In Genesis 12:2-3 God tells Abraham that he would be a great nation and in him all nations would be blessed. Abraham is 75 years old at this time.

"And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you…..And in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed."

Ten years later, no son has arrived, so Sarah suggests to Abraham that maybe the promise can be fulfilled through her Egyptian maid, Hagar. Abraham listens to her and Sarah gives her handmaid to Abraham as his wife and she is soon with child. But Hagar despised Sarah in her sight as she has done something that apparently Sarah cannot. Sarah feels the attitude of Hagar and when the situation is discussed Abraham says she may treat Hagar as wants, so Hagar is treated harshly, and so much so that she leaves. Soon an angel of the Lord appears and tells Hagar to return because through this child she carries would become a great nation, he would be a wild donkey of a man, his hand would be against every man and every man's hand would be against him and he would be to the east, (called the Arabian nations in 2 Chronicles 17:11) of his Hebrew brothers, and that his name would be called …Ishmael, or 'God will hear'.

Genesis 16:11-12 "…Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son: And you shall call him Ishmael, because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. And he will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone's Hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers."

And so there we have the answer to our question . Ishmael, the father of the Arabian nations. A warring people from the beginning. Ishmael mocks Sarah and Isaac at his weaning and Sarah asks Abraham to drive out the maid and her son so Ishmael could not be an heir. This distressed Abraham greatly, but in Genesis 21:9-21 God tells Abraham not to worry as Ishmael's descendants would also be a great nation. Not only does he become a fine archer, in Genesis 25:17 he also becomes the father of 12 princes and lives to be 137 years of age.

And so we have it. A great nation of peoples whose roots begin through Abraham, yet their hand is against the very nation through whom all nations would be blessed, whose roots also stream back through Isaac,whose father is, oddly enough---Abraham!.