Verse 16
16. By their towns, and… castles Rather, in their village and in their encampment . “It is generally known, that the Arabs are, according to their mode of life, divided into two chief classes: those of towns or villages, and those of the deserts, or the dwellers in tents . The latter, of course nomadic in their habits, are the Bedouins and Scenitae . It is not improbable that these two different classes are alluded to in the words, ‘By their villages and by their tents . ’ The roaming Bedouins regard the agricultural population with a certain contempt as slaves of toil and drudgery . They seldom cultivate the land which they may have inherited or won by their valour; but rent it out for a fixed annual sum to peasants subordinated to them in a kind of vassalage . ” Kalisch .
Twelve princes Ishmael, like Israel, had twelve sons, who became the princes and heads of so many tribes .
Nations אמות , peoples, or tribes sprung from one common mother, אם .
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