Ishmael’s daughter is a figure from the Book of Mormon mentioned briefly in the context of the family’s travel from Jerusalem to the then-unknown promised land. She was part of the group that accompanied Lehi’s family into the wilderness after the Lord had softened her father Ishmael’s heart to heed the call to leave Jerusalem (1 Nephi 7:5). The journey was challenging, and at one point, dissension arose. Laman and Lemuel, along with other family members including two of Ishmael’s sons, rebelled against Lehi’s sons Nephi and Sam and their spiritual leadership. During a particularly tense incident, when Laman and Lemuel became infuriated with Nephi’s admonitions and bound him with the intent to take his life, Ishmael’s daughter played a notable role in deescalating the situation. Together with her mother and one of her brothers, she interceded, pleading with Laman and Lemuel, which led to a softening of their hearts and the preservation of Nephi’s life (1 Nephi 7:19).
This particular daughter of Ishmael and her actions are not given extensive attention in the scriptural record, but her intervention at a critical moment illustrates a willingness to stand up against her own siblings for what she perceived to be just and right. It is also suggested that she might have later become Nephi’s wife, though the text does not explicitly name her among Nephi’s wives, it mentions that the sons of Lehi did take the daughters of Ishmael to wife (1 Nephi 16:7). This would align with the understanding that Lehi’s and Ishmael’s families were bound together not only by their shared sojourn but also through marriage, forging a closer alliance and fulfilling the Lord’s command for Lehi’s sons to take wives that they could raise up seed unto the Lord in the promised land.