[nmh]

Something else to keep in mind if you open the Bible:

Exod.6:3,6,8

[3] And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Do you see Ishmael's name there?

[8] And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

I still don't' see Ishmael's name there.

God does keep His promises through LEGITMATE seed.

[muawiyah]

When you have Moses writing the story, I suppose he assigns the "rights" to lineage he seeks to join.

However, the earlier part of the story, where Abraham is writing the story (presumably in Sumerian), I think he got the story right, and unless there's something in there that specifically EXCLUDES Ishmael and his descendants from God's promise to Abraham, the fact that he's not included in a specific Hebrew oriented text does not mean that he is, in fact, excluded.