tribes of Israel, he was even born before the nation of Israel appeared.
1 Samuel 1:1 (IMB) There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim. The man’s name was Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
4. Samuel is one of the great prophets in the Bible and is recognized by the people of Israel, while Ishmael is not considered a prophet by the people of Israel, and the Bible never mentions that Ishmael was a prophet.
1 Samuel 3:19-20 (IMB) Samuel grew, and YAHWEH was with him, and He did not allow any of His words to fail. The whole nation of Israel knew from Dan to Beersheba, that Samuel had been appointed a prophet for YAHWEH.
From the differences above, it is clear that the prophets Samuel and Ishmael were not the same person, they were from different eras, even had different parents and came from two different nations.
