And who is Yishmael and his 12 kingdoms?

Sarai the wife of Avram was unable to bear children ,so here in Gen 16:3-15 (Tree of Life)

“ ³ So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her slave-girl Hagar the Egyptian—after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan—and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ⁴ Then he went to Hagar and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, in her eyes her mistress was belittled.

⁵ So Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done to me is because of you! I myself placed my slave-girl in your embrace. Now that she saw that she became pregnant, so in her eyes I am belittled. May Adonai judge between you and me!”

⁶ Abram said to Sarai, “Look! Your slave-girl is in your hand. Do to her what is good in your eyes.”

So Sarai afflicted her, and she fled from her presence. ⁷ Then the angel of Adonai^[a] found her by the spring of water in the wilderness, next to the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave-girl, where have you come from and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ The angel of Adonai said, “Return to your mistress and humble yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰ Then the angel of Adonai said to her, “I will bountifully multiply your seed, and they will be too many to count.” ¹¹ Then the angel of Adonai said to her,

Behold, you are pregnant
    and about to bear a son,
        and you shall name him Ishmael—
    for Adonai has heard your affliction.
¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man.
His hand will be against everyone,
    and everyone’s hand against him,
        and away from all his brothers will he dwell.

¹³ So she called Adonai who was speaking to her, “You are the God who sees me.” For she said, “Would I have gone here indeed looking for Him who looks after me?” ¹⁴ That is why the well is named, the Well of the Living One Who Sees Me. (Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.)

¹⁵ Then Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for Abram”

Gen 17:20

” ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard you. See, I have blessed him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him very very much. He will father twelve princes and I will make him a great nation.”

Gen 21:12-13

” ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be displeased about the boy and your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For through Isaac shall your seed be called. ¹³ Yet I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, because he is your seed.”

So the name Ishmael/Yishmael means “God will hear” most likely because God heard Sarai’s (later Sarah) pleas for a child.So now turn your Bibles to Gen 25:12

1.Nabaioth (Nabit in Arabic) ,the meaning is unclear ,it could mean to look or regard or in Arabic “distinguished man” could mean prophet from the Hebrew navi ,in Hebrew it’s Navayot .His descendent’s are generally believed to be Nabataeans or Nabatu in Arabic and were associated with sheep herding.There is also evidence they in early times comingled with Esav and are now mixed in with Edomites.The Nabatu or Nabataeans are mentioned frequently in Aramaic and Assyrian records and seem to have lived primarily in Jordan but have trade routes throughout Arabia and the Horn of Africa.

“Three hundred years later the Zenon papyri from 259 BC mention that the Nabatu were trading Gerrhean and Minaean frankincense, transporting it to Gaza and Syria. They transported their goods through the Kedarite centers of Northern Arabia, Jauf, and Tayma. Early Nabataean pottery has also been found in locations on the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain: Tuwayr, Zubayda, Thaj, and Ayn Jawan.”

So where is the nation of Nabatu today?Although it has been said some lived on the Red Sea on the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula most evidence points to their ancestors being in Jordan or parts of Syria near Jordan.

2.Keder (Qaydar in Arabic) Keder meant dark or also gloomy or sad in Hebrew ,dark may have been a reference to the color of their tents.So far no Arabic etymology is available on Qaydar.The Qaydarites or Kederites or were mainly nomadic and centered in the Wadi Sirhan in the Syrian desert in it’s eastern part in the Jauf depression.

“

Kedar

As we have already mentioned, the sons of Kedar became known as the Kedarites. The Kedarites were the main military power of the sons of Ishmael. Isaiah speaks of Kedar’s “glory and her gifted archers” (Isaiah 21:16-17). Ezekiel 27:21 associates Arabia with all of the princes of Kedar, suggesting a confederation under their leadership.

The Kedarites were in constant conflict with the Assyrians. The Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, Persians, and even the Romans realized the importance of taking control of the commercial routes in northern Arabia that were under the dominion of the Kedarites (and later the Nabataeans).

Nehemiah’s opponent, ‘Geshem the Arab,’ has been identified as one of the kings of Kedar from the mid fifth century BC, based on a number of North Arabian inscriptions.

Regarding their religion, Assyrian inscriptions tell us that Sennacherib captured several Arabian deities in the Kedarite city of Dumah. The chief deity was Atarsamain, or the morning star of heaven–the counterpart of Mesopotamian Ishtar. The tribal league led by the Kedarites was known as “the confederation of Atarsamain,” and their cult was led by a series of queen-priestesses in Dumah. The rest of their pantheon of gods consisted of Dai, Nuhai (Nuhay), Ruldai (Ruda), Abirillu, and Atarquruma. Rock graffiti in the Thamudic language reveals that Ruda was known as the evening star, and Nuhay was the sun-god, and they were worshiped in addition to Atarsamain ‘the morning star.’ Herodotus, in the fifth century BC, identified two deities worshiped among the Arabs: a fertility god called Orotalt (perhaps Ruda, as identified by Macdonald in North Arabia in the First Millennium BC, 1360), and a sky goddess know as Allat (Herodotus III, 3). Later, Allat would be referred to in the masculine form as Allah.

So if the tribe of Qaydar first used the term Allah then could then have Muhammad of Mecca of Quran fame have been a Qederite?

There is talk in the Bible of the Qederites being associated with Meshekh,which were a central Asian people of Yefetic or Japhetic desecent but no known reason why the two would be associated unless some of Qaydar went east and comingled with Russians or Armenians or maybe even Turkic tribes ,it was said the Qederites were good archers.

3.Adbe’el or Idiba’ilu in Arabic ,meaning “grieved by God’ in Hebrew ,Arabic meaning unknown.Associated with northwest Arabia

“

Adbe’el/Idiba’ilu

The tribe of Adbeel is often identified with the people in the land of Arubu who became subjects to Tiglath Pileser II (744-727 BC). Their chieftain was called Idibi’ilu and he operated as the Assyrian king’s agent on the boarders of Egypt. His tribe was said to have dwelt far away, towards the west. From this reference, some historians have thought that the tribe of Adbeel lived in the Sinai”

4.Mivsam ,meaning sweat smelling.

Not much is known other than it’s possible affiliation with Mishma another Ishmaelite tribe,Mishma meaning “hearing or obeying”.

Mibsam & Mishma

“Some historians have wondered if the descendants of Mishma founded the villages around Jebel Misma. It is thought that these two tribes may have intermarried with the Simeonites and disappeared from history as a separate entity (I Chronicles 4:24-27).”

5.Mishma (covered)

6.Dumah ,meaning silence or quiet in Hebrew,Adummatu in Assyrian imperial Aramaic.

Dumah

Dumah is mentioned in the Biblical records as a city in Canaan (Joshua 15:52). It is also associated with Edom and Seir in Isaiah 21:11.

“Dumah is generally identified by historians with the Addyrian Adummatu people. Esarhaddon’s records relate how his father Sennacherib stuck against Adummatu in an attempt to subdue the Arabs. Sennacherib captured their king, Haza’il, who is called “King of the Arabs.” Kaza’il is also referred to in one inscription of Ashurbanipal, as “King of the Kedarites.”

From a geographical standpoint, Adummatu is often associated with the medieval Arabic Dumat el-Jandal, which was in ancient times a very important and strategic junction on the major trade route between Syria, Babylon, Najd, and the Hijaz area. Dumat el-Jandal is at the southeastern end of Al Jawf which is a desert basin and often denotes the whole lower region of Wadi as Sirhan, the famous depression situated halfway between Syria and Mesopotamia. This area has water and was a stopping place for caravans coming from Tayma before proceeding on to Syria or Babylonia.

This strategic location effectively made the Dumah the gatekeepers to north Arabia. The oasis in this territory was the centre of rule for many north Arabian kings and queens, as related to us in Assyrian records.”

Let’s move on to part II