33 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning; and after we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.
34 And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom.
I wonder how long Ishmael had been in poor health (as I
assume was his cause of death) before he died. The record doesn’t say how old
he was; it doesn’t say what the cause of death was. We’re simply told that he
died and was buried in a place called Nahum. We don’t know how long he was with
the party before he died either, so there probably is no way of getting to this
answer from the records we have. In fact, the records are pretty light on any
information about Ishmael at all. Back in chapter seven, when the sons of Lehi
went back for Ishmael and his family, we read that the Lord softened his heart
so he came with them (vs. 5). But later on in that chapter, when they tied up
Nephi, we don’t really know which side he took, because he isn’t mentioned on
either side. I take that back. In verse 6 we see that he was one of the ones
being rebelled against. So we can probably be safe in saying that he stood with
Nephi. The curious thing to note is that he is not mentioned as one of the ones
pleading for Nephi in verse 19. One possibility for that is that he could have
been injured during verse 6. We don’t know, but it’s interesting that he is not
accounted for in the conflict, although his wife is. Could it be that what happened
in chapter 7 led to a weakened condition resulting in his early exit from the
story? I suppose we’ll never know. It just seems odd to me that in a culture
much more likely to record the doings of its men, that he would be so
conspicuously absent from the record in an incident where he should be taking a
leading role as patriarch of his own household. Unfortunately, Ishmael is a
more interesting character by what the record does not say about him, than what it does
say.
