Genesis 25:18

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;

And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren. They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria.

Before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria, i.e. on that part or side of Egypt which leads to Assyria. He died in the presence of all his brethren; his brethren surviving him, and being his neighbours, and therefore as they had conversation with him in the time of his life, so now they did him honour at his death. But this translation and interpretation may seem improbable, 1. Because his death was related, , and would not be so presently repeated. 2. Because the foregoing words in this verse speak not of his death, but of his dwelling, to which these words do very well agree. For what we translated and he died, is commonly rendered and he fell, or it fell, and is most commonly used concerning a lot whereby men’ s portions are designed and divided, as ,10 Numbers 33:54 ; and so the sense may be, it fell, i.e. that country fell to him or his; or he lay, or was stretched out, or posted himself, as the Hebrew word is used, , i.e. he dwelt in the presence of all his brethren; and so indeed his country lay between the children of Keturah on the east, and the children of Isaac and Israel on the west.

Genesis 25:18 And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that [is] before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: [and] he died in the presence of all his brethren.Ver. 18. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur.] A large tract and territory; but nothing so large as his posterity the Saracens’ , called more rightly Hagarenes, proved to be; whose name and empire notwithstanding is now swallowed up in the greatness of the Turkish empire; which laboureth with nothing more, than with the weightiness of itself. And he died.] Or, dwelt, as some read it. Compare Genesis 16:12. Turk. Hist.

(18) Havilah was far to the south, on the Persian Gulf. (See Genesis 10:29.) Shur.—This was their western limit towards Egypt. (See Genesis 16:7.) In 1 Samuel 15:7 this same region is assigned to the Amalekites. As thou goest toward Assyria.—This does not mean that Shur was on the route toward Assyria, but gives the eastern limit of the country inhabited by the descendants of Ishmael. He died.—But the Hebrew is, he fell—that is, his lot fell; he settled there. In the presence of.—This means to the east of all his brethren. Just as Assyria was regarded as lying to the north of Palestine, because on starting the traveller journeyed in that direction, so Arabia was considered to be on the east, for a similar reason. (But see Note on Genesis 16:12.)

Verse 18. They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur] The descendants of Ishmael possessed all that country which extends from east to west, from Havilah on the Euphrates, near its junction with the Tigris, to the desert of Shur eastward of Egypt; and which extends along the isthmus of Suez, which separates the Red Sea from the Mediterranean. As thou goest toward Assyria] "These words," says Calmet, "may refer either to Egypt, to Shur, or to Havilah. The desert of Shur is on the road from Egypt to Assyria in traversing Arabia Petraea, and in passing by the country of Havilah. I know not," adds he, "whether Ashshurah in the text may not mark out rather the Asshurim descended from Keturah, than the Assyrians, who were the descendants of Asshur the son of Shem." He died in the presence of all his brethren] The original will not well bear this translation. In Genesis 25:17 it is said, He gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered to his people. Then follows the account of the district occupied by the Ishmaelites, at the conclusion of which it is added על פני כל אחיו נפל al peney col echaiv naphal, "IT (the lot or district) FELL (or was divided to him) in the presence of all his brethren:" and this was exactly agreeable to the promise of God, Genesis 16:12, He shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren; and to show that this promise had been strictly fulfilled, it is here remarked that his lot or inheritance was assigned him by Divine Providence, contiguous to that of the other branches of the family. The same word, נפל naphal, is used Joshua 23:4, for to divide by lot. On the subject of writing the same proper name variously in our common Bibles, the following observations and tables will not be unacceptable to the reader. "Men who have read their Bible with care," says Dr. Kennicott, "must have remarked that the name of the same person is often expressed differently in different places. Indeed the variation is sometimes so great that we can scarcely persuade ourselves that one and the same person is really meant. A uniform expression of proper names is diligently attended to in other books: perhaps in every other book, except the Old Testament. But here we find strange variety in the expression, and consequently great confusion: and indeed there is scarcely any one general source of error which calls for more careful correction than the same proper names now wrongly expressed. I shall add here, from the Pentateuch, some proper names which are strangely varied: first, twenty-three names expressed differently in the Hebrew text itself, and seventeen of them in our English translation; and then thirty-one names expressed uniformly in the Hebrew yet differently in the English. SAME NAMES DIFFERING IN THE HEBREW 1 Genesis 4:18 Mehujael Mehijael in the same verse.

12–18 (P). The Descendants of Ishmael The genealogy of Ishmael is thus disposed of, before the narrative resumes the history of the Chosen Family in the generations of Isaac (Genesis 25:19). It is to be noticed that the sons of Ishmael are twelve in number, like the sons of Nahor (Genesis 22:21-24) and of Jacob.

18. From Havilah unto Shur — Or, as we might say, from the Arabian Gulf and the Euphrates to the border of Egypt and the Red Sea.