ISABELLA OF CASTILE 



3069 



ISHMAEL 



out of her pitcher, and would also offer to water 

 the camels accompanying the servant, would be 

 the one destined to be the wife of Abraham's 

 son.. 



Rebecca, who later proved to be the niece of 

 Abraham, came to the well, and when the serv- 

 ant approached her and asked for water he 

 received, to his amazement, the answer, "Drink, 

 and I will also water thy camels." The servant, 

 overjoyed, then sought out the family of Re- 

 becca and obtained their consent to allow the 

 maiden to go to Palestine and become the wife 

 of Isaac. The meeting of Isaac and Rebecca at 

 the close of the chapter is most charmingly 

 pictured. Rebecca seated on the camel, saw a 

 man coming across the fields and asked the 

 servant his name. He was Isaac. As he ap- 

 proached, Rebecca, according to Oriental cus- 

 tom, dismounted from the camel and covered 

 herself with a veil. The purpose of the tale 

 emphasizes the opposition of the Hebrews 

 towards intermarriage with the Canaanites, but 

 to us there is a charm about it because of the 

 picture of patriarchal life which it unfolds, 

 which is quite independent of its purpose. 



By the side of Isaac there is another son of 

 Abraham, known as Ishmael, and born to him 

 by Sarah's maid, Hagar. Isaac and Ishmael 

 represent the traditional progenitors of the 

 Hebrews and Arabs who, feeling the close 

 relationship that existed between them, thus 

 regarded themselves as descendants from one 

 and the same patriarch. The Hebrews, for 

 some reason, recognized the Arabic tribes, or 

 Ishmaelites, as older, and therefore Ishmael is 

 the older son, but Isaac became the favorite; 

 and we also see the national pride of the 

 Hebrews cropping out in making the mother of 

 Ishmael the maid of Sarah. That is the way 

 in which ancient tradition pictures an inferior 

 tribe. 



The Arabs, too, have stories about Abraham 

 and Ishmael, no doubt brought to them 

 through contact with the Hebrews, but in these 

 stories Ishmael is always represented as the 

 favorite as well as the older son of Abraham, 

 while Abraham is associated with the tradi- 

 tions of the Arabs, such as the founding of the 

 chief sanctuary of Arabia at Mecca. M.J. 



ISABELLA, izabel'a, OF CASTILE, kas 

 ted' (1451-1504), the brilliant queen of Castile 

 and Leon, whose marriage to Ferdinand of 

 Aragon in 1469, despite great political opposi- 

 tion, laid the foundation of Spain's future 

 greatness by the union of the two chief Spanish 

 kingdoms. With her husband she waged a ten 



years' war against the Moors, which ended in 

 1492 with the capture of Granada and the sub- 

 jection of all Moorish leaders (see GRANADA). 

 This drove out the Mohammedan religion, 

 leaving Spain an entirely Catholic nation, and 

 it has so been maintained to the present time. 

 Isabella's clear intellect saw merit in the 

 project of Columbus to find a new route to 

 the Indies, and the launching of the enter- 

 prise was largely due to her. (See map of Cas- 

 tile and Aragon, page 1218.) 



ISAIAH, iza'ya (760-680 B.C.), a prophet of 

 Judah, the first of the line of great Hebrew 

 prophets. The name means salvation of Jeho- 

 vah. Most of his prophecies, which he began 

 in the reign of Uzziah, about 740 B. c. and con- 

 tinued through the reigns of the three follow- 

 ing kings, were concerning Judah or Jeru- 

 salem, where he lived. Those concerning other 

 nations, such as Samaria, Damascus or Philis- 

 tia, were subordinate and were introduced be- 

 cause of their relation to Zion and the people 

 of God. From the time that Isaiah began his 

 prophetic ministry, he was the adviser of the 

 successive kings. In 734 B. c., when Syria and 

 Israel sought to capture Jerusalem, he declared 

 Jehovah's purpose that they should fail, and 

 he tried to prevent Ahaz from uniting with 

 foreign princes, but his counsel was unwisely 

 refused. When Hezekiah began his rule Isaiah 

 became very prominent in the kingdom, and 

 his opinions on all subjects were received with 

 a great deal of respect. The manner of his 

 death is unknown, although Jewish tradition 

 says he died a martyr. 



The Book of Isaiah consists of a series of 

 prophecies, visions and historical events ar- 

 ranged in order of sequence by its author, after 

 whom the book is named. The first part re- 

 lated chiefly to the Jewish nation and its ene- 

 mies, with predictions concerning Assyria, then 

 at the height of its power, and Babylon, which 

 was just beginning to rise; there were also 

 references to other foreign nations. The second 

 part forecasts the whole period between Cap- 

 tivity and the Messiah's birth. The latter por- 

 tion is so accurate that Isaiah is often called 

 the "Gospel Prophet," although many eminent 

 German critics think he did not write the last 

 twenty-seven chapters. This has never been 

 determined. 



ISHMAEL, ish'mael, Abraham's son, who 

 was driven out into the wilderness with his 

 mother, Hagar, for mocking his young half- 

 brother, Isaac, at a feast. After wandering 

 many days until both were nearly perishing of 



