25:1 Abraham had taken 1 another 2 wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. 3 The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants 4 of Keturah.
25:17 Ishmael lived a total of 6 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. 7 25:18 His descendants 8 settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next 9 to Egypt all the way 10 to Asshur. 11 They settled 12 away from all their relatives. 13
1 tn Or “took.”
sn Abraham had taken another wife. These events are not necessarily in chronological order following the events of the preceding chapter. They are listed here to summarize Abraham’s other descendants before the narrative of his death.
2 tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”
3 sn The names Sheba and Dedan appear in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Ham through Cush and Raamah. Since these two names are usually interpreted to be place names, one plausible suggestion is that some of Abraham’s descendants lived in those regions and took names linked with it.
4 tn Or “sons.”
5 tn Or “tribal chieftains.”
6 tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”
7 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.
8 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.
10 tn Heb “as you go.”
11 sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.
12 tn Heb “he fell.”
13 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.