Genesis 25:16-18

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 25:16 tn Or “tribal chieftains.”
2. Genesis 25:17 tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”
3. Genesis 25:17 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
4. Genesis 25:18 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5. Genesis 25:18 tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.
6. Genesis 25:18 tn Heb “as you go.”
7. Genesis 25:18 sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.
8. Genesis 25:18 tn Heb “he fell.”
9. Genesis 25:18 tn Heb “upon the face of all his brothers.” This last expression, obviously alluding to the earlier oracle about Ishmael (Gen 16:12), could mean that the descendants of Ishmael lived in hostility to others or that they lived in a territory that was opposite the lands of their relatives. While there is some ambiguity about the meaning, the line probably does give a hint of the Ishmaelite-Israelite conflicts to come.