Who is…
Nebaioth

also known as: Nebajoth

Hebrew: נְבָיוֹת —meaning: height

This is the name of a biblical man and a tribe. The name appears in 5 Old Testament verses.

Nebaioth, son of Ishmael

Nebaioth is Ishmael's eldest son (Genesis 25:13), and the prince of a tribe (Gen. 25:16).

His sister, Mahalath, is one of Esau's wives (Genesis 28:9; 36:3).

Relatives

• Grandfather: Abraham
• Grandmother: Hagar
• Father: Ishmael

• Brothers:
  —Kedar
  —Adbeel
  —Mibsam
  —Mishma
  —Dumah
  —Massa
  —Hadad
  —Tema
  —Jetur
  —Naphish
  —Kedemah

Nebaioth, the Ishmaelite tribe

This is the Ishmaelite tribe descended from the above man (Genesis 25:13, 18)

These Ishmaelite tribes inhabited all the country from Euphrates to the Red Sea, calling it the Nabatene country.

The following prophetic verse seems to refer to the future glory of Zion in the Millennial period.

All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you;
The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you;
They will go up with acceptance on My altar,
And I shall adorn My glorious house [the Holy Temple] with beautiful glory. —Isaiah 60:7

“Rams of Nebaioth” may be symbols of the wealth and honor brought to Jerusalem as gifts by Arabian peoples who worship and serve God, along with all nations of the Earth, during this blessed future time of world peace and restoration.

The ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus described the descendants of Ishmael as Arabs, linking them with the historical Nabataeans of Hellenistic and Roman times:

twelve sons in all were born to Ishmael, Nabaioth(es), Kedar, Abdeêl, Massam, Masma, Idum(as), Masmes, Chodam, Thaiman, Jetur, Naphais, Kadmas. These occupied the whole country extending from the Euphrates to the Red Sea and called it Nabatene. And it is these who conferred their names on the Arabian nation (to tōn Arabōn ethnos) and its tribes. —Antiquities of the Jews 1.12.4

The identification of the Arabs as Ishmaelites was also expressed by early Christian scholar Origen of Alexandria and by the Greek scholar Apollonius Molon. This was also expressed by early Christian scholars Jerome and Eusebius.