Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son ,.... Or the genealogy of his posterity; and which is given to show that the Lord was not unmindful of his promise made to Abraham, concerning the multiplication of his seed, Genesis 16:10 , whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham ; see Genesis 16:1 . read more
And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael ,.... After mentioned: by their names, according to their generations; which were imposed upon them at their birth, and are recited according to the order in which they were born, as follows: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth : mentioned in Isaiah 60:7 ; and from whence a people of the Arabs are called Nabathaeans, and their country Nabathaea. Josephus F9 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 4. says, that all the country from Euphrates to... read more
And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa. Of Mishma and Massa, and of their posterity, there is not anything said elsewhere, unless the Masani, Ptolemy F16 Georaph. l. 16. p. 528. 534. 536. places near Arabia Felix, came from Massa. Dumah seems to be the same Isaiah speaks of in Genesis 21:11 ; and in Arabia Deserta, where some of Ishmael's posterity settled, is a place called Dumaetha, by Ptolemy F17 lbid. , which perhaps had its name from this son of his. The Targum of Jonathan... read more
Hadar and Tema ,.... From the first of these the city Adra in Arabia Petraea, and from the other the city Themma in Arabia Deserta, both mentioned by Ptolemy F18 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17, 19. , may be thought to have their names; or the city Adari and the Athritae in Arabia Felix F19 Ibid. l. 6. c. 7. ; and the inhabitants of the land of Tema are mentioned as Arabians, Isaiah 21:13 ; and Pliny F20 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. speaks of a people called Thimaneans, whom he says the... read more
These are the sons of Ishmael ,.... The twelve before mentioned, Genesis 25:13 , these are their names, by their towns and by their castles ; their towns and their castles being called after their names, some of which we are able to trace at this distance, as the above notes show: twelve princes according to their nations ; these were princes, or heads of tribes, and there were twelve of them, and continued so, see Genesis 17:20 ; where is the prophecy, and here an... read more
And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years ,.... one hundred and thirty seven years old. So that he lived forty eight years after the death of Abraham, Genesis 25:8 ; and, though he did not live to be so old as he, yet it was a considerable age he attained unto; see Gill on Genesis 25:7 , and he gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered unto his people ; some of the same expressions being used of him as of his father, Genesis 25:8 ,... read more
And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur ,.... That is, the posterity of Ishmael, whose country reached from one place to the other; not from India to Chaluza, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but the extent is that vast desert of Arabia, which eastward was called the wilderness of Havilah, and westward the wilderness of Shur; so that they inhabited it from east to west: that is before Egypt, as thou goest to Assyria ; which last place was over against Egypt, and bordered on that... read more
These are the generations of Ishmael - The object of the inspired writer seems to be to show how the promises of God were fulfilled to both the branches of Abraham's family. Isaac has been already referred to; God blessed him according to the promise. He had also promised to multiply Ishmael, and an account of his generation is introduced to show how exactly the promise had also been fulfilled to him. read more
Nebajoth - From whom came the Nabatheans, whose capital was Petra, or, according to Strabo, Nabathea. They dwelt in Arabia Petraea, and extended themselves on the east towards Arabia Deserta. Kedar - The founder of the Cedreans, who dwelt near to the Nabatheans. The descendants of Kedar form a part of the Saracens. Adbeel, and Mibsam - Where these were situated is not known. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 25:11-18
Immediately after the account of Abraham's death, Moses begins the story of Isaac (Gen. 25:11), and tells us where he dwelt and how remarkably God blessed him. Note, The blessing of Abraham did not die with him, but survived to all the children of the promise. But he presently digresses from the story of Isaac, to give a short account of Ishmael, forasmuch as he also was a son of Abraham, and God had made some promises concerning him, which it was requisite we should know the accomplishment... read more