Biblically
Arabs show up in three biblical lists of genealogy:
The descendants of Jaktan (Genesis 10:25-30)
The descendants of Abraham through Keturah (Genesis 10:1-6)
The descendants of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13-18)
(It is possible that some of the descendants of Cush, the son of Ham (Genesis 10:7) are also called Arabs.)
There seems to have been some intermingling between the tribe of Simeon and the Ishmaelites, for the clans of Mibsam and Mishma are associated with both. (Genesis 25:13 and I Chronicles 4:25).
Ishmaelites do not appear among the victims of David's raids into the lands south and east of Israel, even though these enter Arab lands. (I Samuel 27:8 and Genesis 25:18) David's sister married Jether the Ishmaelite (I Chronicles 2:17) and two of David's administrators were Obil the Ishmaelite, and Jaziz the Hagarite, (I Chronicles 27:30).
Hagar and Ishmael were given Arabia (Genesis 21:8-21) and Isaac's descendants were promised the Holy Land. Apparently they were not hostile to each other, for Ishmael and Isaac worked together to bury their father Abraham in the Cave of Macphilah, in Mamre (Genesis 25:9).
On the other hand, the Bible refers to various individuals and groups as being 'Arabs.' Jeremiah prophesied against the 'kings of the Arabs' sometime between 627 and 586 BC.
Muslim Traditions
The Arab genealogist Hisham Ibn Muhammad al-Kalbi (A.D. 737-819), known as Ibn al Kalbi, established a genealogical link between Ishmael and Mohammed. He quotes writers who had access to biblical and Palmyran sources, but the majority of his information came from the ancient oral traditions of the Arabs. His book, 'Djamharat al Nasab' has been translated into German by W. Caskel, (Ghamharat an-Nasab (The Abundance of Kinship) Das genealogische Werk des Hisam Ibn Muhammad al Kalbi (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1966) It seemed to be Ibn al Kalbi's opinion that the people known as 'Arabs' were all descendants of Ishmael.
Arab Genealogists
It is the common view of Arab genealogists and modern historians that Arabs originated in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, and then moved northward. (James Montgomery, Arabia and the Bible, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1934 and Hitti, History of the Arabs.) This view is based on the identification by Muslim Arabs of their oldest ancestor as being Qahtan, whom they identify as the biblical Jaktan. Genesis 10:25-26.
Arab Genealogists divide the Arabians into two ethnic stocks. First, the original Arabic Arabs ('aribah) and then the arabized Arabs (musta 'iribah). The Arabic Arabs are supposed to have originated with the Yamanites and are descended from Qahtan (Jaktan of the Bible) and are the original stock. The Arabized Arabs are the Hijazis, Najdis, Nabataeans, and Palmyrenes. These Arabized Arabs are supposed to have all descended from Adnan, an offspring of Ishmael.
Records of Other Civilizations
Saracens
This Greco-Roman term appears in classical literature, and stems most likely from the Arabic Sarqiyyun, meaning 'easterners.' Fergus Millar in 'Hagar, Ishmael, Josephus, and the Origin of Islam, JJS 44(1983): 41-43 claims that this term refers mostly to Ishmaelites. Musil in Arabia Deserta, (494) refers to the nomadic tribes living in the inner desert of central Arabia as bedw or sarkiyye, a term derived from sarq, which means 'east' in Arabic, but is often used as a reference to the inner desert of north and central Arabia. "Whoever marches through this region, whether he goes west or east or south, is referred to as sarrak tasriz or going into the inner desert."
Isma'il in the Qur'an
There are twelve Qur'anic verses that mention Isma'il by name in the Qur'an. Nine of them list him among other holy men from ancient times. He is described as having 'preference above the worlds' (Sura 6:86), and is listed together with Idris and Zul-Kifl as 'one of constancy and patience.' (Sura 21:85). He is commemorated together with Zul-Kifl and Elisha as 'of the company of the good people.' (Sura 38:48) All of the three previously mentioned references are found in the Meccan Suras from the early part of Mohammed's life.
Then is Sura 2:125 God commands Abraham and Isma'il to purify his house (Ka'ba) for those who want to use it as a place of prayer and worship. In Sura 2:127-129, Abraham, with Isma'il raise the foundations of the house, asking God to make them submit to him. (Muslims). In Sura 2:133, Isma'il is described along with Abraham and Isaac as monotheists, submitting to one God. In Sura 2:136 and 4:163 Isma'il is included among those who have received revelation from God.
All of these passages present Isma'il as part of groups of people. Only in Sura 19:54-55 is he mentioned by himself, and is described as 'true to his promise', 'a messenger', 'a prophet', 'one who enjoined upon his people the prayer and almsgiving' and 'was in his Lord's eye approved.'
No where in the Qur'an is Isma'il treated in any special way. In Sura 14:39 Abraham praised God for giving him in his old age his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Other than this, the Qur'an does not establish the direct genealogical link between Abram and Isma'il. In fact, Sura 19:49, 21:72, 29:27, 6:84, and 11:71 seem to count Jacob as another son of Abraham together with Isaac.
Many readers of the Qur'an believe that the Qur'an speaks about Abraham's attempt to sacrifice his son Isma'il (rather than Isaac as found in the Bible), but in truth, the Qur'an doesn't give the name of the son. The only reason for thinking that it might be Isma'il is that it is only later in verse 112-113 that Isaac's birth is announced.
Outside of the Qur'an, there are many Hadiths or traditions about Isma'il. In one of these traditions, Abraham accompanied Hagar and Isma'il to Mecca, in the desert where he had to leave them and return to Sara his wife. Before leaving, Abraham, aided by Isma'il laid the foundation of the temple and constructed its building. Being left alone in the desert Hagar ad Isma'il became very thirsty, so Hagar started running back and forth between the hill of alMarwa and alSafa looking for water. This tradition is expressed in the rite of Sa'y. Isma'il was then ordered by the angel Gabriel to dig the sand with his foot. In this way, the well of Zamzam came into being. The Arabian tribe of the Djurhum then settled close to by with Hagar's consent, and later on Hagar took a wife for Isma'il from that tribe. It is also believed that Abraham visited Isma'il twice in Mecca. The first time, Abraham conveyed to his son a cryptic message that he would divorce his wife because she showed Abram lack of hospitality. The second time he asked him to keep his second wife, because she was hospitable to him. On his third visit, Abraham called on Isma'il to help him build the Ka'ba. According to the traditions, Isma'il supposedly learned classical Arabic from the Djurhum tribe and thus became one of the ancestors of the Arabized Arabs of the North (al 'arab al musta 'riba) as opposed to the native Arabs of the south (al 'arab al 'ariba).
Arab genealogists make Isma'il the ancestor of the northern Arabian tribes and link them to him through Adnan, one of Isma'il's sons. Isma'il was supposedly buried alongside his mother Hagar in the Hidjr inside the Haram.
Genesis 25:12-18 tells us that the twelve Ishmaelite tribes spread out in the Syro-Arabian desert between Sinai and the western boarders of the Euphrates.
The marriage of Esau to the daughter of Isma'il (Gen 28:9, 36:3-4, 13, 17) demonstrated how the Edomites came from the intermixing of Abraham's line with the Ishmaelites.
Midianites
In Genesis 37:27-28, and Geneses 37:28, 36, the term Ishmaelite and Midianite is intermixed. Some feel that all nomads were called Ishmaelites, and that these were nomadic Midianites.
In the book of Judges (6:3, 33; 7:12, 13, 14, 23, 24; 8:28) the term Midianites refers to the Midianites, Amalekites, and the 'children of the east.' The Midianites, who descended from Keturah (Genesis 25:1-6), Abraham's second wife) were probably at the head of a tribal confederation. The defeat of the Midianites by Gideon is the starting point for their decline as a dominant political entity, and the rise to prominence of the Ishmaelites as a nomadic group. The Qedarites presided over most of the north Arabian tribes until late in the Persian Empire. After this the Nabataeans took over politically.
Ancient Wars
In I Chronicles 5 a war took place between the Jewish king Saul and the Hagarenes, Yetur, Naphish, and Nodab. (10-22) On the other hand were the Reubenites, the Gadites and half of the tribe of Manassah. This confrontation seems to have been over grazing land.
Under Solomon, all the kings of the Arabs brought tribute to Solomon (I Kings 10:15) and even the Arabian queen of Sheba visited and gave tribute. One of Solomon's two daughters was named Basma (I Kings 4:15). This name has no Hebrew root, but rather is of Arabic origin, being Basimah, or smiling one. The only other place in the Bible where this name is used is the daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebayot, who married Esau (Genesis 28:9, 36:3-4, 13, and 17). Some scholars have suggested that Solomon may have had an Ishmaelite wife who bore him the daughter named Basma.
The Biblical book of Job introduces us to the person of Job, and places him as one of 'sons of the east' generally referring to the Ishmaelites. The book also has many references to the desert, and is filled with typical Arabic expressions.
Proverbs, chapters 30 and 31 recounts "the words of Agur, son of Yaketh the Massaite, the saying of the man to Ithiel" (Murphy, the Tree of Life). (Compare Numbers 24:3, 2 Samuel 23:1, and Proverbs 30:1a,b). The term "Lemuel, King of Masssa" is similar to Proverbs 1:1, "Solomon, son of David, king of Israel."
Massa is identified as one of the Children of Ishmael (Genesis 25:12-18) and his kingdom was known as Maas'aa, when Tiglath Pileser recieved tribute from them around 735 BC. It was probably referred to by Ptolemy as the Masanoi of the Arabian desert. Winnett locates them somewhere between Tayma and al Jawf. (Ancient Records from North Arabia, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1970)
Agur can be found in Job 38. Agur, son of Yakeh of Massa and Lemuel the King of Massa are most likely sages from the descendants of Hagar who worshiped Jehovah God. Their writings may have been refereed to in I Kings 4:30. Perhaps the writings of these two were introduced by the Ishmaelite officials who were in King David's administration.
Song of Solomon
The Shulamite woman is described as black or dark, and is compared with the tents of Qedar. The book is reminiscent of nomadic hymns of love and erotic Arabian poetry.