Genesis 25:13

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

And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, The first-born of Ishmael, Nebajoth.

Nebajoth; of whom see . From whom part of Arabia was called Nabathaea. Of Kedar, see ; the father of those called Cedraei, or Cedareni, in Arabia.

Genesis 25:13 And these [are] the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,Ver. 13. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael.] When Isaac was twenty years married, and had no child; and afterwards, no so many as Ishmael, nor so great in the world. This is God’ s usual way of dealing forth his favours: saints suffer; wicked prosper. This made Pompey deny Divine Providence; Brutus cry out, W τλημωναρετν: Oh miserable virtue, slave of fortune, &c. The Athenians, in Thucydides, when they had lost Nicias their good general, who, together with his whole army perished in Sicily, were at a great stand, and much offended; seeing so pious a person fare nothing better than those that were far worse. And what wonder, when Jeremiah and David stumbled at the same stone, ran upon the same rock, and were well-nigh shipwrecked? Neither they only, but many other of God’ s dear servants, as it is in the same Psalm , "Therefore his people return hither"; that is, are every whit as wise (or rather, as foolish) as I have been, to miscensure and misconstrue God’ s dealings on this manner; to repent me of my repentance, and to condemn the generation of the just, "because waters of a full cup are wrung out to the wicked." When David went into God’ s sanctuary, and there consulted his Word, he was better resolved: then he saw that the sunshine of prosperity doth but ripen the sin of the wicked, and so fits them for destruction: as fatted ware are but fitted for the slaughter. What good is there in having a fine suit with the plague in it? Poison in wine works more seriously than in water. Had Haman known the danger of Esther’ s banquet, he would not have been so brag of it. The prosperity of the wicked hath ever plus deceptionis, quam delectortonis, saith one; more deceit than delight; able to entice, and ready to kill the entangled. As cunning to do that, as the spirit that seduced Ahab; and as willing to do the other, as the ghost that met Brutus at the battle of Philippi. In which respect, David having spoken of these "men of God’ s hand, that have their portion in this life," &c., wishes them make them merry with it, and subjoins, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." As who should say, I neither envy nor covet their happiness, but long after a glorious resurrection, and have, in the meanwhile, that which is sufficient to sustain me; "I shall behold thy face in righteousness," that is, Beshechinah, in Christ, as Rabbi Menachem expounds it. And one good look of God is worth all the world. It is better to feel his favour one hour, than to sit whole ages, as these Ishmaelites did, under the world’ s warmest sunshine. Dογοςορησθααλλωςεγωδεσεωςεργονησκουνουδαπεδουλευεςτυχη.

Verse 13. 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.

13. and these are the names] Cf. the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 1:29-31. Nebaioth] Mentioned also in Genesis 28:9, Genesis 36:3, and in Isaiah 60:7, where the name is associated also with Kedar. Probably Nebaioth is to be identified with the Nabajâti of the inscriptions of Assurbanipal. The identification with the Nabataeans, of the Christian era, is now generally abandoned. Kedar] Cf. Isaiah 60:7. Probably the Assyrian Ḳ ?idri, a region on the Syro-Arabian frontier, mentioned as a hostile people in Psalms 120:5, dwelling in black tents (Son 1:5) and in open villages (Isaiah 42:11; Jeremiah 49:28-31). Possibly the Cedraei mentioned together with Nabataei by Pliny are to be identified with these tribes. Dumah] Possibly the same as in Isaiah 21:11.

13-15. The names — We find scattered notices of these names in later books.