Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clearImportance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)His descendantssettled from Havilah to Shur (which is near Egypt as you go towardAsshur). He fell in the face of all his brothers.[fn]
25:18We’ve left this unusual sentence in here, because we don’t really know now what this ancient idiom meant. Possibilities include being hostile to the brothers, living opposite them, or even dying in their presence.
Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚατῴκησε δὲ ἀπὸ Εὐϊλὰτ ἕως Σοὺρ, ἥ ἐστι κατὰ πρόσωπον Αἰγύπτου ἕως ἐλθεῖν πρὸς Ἀσσυρίους· κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ κατῴκησε. (Katōkaʸse de apo Euilat heōs Sour, haʸ esti kata prosōpon Aiguptou heōs elthein pros Assurious; kata prosōpon pantōn tōn adelfōn autou katōkaʸse. )
BrTrAnd he dwelt from Evilat to Sur, which is opposite Egypt, until one comes to the Assyrians; he dwelt in the presence of all his brethren.
ULTAnd they settled from Havilah to Shur that is near Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He fell in the face of all his brothers.
USTHis descendants lived throughout the area that extended from the region of Havilah to the wilderness of Shur that is east of the country of Egypt as you head from there to the city of Asshur. They lived as enemies against all their relatives.
BSB § Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur.[fn] And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.
NETHis descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives.
LSVand they dwell from Havilah to Shur, which [is] before Egypt, in [your] going toward Asshur; in the presence of all his brothers has he fallen.
FBVIshmael's descendants inhabited the region from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. They were forever fighting with one other.[fn]
25:18The Hebrew of this verse is unclear. However, see 16:12.
T4THis descendants ◄settled/went to live► in the area between Shur and Havilah, near the border of Egypt as a person travels toward Asshur. All of their camps were close to each other (OR, they all frequently attacked each other).
LEBThey settled from Havilah to Shur, which was opposite[fn] Egypt, going toward Asshur, opposite;[fn] he settled[fn] opposite[fn] all his brothers. ¶
JPSAnd they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Asshur: over against all his brethren he did settle.
ASVAnd they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: he abode over against all his brethren.
DRAAnd he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of all his brethren.
YLTand they tabernacle from Havilah unto Shur, which [is] before Egypt, in [thy] going towards Asshur; in the presence of all his brethren hath he fallen.
DrbyAnd they dwelt from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite to Egypt, as one goes towards Assyria. He settled before the face of all his brethren.
RVAnd they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: he abode in the presence of all his brethren.
WbstrAnd they dwelt from Havilah to Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest towards Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.
KJB-1769And 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.[fn] (And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou/you goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren/brothers. )
KJB-1611[fn]And they dwelt from Hauilah vnto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest towards Assyria: and hee died in the presence of all his brethren. (And they dwelt from Hauilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou/you goest towards Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren/brothers.)
BshpsAnd they dwelled from Hauilah vnto Sur, that is by the border of Egypt as thou goest toward Assur, and he died in the presence of all his brethren. (And they dwelled from Hauilah unto Sur, that is by the border of Egypt as thou/you goest toward Assur, and he died in the presence of all his brethren/brothers.)
GnvaAnd they dwelt from Hauilah vnto Shur, that is towardes Egypt, as thou goest to Asshur. Ishmael dwelt in the presence of all his brethren. (And they dwelt from Hauilah unto Shur, that is towardes Egypt, as thou/you goest to Asshur. Ishmael dwelt in the presence of all his brethren/brothers. )
CvdlHe dwelt from Heuila vnto Sur towarde Egipte, as men go to the Assirians And he dyed in the presence of all his brethren. (He dwelt from Heuila unto Sur towarde Egypt, as men go to the Assirians And he died in the presence of all his brethren/brothers.)
WycForsothe he enhabitide fro Euila til to Sur, that biholdith Egipt, as me entrith in to Assiriens; he diede bifore alle his britheren. (Forsothe he enhabitide from Euila till to Sur, that biholdith Egypt, as me entrith in to Assiriens; he diede before all his brethren/brothers.)
LuthUnd sie wohneten von Hevila an bis gen Sur gegen Ägypten, wenn man gen Assyrien gehet. Er fiel aber vor allen seinen Brüdern. (And they/she/them livedn from Hevila at until to/toward Sur gegen Egypt, when man to/toward Assyrien gehet. He fiel but before/in_front_of all his brothersn.)
ClVgHabitavit autem ab Hevila usque Sur, quæ respicit Ægyptum introëuntibus Assyrios; coram cunctis fratribus suis obiit.[fn] (Habitavit however away Hevila until Sur, which respicit Ægyptum introëuntibus Assyrios; coram cunctis fratribus to_his_own obiit. )
25.18Habitavit autem ab Hevila usque Sur, quæ respicit Ægyptum, etc. Regio quam circumivit Phison ab Hevila, nepote Nœ, sic vocata est, et est solitudo contra faciem Ægypti. Sur quoque est solitudo inter Cades et Barad, extendens desertum usque ad mare Rubrum et Ægypti confinia.
25.18Habitavit however away Hevila until Sur, which respicit Ægyptum, etc. Regio how circumivit Phison away Hevila, nepote Nœ, so vocata it_is, and it_is solitudo on_the_contrary face Ægypti. Sur too it_is solitudo between Cades and Barad, extendens desert until to the_sea Rubrum and Ægypti confinia.
25:18Havilah was a region in north-central Arabia. • Shur was a region between Beersheba and Egypt. • in open hostility toward all their relatives: The wording is close to that of 16:12.
Be consistent here with how you spelled Havilah in Gen 2:11; 10:7, 29 and Shur in Gen 16:7; 20:1. The name Shur means “wall”. The Wilderness of Shur may have been named after a city or fortification named Shur that was located near the eastern border of Egypt (Gen 16:7). Alternate translation: “throughout the area that extended from the region of Havilah to the desert of Shur”
Alternate translation: “that is east of the land of Egypt”
בֹּאֲכָ֖ה
your(ms)=going
Alternate translation: “as you go from there” or “as one goes”
אַשּׁ֑וּרָה
Asshur,toward
Assyria and its capital city Asshur were far east of Shur. Consider again how you spelled Asshur in Gen 2:14; 10:11, 22, and 25:3, 18. Alternate translation: “to the city of Asshur in Assyria.” or “in the direction of the land of Assyria.”
on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in face/surface_of all brothers,his settled
The Hebrew text has an idiom here that is ambiguous in this context. It could mean: (1) “He/They lived in hostility toward/against all his/their brothers/relatives.” or “They lived as enemies against all their brothers/relatives.” See how you translated a different idiom in 16:12 that probably has this meaning. Or it could mean: (2) “They settled/lived in the presence of all their brothers/relatives.” or “They settled/lived among/near all their brothers/relatives.” or (3) “He/Ishmael died in the presence of all his brothers/relatives.” or “He/Ishmael died when/while all his brothers were still alive.”
Though the patriarch Isaac moved from place to place several times within southern Canaan, compared to his father Abraham and his son Jacob, Isaac appears to have been a bit of a homebody. In fact, unless Isaac resettled in places not recorded in Scripture, the farthest extent he ever traveled appears to have been only about 90 miles (113 km). Yet, as the child of God’s promise to Abraham to build a great nation from his descendants, Isaac’s relatively simple life served as a critical bridge from Abraham to the beginnings of the twelve tribes of Israel, who were descended from Isaac’s son Jacob. It is likely that Isaac was born at Beersheba (see Genesis 21:1-24), and later Abraham offered him as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah (located at Jerusalem; see 2 Chronicles 3:1). Then Abraham, Isaac, and those with them returned to Beersheba (Genesis 22:1-19). When Isaac reached adulthood, his father sent a servant to bring back a bride for him from Aram-naharaim, far north of Canaan. When his bride, Rebekah, arrived, Isaac had just come from Beer-lahai-roi and settled in the Negev (Genesis 24:62). Later Isaac resettled with Rebekah in Beer-lahai-roi, and this may have been where their twins son Esau and Jacob were born. A famine forced Isaac to go to Gerar (Genesis 26:1-6) in “the land of the Philistines.” The distinct people group known as the Philistines in later books of the Bible did not arrive until the time of the Judges, so the term here must have referred to another people group living in this region, and this is supported by the fact that King Abimelech’s name is Semitic, not Aegean (the likely origin of the later Philistines). While Isaac was there, he repeated his father’s error (Genesis 20) by lying to the king that his wife was only his sister. Isaac also became increasingly prosperous at Gerar, so the Philistines told him to leave their region. Isaac moved away from the town of Gerar and settled further away in the valley of Gerar. There he dug a well, but the Philistines claimed it for themselves, so he called it Esek, meaning “argument.” So Isaac’s men dug another well and called it Sitnah (meaning “hostility”), but it led to more quarreling, so he dug yet another well and called it Rehoboth (meaning “open space”). The locations of these two later wells are not certain, but they may have been located near Ruheibeh as shown on this map. Then Isaac moved to Beersheba and built an altar. He also dug a well there, and King Abimelech of the Philistines came and exchanged oaths of peace with him. It was likely at Beersheba that Isaac blessed his sons Esau and Jacob, and both sons eventually left Canaan (see “Jacob Goes to Paddan-Aram” map). When Jacob later returned, he traveled to Mamre near Hebron and reunited with Isaac. Sometime after this Isaac died, and Jacob and Esau buried him there.
The book of Genesis twice records the origin of the Ishmaelites, who were descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar. Ishmael lived in the wilderness of Paran (Genesis 21:20-21), and his descendants eventually ranged from Shur near Egypt all the way around to Havilah on the Arabian peninsula (Genesis 25:12-18), as shown on this map that depicts the region around the time of the Judges. Yet the term Ishmaelite also appears to have referred in a more general sense to any of the nomadic groups that roamed the deserts of Sinai and Arabia, because the Midianites (another group descended from Abraham by his second wife Keturah; Genesis 25:1-2) are twice referred to as Ishmaelites: once when Joseph is sold to a group of Midianite traders traveling from Gilead to Egypt (Genesis 37:28-36), and again when Gideon is collecting gold earrings from the spoil taken from the Midianites (Judges 8:24). Likewise, the term Hagrites, (likely meaning those descended from Hagar), is applied at times to a tribal group that appears to have been among those descended from Ishmael, but in 1 Chronicles 27:30 the terms Ishmaelite and Hagrite are applied to two different people, indicating that the terms were not synonymous. Twelve tribes are specifically listed by Genesis as descending from Ishmael, similar to how Israel was reckoned as being comprised of twelve tribes descended from a single patriarch (Genesis 35:23-26). While some of the Ishmaelite tribes achieved political dominance during certain periods of biblical history, the twelve tribes never operated as a single, unified nation. The physical boundaries of each Ishmaelite tribe’s nomadic range is difficult to establish with much certainty, partially because nomads, by definition, continually move to new lands as needed to feed their flocks. Even so, a few clues from Scripture and other ancient sources point to the likely general range for each tribe, as shown on this map.
Nebaioth has often been speculated to be the same tribe that was later called the Nabateans, but the variance in the Hebrew spelling between the two names makes this identification unlikely. Rather, they were probably the Nabaiate of Assyrian documents, which mention them in close association with the tribe of Kedar. Nebaioth and Kedar are also mentioned together in Isaiah 60:7.
Kedar, the most prominent and powerful of the Ishmaelite tribes, lay to the southeast of Israel, and this is confirmed by Jeremiah’s comment in Jeremiah 2:10 that speaks of Cyprus and Kedar as lying on opposite sides of Israel. Kedar attained significant political strength during the ninth century B.C. until they were absorbed into the Nabatean empire in the first century B.C.
Adbeel was likely a tribe known by the Akkadians as the Idibilu, who were eventually conquered by Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria and employed to guard the approaches to Egypt’s borders.
Mibsam may be named after the word for “sweet odor,” suggesting that they may have been one of the people groups of western Arabia who produced world-renowned incense and transported it to ports along the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Mishma may have been centered around a mountain called Jebel Mishma today.
Dumah was likely centered around the ancient Arabian city by the same name.
Massa was known to the Assyrians as Mas’a, and they were forced to pay tribute to Tiglath-pileser III. Ptolemy knew the tribe as the Masanoi and located them to the northeast of Dumah.
Hadad is somewhat unknown in ancient sources, although today there is an Arabian tribe named Hadad that are mostly Christians, and they are located throughout the Levant.
Tema was no doubt centered around the city by the same name, and it was located near the rival oasis of Dedan. King Nabonidus of Babylon made Tema his headquarters as he gained control over the other Arabian desert oases (see Jeremiah 49:28; also see “Oases of the Arabian Desert” map).
Jetur was likely located northeast of Gilead, because 1 Chronicles 5:18-22 records how the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh attacked Jetur and the tribe of Naphish, captured many of them and their livestock, and occupied their territory until the time of the exile. By the time of Jesus, this tribe was known as the Itureans and had captured land just north of Israel.
Naphish was likely located just east of Gilead, because the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh attacked them and the tribe of Jetur and occupied their territory until the time of the exile (1 Chronicles 5:18-22).
Kedemah may have been located near the Reubenite town of Kedemoth.
Though Scripture sometimes refers to various tribes of Ishmael as enemies of Israel (1 Chronicles 5:18-22; Psalm 83:5-8), Isaiah also prophesied to Israel of a glorious day coming when “all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall be acceptable on my altar, and I will glorify my glorious house” (Isaiah 60:7).
