#TheologyThoughts

[yishael]

Ish'ale

Ishael (Ishaelic dialect: Ish'ale, pronounced as Išael, Hebrew: יִשָׁאֵל, romanized: Yīšāʿēʾl, lit. "God asks"; Arabic: Issāʿīl; Latin: Isael) was the son of Mahalath and Esau. Traditionally he is seen as the patriarch of the city of the same name.

The name "Yisha'el" existed in several ancient Semitic cultures, including ancient Babylon and Minæan. In the Amorite language it is attested as yaśaʿ-ʾel. It is a theophoric name literally translated as "God (El) asked", however, whose meaning is closer to "he who asks God".

In history, the prophet would have created a series of twenty questions to ask God, whose reflection on them revolutionized the theological understanding of those people.

The modern scholarly consensus is that the person of Ishael is largely mythical, while also holding that, most likely, a prominent political figure may have existed somewhere in Canaan in the pre-exilic period, who was named Yishael and was retro-projected in the biblical narrative as the son of Esau, later the city was renamed in his honor.