Yet the Biblical verses I previously referenced are not the strongest evidence from the Bible that do not support a literal/historical interpretation of this story. We find that it states plainly, in Galatians 4:24, that the story of Ismael and Isaac is an allegory. The definition of an allegory is - 'a story in which the characters and events are symbols which stand for ideas/Ideals about human life .................’ That is to say that the story of Ismael and Isaac is not historical. It is symbolic and conveys a universal theme. However, I do not think that Galatians 4:24 explains the allegory effectively. If I may, I would like to explain what the story says to me. I hope that my understanding of it rings as true to the reading audience as it does for me.
To begin with, we and the world around us are dualistic. Dualism is the division of something conceptually into two opposed or contrasted aspects, or the state of being so divided. For example, mind and matter. Or, the earth and sky, day and night, positive and negative, good and evil, the ebb and flow, and the yin and the yang, etc. As it pertains to the story of Ismael and Isaac a slave woman and a free woman are contrasted. The slave woman, Hagar, is described as Egyptian which I take to mean black and, we can assume, the free woman, Sarah who is Jewish, is white (opposites). According to the story, Hagar is unsuitable to provide Abraham with an heir. Only Sarah is suitable to provide an heir with CHOSEN blood. Let us not kid ourselves - when thought of as history, this story defies common sense and is racist! However, when thought of as an allegory, the story and its characters take on completely different meaning. They start to make sense.