And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.
11. God blessed Isaac ] The fulfilment of Gen 17:21. The traditions of Isaac are very meagre. Here, as in Gen 24:62, his dwelling-place is at Beer-lahai-roi, which was also connected with Ishmael (Gen 16:14). In Gen 35:27, Hebron is spoken of as the dwelling-place of Isaac at a later period of his life.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 25:11
God blessed his son Isaac
Divine blessing
Two large and perpetual principles, on which the government of God proceeds, are involved in such commonplace incidents, as death, benefits received, and access to a well of water–
(1) that God repeats Himself in His modes of training men; and
(2) that God does not repeat Himself.
God had blessed Abraham, and He blessed Isaac; He repeated His procedure. Isaac received the Divine blessing at the well Lahairoi–where Abraham did not dwell: God did not repeat Himself.
I. I ask you, fathers and mothers, to CONSIDER THE BEST INHERITANCE WHICH CAN BE LEFT TO CHILDREN. It is not property or riches. If your children never inherit from you anything but a few cheap well-used articles of furniture, yet can point to your grave and say, Under that grassy mound lie the remains of one who lived a life of faith in the Son of God, and tried to make the world of his neighbourhood better, be sure they will inherit from you that which is more helpful and ennobling than cartloads of gold or silver. Be it yours to secure that.
II. LET EACH ONE CONSIDER THE NECESSITY OF PERSONAL OBEDIENCE TO GOD, IN ORDER TO BE FULLY BLESSED. You may have not a few rich temporal blessings, but if you have not received the grace of the Holy Spirit so as to call Jesus Christ Lord, then you are rejecting that which alone conveys the favour in which is life eternal. No one can acquire this blessing for you.
III. CONSIDER THE VARYING CONDITIONS TO WHICH THE DIVINE BLESSING COMES. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob–so different in their character–all were blessed by the Lord.
IV. IN ORDER TO OBTAIN AND RETAIN DIVINE BLESSING, WE MUST KNOW THE SECRET OF SECURING IT. Isaacs knowledge of it is suggested by the words, He dwelt by the well Lahai-roi–the well of the Living, Seeing One. Have you no memory of a private room, or a sick bed, or a communion, when there came a flow of light and impulse into your heart, and Jesus appeared to be your life as never before? Do you never return in spirit to that scene, and endeavour again to refresh yourself with its intimations? The Lord who blessed you then is the same still. (D. G. Watt, M. A.)
A word for quiet people
1. After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac. What a contrast meets us as we turn to him. The longest lived of the patriarchs, yet what a little space he fills. Abraham has many chapters–so has Jacob, but Isaac has scarcely a single chapter to himself, this is the lesson of his life. We talk of most men because of their importance. I want to talk of Isaac because of his unimportance. His are the annals of a quiet life. God is the God of Abraham. Yes, we do not wonder at that–Abraham the hero, the warrior, the father and founder of great nations–the man of such gifts and such achievements. But God is the God of Isaac, too–the God of the quiet uneventful life. The heavenly Father hath room in His heart for all His children. He who maketh us to differ, loves us in all the separateness of our character.
2. Remember that Isaac is needed as well as Abraham. It is well that there should be some few men here and there, lifted up above the rest like the high hills that touch the sky. The sight of them is needful to refresh us, to expand our thought, to break the dead level of life, and to bring down blessings from heaven. But we need the quiet fields as well as the mountain heights–they give us the grass of the meadow and the corn of the valley. Earth has need of common people–and indeed most need of them. Some one said one day to Abraham Lincoln, referring to some prominent man, He is a common-looking person. Friend, said Abraham Lincoln, the Lord prefers common-looking people, that is why He has made so many of them. If folks were all splendid geniuses, whirling to heaven in chariots of fire, who would do the humdrum work of life? Let us learn to think rightly of common-place people, including ourselves. George Eliot preaches a needed gospel when she writes of one of her characters, He whose fortunes I have undertaken to relate was in no respect an ideal or exceptional character . . . a man whose virtues were not heroic, and who had no undetected crime within his heart; who had not the slightest mystery hanging about him, but was palpably and unmistakably common-place . . . But, dear madam, it is so very large a majority of your fellow-countrymen that are of this insignificant stamp. Yet these common-place people–many of them–bear a conscience, and have felt the sublime prompting to do the painful right; they have their unspoken sorrows and their sacred joys; their hearts have perhaps gone out towards their first-born, and they have mourned over the irreclaimable dead. Depend upon it you would gain unspeakably if you would learn to see more of the poetry and pathos, the tragedy and comedy, lying in the experience of a human soul that looks through dull grey eyes and that speaks in a voice of quite ordinary tones.
3. Remember the advantages of such a life. Isaac went into the field at eventide to meditate. Of such life, this is its distinction. If it have less of action, it certainly has more room for meditation. If it knows fewer things, yet it generally knows them better and deeper. If it has less glory and triumph, yet it has closer and steadier communion. If it cannot fight the Masters battles, it can sit at the Masters feet and learn of Him. The quiet life has its blessings. Down by the stream the little meadow lay; and it heard afar off the roar of the great city, and it saw the ruddy glare of its lights flung up against the murky sky. Alas! it sighed, how dull a life is mine! Yonder, in the city, with its thousands, one might do some good. But I am so far away and useless. But in the night time came the stars and sang to it–Foolish creature, we are thine in all our silvery brightness, we whom they scarcely see in the city. Then the dew fell and whispered to its heart–And I am thine, I that am of no use on the hard city ways. And up rose the sun and woke the flowers and painted them afresh, and it said–I am thine, I who have to fight with city fogs for many an hour yonder. And the meadow thought it had something to sing about after all, and the lark went soaring heavenward with music. But one day it heard some stray city sparrow tell a tale about the hungry little children, and the drunken men, and the wretched women, and about weary rich folks. And it grew sad again and said–What can I do down here, out of the way, and so common-place! Then came the breeze and it cried in a hurry, Quick! give us your freshness and fragrance that we may bless the crowded courts and streets, and it was off. And there came some that picked the flowers from beside the stream, and told how they should gladden many a weary heart, and smile upon sick children, and light up many a dreary home. Then the meadow sang a sweeter song than ever, and was glad that He who maketh all hath so much room for the quiet and unknown, and can turn these to such good account. God blessed Isaac.
4. Remember, again, that if quiet people do not go up so high as others, they do not go down so low. Happy is the nation whose annals are dull, said an authority. Think of Abraham and David and Elijah, and you will see that the life of Isaac has its compensations.
5. Again-there is a special beauty of character belonging to the quiet life. Take another of the few incidents in Isaacs life–that recorded in the sixty-seventh verse of the twenty-fourth chapter–And he brought
Rebekah into his mother Sarahs tent, and he loved her, and was comforted after his mothers death. The gentle heart grieving for his mother, and solaced by the love of Rebekah, is an aspect of the quiet life worth lingering over. These are the gifts with which the quiet people do enrich the world. We do not wonder now that God blessed Isaac.
6. Notice further–that the quiet life has its trials. We see it in the picture of the dim-eyed Isaac sitting in the tent door, bidding his son fetch for him the venison which his soul loved–an ease that breeds a self-indulgence is the besetment of the quiet life. It needs to be stirred up, and that sharply at times, and so there comes the famine, rousing him-making the somewhat sluggish life beat more vigorously. Bringing new wants that require new devices. Bringing new conditions that must be dealt with. No harvest ever did so much for Isaac as that famine. Yet another tendency of the quiet life is to fear and to cunning. We see it in Jacob the quiet man, the smooth man. But here in Isaac is the possibility. The story of the men of Gerar and Rebekah shows this tendency in Isaac. They who are weakest need most of all the help of God and have most room for it. They who have no other gifts must make the most of this.
7. Again, the quiet uneventful life has its victories–victories as brave and oftentimes alike more noble and complete than the victories of the warrior. Isaac pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar and dwelt there, and Isaac digged the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father (Gen 18:23). Then the Philistines came and stopped up the well. Ishmael would have fought for it, but that would have taken time and mens lives, and have established a feud between himself and his neighbours. And after all he would have had to dig out the well again. So it was a saving of trouble and time and of much else at once to dig the well. So he digged again, and the Philistines came and filled that also. Again he might have fought about that too–but all that made it worth while to dig before made it worth while to dig again. So he removed from thence and digged another well; and for that they strove not. He had got to Rehoboth–room. It is a good place to live, Rehoboth–where there is room for forgiveness and patience there is room for peace. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee. Where there is room for love there is room for God. Then came the kings and chief captains who had sent him away and won by his gentleness, they sought an alliance with him–We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, let there now be an oath betwixt us, and let us make a covenant with thee. Thou art now the blessed of the Lord. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. It was a great triumph of peace principles; as pure a victory as was ever won. So the quiet man was a hero all unbeknown to himself, and won a more noble victory then ever came of cruel bloodshed. These gentle souls have a mighty power, mightier than we reckon–like the silent stars that rule the darkness by shining. Lastly, let us remember that it was not Isaacs natural character that singled him out for distinction; but it was his relation to the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This was Abrahams greatness; and here was Isaac as great as Abraham. And herein is our greatness too. Not in what we are can we find our glory, but in Him, our Saviour and our King. (Mark Guy Pearse.)
Isaac
I. THE PERSONAL CHARACTER OF THIS MAN TAKES ROOT IN THE BLESSING OF GOD.
1. His natural life commences with a special benediction, for he was a child of promise.
2. Isaac had a remarkable dedication in his youth.
3. But it is now, when Abraham is dead, that he more largely receives the blessing.
4. More deeply impressed at the last than at the first, he solemnly prepares transmit that blessing which he had inherited.
II. THIS MANS MARKED INDIVIDUALITY GROWS UP AND SHAPES ITSELF IN THE GODLY HABITS OF A PROTRACTED LIFE.
1. His habit of thought.
2. His habit of dealing with men.
3. His habits at home.
III. THE MARKED INDIVIDUALITY OF THIS MAN IS SEEN IN THE AMPLE FRUIT WHICH IT BORE.
1. It is in Isaac that we get the best expression of patriotism.
2. Come within the radius of this mans influence, and you feel that he, too, in the best sense, was a man of the world.
3. But notably you feel in Isaacs case what is that influence which leads a man to make ample and timely disposition of his secular affairs, that he may give himself more fully to better things. (G. Woolnough, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. God blessed his son Isaac] The peculiar blessings and influences by which Abraham had been distinguished now rested upon Isaac; but how little do we hear in him of the work of faith, the patience of hope, and the labour of love! Only one Abraham and one Christ ever appeared among men; there have been some successful imitators, there should have been many.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac,…. Yet more and more, both with spiritual and temporal blessings; showing hereby, that, though Abraham was dead, he was not unmindful of his covenant, which should be established with Isaac, Ge 17:19:
and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi; which was near the wilderness of Beersheba and Paran, where Ishmael dwelt; so that they were not far from one another, see Ge 16:14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After Abraham’s death the blessing was transferred to Isaac, who took up his abode by Hagar’s well, because he had already been there, and had dwelt in the south country (Gen 24:62). The blessing of Isaac is traced to Elohim, not to Jehovah; because it referred neither exclusively nor pre-eminently to the gifts of grace connected with the promises of salvation, but quite generally to the inheritance of earthly possessions, which Isaac had received from his father.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Genealogy of Ishmael. | B. C. 1822. |
11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi. 12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 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, 14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, 15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. 17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. 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.
Immediately after the account of Abraham’s death, Moses begins the story of Isaac (v. 11), and tells us where he dwelt and how remarkably God blessed him. Note, The blessing of Abraham did not die with him, but survived to all the children of the promise. But he presently digresses from the story of Isaac, to give a short account of Ishmael, forasmuch as he also was a son of Abraham, and God had made some promises concerning him, which it was requisite we should know the accomplishment of. Observe here what is said, 1. Concerning his children. He had twelve sons, twelve princes they are called (v. 16), heads of families, which in process of time became nations, distinct tribes, numerous and very considerable. They peopled a very large continent, that lay between Egypt and Assyria, called Arabia. The names of his twelve sons are recorded. Midian and Kedar we often read of in scripture. And some very good expositors have taken notice of the signification of those three names which are put together (v. 14), as containing good advice to us all, Mishma, Dumah, and Massa, that is, hear, keep silence, and bear; we have them together in the same order, Jam. i:19, Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. The posterity of Ishmael had not only tents in the fields, wherein they grew rich in times of peace; but they had towns and castles (v. 16), wherein they fortified themselves in time of war. Now the number and strength of this family were the fruit of the promise made to Hagar concerning Ishmael (ch. xvi. 10), and to Abraham, Gen 17:20; Gen 21:13. Note, Many that are strangers to the covenants of promise are yet blessed with outward prosperity for the sake of their godly ancestors. Wealth and riches shall be in their house. 2. Concerning himself. Here is an account of his age: He lived 137 years (v. 17) which is recorded to show the efficacy of Abraham’s prayer for him (ch. xvii. 18), O that Ishmael might live before thee! Here is also an account of his death; he too was gathered to his people; but it is not said that he was full of days, though he lived to so great an age: he was not so weary of the world, nor so willing to leave it, as his good father was. Those words, he fell in the presence of all his brethren, whether they mean, as we take them, he died, or, as others, his lot fell, are designed to show the fulfilling of that word to Hagar (ch. xvi. 12), He shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren, that is, he shall flourish and be eminent among them, and shall hold his own to the last. Or he died with his friends about him, which is comfortable.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verse 11:
Lahairoi means “him that liveth and seeth me.” It appears first in Ge 16:14, as the site of God’s encounter with Hagar. Isaac likely lived here for quite some time.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
ISAAC. JACOB AND ESAU
Gen 25:10 to Gen 35:1-29
BEGINNING where we left off in our last study of Genesis, Isaac is the subject of next concern, for it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi. But we are not inclined to spend much time in the study of Isaacs life and labors. Unquestionably Isaac holds his place in the Old Testament record through force of circumstances rather than by virtue of character. His history is uninteresting, and were it not that he is Abrahams son and Jacobs father, the connecting link between the federal head of the Jews, and father of the patriarchs, he would long since have been forgotten.
Three sentences tell his whole history, and prove him to be a most representative Jew. He was obedient to his father; he was greedy of gain, and he was a gormand! He resisted not when Abraham bound him and laid him upon the altar. Such was his filial submission. At money-making he was a success, for he had possession of flocks and possession of herd, and great store of servants, and the Philistines envied him. His gluttony was great enough to be made a matter of inspired record, for it is written, Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, and when he was old and his eyes were dim, and he thought the day of his death was at hand, he called Esau and said,
My son**** take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field and take me some venison and make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die.
Think of a man preparing to sweep into eternity, and yet spending what he supposed to be his last moments in feasting his flesh!
I have no prejudice against the Jew. I believe him to be the chosen of the Lord. My study of the Scriptures has compelled me to look for the restoration of Israel, and yet I say that Isaac, in his filial obedience, his greed of gain and his gluttony of the flesh, was a type. And to this hour the majority of his offspring present kindred traits of character.
Yet Isaacs life was not in vain. We saw in our second study in Genesis that the man who became the father of a great people, who, through his offspring was made a nation, was fortune-favored of God. The greatest event in Isaacs history was the birth of his twin children, Esau and Jacob. It was through their behavior that his own name would be immortalized and through their offspring that his personality would be multiplied into a mighty people. I propose, therefore, this morning to give the greater attention to his younger son, Jacob, Gods chosen one, and yet not to neglect Esau whom the sacred narrative assigns to a place of secondary consideration. For the sake of simplicity in study, let us reduce the whole of Jacobs long and eventful life to three statements, namely, Jacobs shrewdness, Jacobs Sorrows, and Jacobs Salvation.
JACOBS SHREWDNESS.
In their very birth, Jacobs hand was upon Esaus heel, earnest of his character. From his childhood he tripped whom he could.
His deceptions began in the home. This same twin brother Esau, upon whose heel he laid his hand in the hour of birth, becomes the first victim of his machinations. He takes advantage of Esaus hunger and weariness to buy out his birthright, and pays for it the miserable price of bread and pottage. The child is the prophecy of the man. The treatment one accords his brothers and sisters, while yet the family are around the old hearthstone, gives promise of the character to come. The reason why sensible parents show such solicitude over the small sins of their children is found just here. They are not distressed because the transgressions are great in themselves, but rather because those transgressions tell of things to come. In the peevishness of a child they see the promise of a man, mastered by his temper; in the white lies of youth, an earnest of the dangerous falsehoods that may curse maturer years; in the little deceptions of the nursery, a prophecy of the accomplished and conscienceless embezzler.
There comes from England the story of a farmer who, finding himself at the hour of midnight approaching the end of life, sent hastily for a lawyer, and ordered him to quickly write his will. The attorney asked for pen, ink and paper, but none could be found. Then he inquired for a lead pencil, but a thorough search of the house revealed that no such thing existed in it. The lawyer saw that the farmer was sinking fast, and something must be done, and so casting about he came upon a piece of chalk; and taking that he sat down upon the hearthstone and wrote out on its smooth surface the last will and testament of the dying man. When the court came to the settlement of the estate, that hearthstone was taken up and carried into the presence of the judge, and there its record was read, and the will written upon it was executed. And I tell you that before we leave the old home place, and while we sit around the old hearthstone, we write there a record in our behavior toward father and mother, in our dealings with brother and sister, and servant, that is a prophecy of what we ourselves will be and of the end to which we shall eventually come, for the child is father to the man.
Jacob showed this same character to society. The thirtieth chapter of Genesis records his conduct in the house of Laban. It is of a perfect piece with that which characterized him in his fathers house. A change of location does not altar character. Sometime ago a young man who had had trouble in his own home, and had come into ill-repute in the society in which he had moved, came and told me that he was going off to another city, and when I asked Why? he said, Well, I want to get away from the old associations and I want to put distance between me and the reputation I have made. But when he went he carried his own character with him, and the consequence was a new set of associates worse than those from whom he fled, and a new reputation that for badness exceeded the old. It does not make any difference in what house the deceiver lodges, nor yet with what society he associates himselfthe result is always the same.
Parker, who was the real father of the Prohibition movement of Maine, testified that he had traveled into every state of the Union in an endeavor to overcome his drinking habits, and free himself of evil associates, and that in every state of the Union he failed. But, when God by His grace converted him and changed his character, he went back to his old home and settled down with the old associates and friends and not only showed them how to live an upright life, but inaugurated a movement for the utter abolition of his old enemy. If there is any man who is thinking of leaving his city for another because here he has been unfortunate, as he puts it, or has been taken advantage of by evil company, and has made for himself a bad reputation, let him know that removal to a new place will accomplish no profit whatever. As Beecher once said, Men do not leave their misdeeds behind them when they travel away from home. A man who commits a mean and wicked action carries that sin in himself and with himself. He may go around the world but it goes around with him. He does not shake it off by changing his position.
The Jacob who deceived Esau and had to flee in consequence, twenty years later, for cheating Laban and by his dishonest dealings, divorced himself from his father-in-law.
Jacobs piety was a pure hypocrisy. Now some may be ready to protest against this charge, but I ground it in the plain statements of the Word. In all his early years this supplanter seldom employed the name of God, except for personal profit. When his old father Isaac inquired concerning that mutton, Jacob was palming off on him for venison, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? the impious rascal replied, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. Think of voicing such hypocrisy! The next time Jacob employed Gods name it was at Bethel.
And Jacob vowed a vow saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I shall go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my fathers house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.
Satans charge against Job would have had occasion had he hurled it against this supplanter instead, Doth Jacob fear God for naught? When the frauds of this man had taken from Laban the greater part of his flocks and herds, and Labans sons had uttered their complaint of robbery, Jacob replied,
Ye know that with all my power I have served your father, and your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times. But God suffered him not to hurt me.
If he said, thus, the speckled shall be thy wages, then all the cattle bare speckled; and if he said thus, the ring straked shall be thy hire, then bare all the cattle ringstraked; thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father and given them to me. What hypocrisy! God had done nothing of the kind. This supplanter, by his knowledge of physiological laws, had enriched himself and robbed Laban, and when charged with his conduct, defended his fortune by the impious claim that God had given it all. I doubt if a man ever descends to greater depths of infamy than he reaches who cloaks bad conduct with pious phrases.
In a certain city a gentleman moved in and started up in business. He dressed elegantly, dwelt in a splendid house, drew the reins over a magnificent span, but his piety was the most marked thing about him. Morning and evening on the Sabbath day he went into the house of God to worship, and in the prayer meeting his testimonies and prayers were delivered with promptness and apparent sincerity. A few short months and he used the cover of night under which to make his exit, and left behind him a victimized host. Some time since our newspapers reported a Jew, who by the same hypocrisy had enriched himself and robbed many of his well-to-do brethren in Minneapolis. We have more respect for the worldling who is a gambler, a drunkard or an adulterer, than for the churchman who makes his church-membership serve purely commercial ends, and whose pious phrases are used as free passes into the confidence of the unsuspecting. It is a remarkable fact that when Jesus Christ was in the world He used His power to dispossess the raving Gadarene; He showed His mercy toward the scarlet woman; He viewed with pathetic silence the gamblers who cast dice for His own coat, but He assailed hypocrisy with the strongest clean invectives of which human language was capable, naming the hypocrites of His time whited sepulchers, a generation of vipers, children of Satan, and charged them with foolishness, blindness and murder. If Christ were here today, hypocrisy would fare no better at His lips, and when He was crucified again, as He surely would be, this class would lead the crowd that cried, Crucify Him! Crucify Him!
But enough regarding Jacobs shrewdness; let us look into
JACOBS SORROWS.
He is separated from his childhoods home. Scarcely had he and his doting mother carried out their deception of Isaac when sorrow smites both of them and the mother who loved him so much is compelled to say, My son, obey my voice and arise; flee thou to Laban, my brother, to Haran; and this mother and son were destined never to see each others face again. One of the ways of Gods judgment is to leave men to the fruits of their own devices. He does not rise up to personally punish those who transgress, but permits them to suffer the punishment which is self-inflicted. The law is Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. It is a law that approves every righteous act, and bestows great blessings upon every good man, but it is also a law that has its whip of scorpions for every soul that lives in sin. It is on account of this law that you cannot be a cheat in your home and be comfortable there. You simply cannot deceive and defraud your fellows and escape the consequences.
What was $25,000 worth to Patrick Crowe when every policeman in America and a thousand private detectives were in search of him? How fitful must have been his sleep when he lay down at night, knowing that ere the morning dawned the law was likely to lay its hand upon him, and how anxious his days when every man he met and every step heard behind him suggested probable arrest. What had he done that he was so hunted? He had done what Jacob did; he had come into possession of blessings which did not belong to him, and as Jacob took advantage of his brothers weariness and hunger and of his fathers blindness to carry out his plot, so this child-kidnapper took advantage of the weakness of youth, the affection of paternity, to spoil his fellow of riches. It is not likely that either Jacob of old or the kidnapper of yesterday looked to the end of their deception. Greed in each case blinded them, to the sorrows to come, as it is doing to hundreds of thousands of others today. But just as sure as Jacobs deception effected Jacobs separation from mother and father and home, similar conduct on your part or mine will plunge us into sorrows, for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.
In His adopted house Jacob encounters new difficulties. It is no more easy to run away from sorrow than it is to escape from sin. The man who proved himself a rascal in Minneapolis may remove to Milwaukee, but the troubles he had here will be duplicated in his new home. The shrewd man of Gerar, when he comes to Haran, is cheated himself. Seven hard years of service for Rachel, and lo, Leah is given instead. At Haran his wages were changed ten times, so he says. I have no doubt that every change was effected by some new rascality in his conduct. At Haran he was openly charged with deception and greed by the sons of Laban, and at Haran also he witnessed the jealousy that was growing up between Rachel, his best beloved, and Leah, the favored of God. So sorrows ever attend the sinner.
The man who comes to you in a time when you are tempted, to plead with you to deal honestly, to do nothing that would not have the Divine approval, no matter how great the loss in an upright course, is a friend and is pleading for your good. His counsel is not against success, but against sorrow instead. He is as certainly trying to save you from agonizing experiences as he would be if pleading with you not to drink, not to gamble, or even not to commit murder, for better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
It is at the point of his family he suffers most. We have already referred to the estrangement that grew up between Rachel and Leah. That was only the beginning. The baseness of Reuben, the cruelty of Simeon and Levi toward the Shechemites, the spirit of fratricide that sold Joseph into slavery; all of these and more had to be met by this unhappy man. A man never suffers so much as when he sees that his family, his wife and his children, are necessarily involved. Jacob expressed this thought when he prayed to God,
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him lest he will come and smite me and the mother with the children.
Ah, there is the quick of human lifethe mother with the children.
I know a man who has recently been proven a defaulter. His embezzlements amount to many thousands of dollars, so it is said, and they run back through a course of twenty years. In a somewhat intimate association with him I never dreamed such a thing possible. He was a sweet-spirited man, an affectionate father, a kind husband, a good neighbor, outwardly a loyal citizen and apparently an upright Christian. I do not believe at heart he was dishonest, and I know that he was not selfish. Since the press published his disgrace, I have been pondering over what it all meant and have an idea that he simply lacked the courage to go home and tell his wife and children that he was financially bankrupt, and that they must move into a plainer house, subsist upon the simplest food, and be looked upon as belonging to the poverty stricken; so he went on, keeping up outward appearances, possibly for the wifes sake and for the childrens sake, hoping against hope that the tide would turn and he would recover himself and injure none, until one day he saw the end was near, and the sin long concealed was burning to the surface, and society would understand. It plunged him into temporary insanity.
Young men who sin are likely to forget the fact that when they come to face the consequences of their behavior they will not be alone, and their sufferings will be increased by just so much as the wife and children are compelled to suffer.
Some time ago I read a story of a young man who had committed a crime and fled to the West. In the course of time he met a young woman in his new home and wooed and won her. When a little child came into his home, his heart turned back to his mother, and he longed to go back and visit her and let her meet his wife and enjoy the grandchild; and yielding to this natural desire, he went back. But ere a week had passed, officers of the law walked in and arrested him on the old charge. Alone he had sinned, but now his sufferings are accentuated a thousand-fold because his innocent wife must share them, and even the bewildered babe must untwine her arms from about his neck and be torn from her best-loved bed, his breast. The mother with the children! Ah, Jacob, you may sin by yourself, but when you come to suffer, you will feel the pain of many lives.
But, thank God, there came a change in Jacob. In finishing this talk I want to give the remaining space to
JACOBS SALVATION.
I believe it occurred at Peniel. Twice before God had manifested Himself to Jacob. But Jacob had received little profit from those revelations. On his way to Haran, God gave him a vision in the night a ladder set up on the earth the top of which reached up to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. When Jacob awakened out of his sleep he said, This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. But not all who come into the House of God, not all before whom Heavens gate opens; not all to whom the way of salvation is revealed are converted. That nights vision did not result in Jacobs salvation. After that he was the same deceiver.
Twenty-one years sweep by and Jacob is on his way back to the old place, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, This is Gods host. But not every man who meets the hosts of God is saved. Jacob is not saved. But when he came to Peniel and there in the night a Man wrestled with him, it was none other than Gods third appearance, and the Jacob who had gone from the House of God unsaved, who had met the hosts of God to receive from them little profit, seeing now the face of God, surrendered once for all. From that night until the hour when he breathed his last, Jacob the politician, Jacob the deceiver, Jacob the defrauder, was Israelthe Prince of God, whose conduct became the child of the Most High!
His repentance was genuine. Read the record of Gen 32:24-30, and you will be convinced that Jacob truly repented. In that wonderful night he ceased from his selfishness. He said never a word that looked like a bargain with God. He did not even plead for personal safety against angered Esau. He did not even beseech God to save the mother with the children, but he begged for a blessing. He had passed the Pharisaical point where his prayer breathed his self-esteem. He had come to the point of the truly penitent, and doubtless prayed over and over again as the publican, God be merciful to me a sinner. And when God was about to go from him he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. That is the best sign of genuine repentance.
In Chicago I baptized a young man who for years had been a victim of drink. For years also he had gone to the gambling house. Often he abused his wife and sometimes he beat the half-clad children. One day in his wretchedness he purchased a pistol and went into his own home, purposing to destroy the lives of wife and children and then commit suicide; but while he waited for the wife to turn her head that he might execute his will without her having suspected it, Gods Spirit came upon him in conviction and he told me afterwards that his sense of sin was such that in his back yard, with his face buried in the earth, he cried for Gods blessing. And I found that I was not so much convicted of drunkenness, or of gambling, or of cruelty, or even of the purpose of murder and suicide, as I was convicted of sin. I did not plead for pardon from any of these acts but for Gods mercy that should cover all and make me a man.
Read the 51st Psalm and see how David passed through a similar experience. His cry was, Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. And Jacobs cry was Bless me. It means the same.
His offer to Esau was in restitution. Two hundred she goats, and 20 he goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams; 30 milk camels with their colts; 40 kine and 10 bulls; 20 she asses and 10 foals; all of these he sent to Esau his brother, as a present. Present, did I say? No, Jacob meant it in payment. Twenty-one years before he had taken from Esau what was not his own and now that God had blessed him, he wanted to return to Esau with usury. It is the story of Zacchaeusrestoring four-fold. And the church of God has never received a better evidence of conversion than is given when a man makes restitution.
Some years ago at Cleveland a great revival was on, into which meeting an unhappy man strayed. The evangelist was talking that night of the children of Israel coming up to Kadesh-Barnea but turning back unblessed. This listener, an attorney, had in his pocket seven hundred dollars which he had received for pleading a case which he knew to be false, won only by perjured testimony, and the promise of $12,000 more should he win the case in the highest court. As the minister talked, Gods Spirit convicted him and for some days he wrestled with the question as to what to do. Then he counselled with the evangelist and eventually he restored the $700, told his client to keep the $12,000 and went his way into the church of God. I have not followed his course but you do not doubt his conversion. Ah, Jacob is saved now, else he would never have paid the old debt at such a price.
Thank God, also, that his reformation was permanent. You can follow this life now through all its vicissitudes to the hour of which it is written,
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost and was gathered unto his people.
You will never find him a deceiver again; you will never find him defrauding again. The righteousness of his character waxes unto the end, and Pharaoh never entertained a more honorable man than when he welcomed this hoary pilgrim to his palace. The forenoon of his life was filled with clouds and storms, but the evening knew only sunshine and shadow, and the shadow was not in consequence of sins continued but sorrows super induced by the sins of others.
It is related that when Napoleon came upon the battlefield of Marengo, he found his forces in confusion and flying before the face of the enemy. Calling to a superior officer he asked what it meant. The answer was, We are defeated. The great General took out his watch, looked at the sinking sun a moment and said, There is just time enough left to regain the day. At his command the forces faced about, fought under the inspiration of his presence, and just as the sun went down, they silenced the opposing guns.
Suppose we grant that one has wasted his early years, has so misspent them as to bring great sorrow. Shall such despair? No, Jacobs life illustrates the better way. His youth was all gone when he came to Peniel. But there he learned how to redeem the remaining days.
I saw by a magazine to which I subscribe that in Albemarle and surrounding counties of Virginia there are many farms that were once regarded as worn out, and their owners questioned what they could do with them, when somebody suggested that they sow them to violets. The violets perfumed the air, enriched the owner, and recovered the land. It is not too late to turn to God!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
(11) God blessed his son Isaac.With this general summary the Tldth Terah concludes, and no portion of Holy Scripture is more interesting or valuable; for in it the broad foundation is laid for the fulfilment of the protevangelium contained in Gen. 3:15, the progenitor of the chosen race is selected and proved on trial. and the preparation made for the giving of the Law, and for the growing light of prophecy, by the nearness wherewith Abraham walked with God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. God blessed Isaac This verse is a sort of appendix to Abraham’s death . The aged patriarch is buried, but the God of Abraham abides the God of Isaac, and ever lives to fulfil his word .
Lahai-roi See on Gen 16:14; Gen 24:62. After this new sorrow Isaac might well betake him to the place so memorably associated with his first meeting with his beloved Rebekah, who comforted him after his mother’s death.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 25:11-12. And it came to pass, &c. Moses here enters upon the history of Isaac and Ishmael; and having just mentioned the blessing, the spiritual blessing, continued to Isaac, he goes on to shew, that the temporal blessings promised to Ishmael were also fully accomplished.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
B.
ISAAC, AND HIS FAITH-ENDURANCE. Gen 25:12 to Gen 28:9
FIRST SECTION
Isaac and Ishmael
Gen 25:11-18
11And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and [but] Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi [wells of the quickener of vision].
12Now [and] these are the generations [genealogies, Toledoth] of Ishmael, Abrahams 13son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarahs handmaid, bare unto Abraham. And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their generations: the first-born of Ishmael, Nebajoth [heights; Nabathei, a tribe of Northern Arabia]; and Kedar 14[dark skin. An Arabian tribe], and Adbeel [miracle of God], and Mibsam [sweet odor]. And Mishma [hearing, report, what is heard], and Dumah [silence, solitude], and Massah [bearing, burden, 15 uttering what is said], Hadar [inner apartment, tent], and Tema [desert, uncultivated region], Jetur 16[Seven? a nomadic village], Naphish [recreation], and Kedemah [eastward]; These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns [fixed abodes], and by their castles; 17twelve princes according to their nations. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael: an hundred and thirty and seven years; and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. 18And they dwelt from Havilah [a region of Arabia inhabited by the descendants of Joctan, upon the eastern boundary of the Ishmaelites] unto Shur [a place east of Egypt, in the borders of the desert], that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward [in the direction of] Assyria: and he died6 in the presence of all his brethren [he settled eastward of all his brethren].
GENERAL REMARKS
See the remarks upon the previous section.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Gen 25:11. Isaac after the death of Abraham.God blessed Isaac.The blessing of Abraham continues in the blessing of Isaac; this is manifested in his welfare and prosperity, or rather in a grateful consciousness which refers his welfare to the kindness of God. We read: Elohim blessed Isaac; for Isaac, as future ancestor of Edom and Jacob, sustained now a universal relation. In earthly respects Edom is Isaacs heir as well as Jacob, or even by preference.By the well Lahai-roi.By the well of Hagar. According to Gen 35:27, Jacob met his aged father Isaac at Hebron. Doubtless this city bore the same relation from the time of Abraham onwards; Hebron was the principal residence, Beer-sheba the principal station for overseeing their flocks. At this station Isaac, as steward of his father, had already taken up his abode, and in consequence of his love of solitude and seclusion he became so fond of it that now he dwelt here regularly, without yielding up the principal residence at Hebron; he even moved his tent from Beer-sheba farther into the deep solitude of Hagars well.
2. Gen 25:12-16. The Toledoth of Ishmael. [Upon the documentary hypothesis, each of these phrases marks the beginning of a new document. But if we are to regard each of these documents as the work of a separate author, then this author contributes only seven verses to the narrative. This is obviously running the theory into the ground, and shows how unreasonable it is to regard these phrases as indicating any change of author. They open new themes or sections of the history.A. G.] Here also it is obvious that the Toledoth of Genesis does not begin the separate section of the history, but frequently concludes them. In Genesis 4, 5 the first human race, together with the Toledoth of Adam, is dismissed from history. So is it also in Genesis 10, in respect to the heathen nations, descendants of Japheth, Ham, and Shem. Ch. 11 dismisses the more theocratic Shemites, together with their Toledoth. In Gen 22:20, the Nahorites, the last of the Shemites and nearest to Abraham, retire from the history, just as the Haranites, or Lot and his descendants in Gen 19:36; and as the Abrahamites descending from Keturah, in Genesis 25; and in our section the Ishmaelites. After the close of the history of Isaac the Edomites, Gen 36:1, etc., appear. The theocracy permits no branch of the human race to vanish out of its circle of vision without fixing it in its consciousness. In Gen 37:2 Jacob also retires into the background as compared with the history of his sons. With the Toledoth of Ishmael comp. 1Ch 1:28-31.Whom Hagar the Egyptian.Besides the names of the twelve sons of Ishmael that here present themselves, there occurs also (1Ch 5:10) the name of the Hagarites, Ishmaelites called after the mother, whose name is no doubt assumed in one or more of the names before us. In respect to the frequent occurrence of the name Hagar in Arabic authors, see Knobel, p. 211.Nebajoth and Kedar.Delitzsch: The names of the twelve sons of Ishmael are in part well known. Nebajoth and Kedar are not only mentioned together in Isa 60:7, but also by Plin.: Hisi. Nat., 6, 7 (Nabati et Cedrei; Kaidhr and Nbat (Nabt) are also known to Arabian historians as descendants of Ishmael. In respect to the meaning of the word Nabatans, both in a stricter and a more comprehensive sense, as also in regard to their abodes in Arabia Petrea and beyond, see Knobel, Delitzsch, Keil.The Kadarenes, described Isa 21:17 as good bowmen, lived in the desert between Arabia Petrea and Babylonia (Isa 42:11; Psa 120:5). The Rabbins use their name to denote the Arabians in general. Knobel.Adbeel and Mibsam.In respect to these names, as well as to that of Kedma, we can only reach conjectures (see Knobel).Mishma (Septuagint and Vulgate: Masma).Connected by Knobel with of Ptol., Gen 6:7; Gen 6:21. In Arabic authors we have beni Mismah.Duma.Probably Dumath al Djendel, on the border between Syria and Babylonia.Massa.Apparently the same as , on the northeast side of Duma according to Ptol., Gen 5:19; Gen 5:2.Hadar (a more correct reading, 1Ch 1:30, is , as compared with the maritime country Chathth, famous among the ancient Arabians on account of its lances), between Omam and Bahrein. For further information see Knobel, etc.Hadar is taken together with Thema, which Knobel connects with of Ptolemy, on the Persian Gulf, or with the Arabic banu Teim, a celebrated tribe in Hamasa, probably different from the Tema, Isa 21:14; Jer 25:23; Job 6:19.Jetur, Naphisch (see 1Ch 5:18).Neighbors to the Israelites on the east side of Jordan. Knobel refers Jetur to the Iturans. The present Druses are probably their descendants. Kedma.As a separate Arabic tribe we can only refer it, in its narrower sense, to , who in Jdg 6:3; Jdg 6:33; Jdg 7:12, are distinguished from other Arabians, and must have dwelt in the vicinity of the country east of Jordan. Perhaps they are the same with those enumerated with the Moabites and Ammonites in Isa 11:14 and Eze 25:4; Eze 25:10. Knobel. The sons of the East in a more comprehensive sense denotes the Arabians generally, the Saracens.By their towns, and by their castles, i.e., their movable and fixed habitations.Twelve princes according to their nations (Lange renders to their nations).The translation, according to their nations, can only mean, as moulded, determined by their nations. We hold, therefore, the expression to mean: twelve princes chosen for governing and representing their twelve tribes.
3. Gen 25:17-18. The death of Ishmael and the expansion of the Ishmaelites.The years of the life of Ishmael.This hale man attained only an age of a hundred and thirty-seven years, while on the contrary, the more delicate appearing Isaac reaches the age of a hundred and eighty years. Possibly the natural passions of the one consumed life sooner; no doubt also the quiet, peaceful, believing disposition of the other, exercised a life-prolonging influence. Ishmael dies, the Ishmaelites spread themselves abroad.From Havilah unto Shur.Havilah, see Gen 10:29. Knobel: From Chaulan in the south to the eastern boundary of Egypt. Schur. From Egypt to the east in the direction of Assyria. According to Josephus: Antiq. i. 12, 4, the Ishmaelites dwelt from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.In the presence of all his brethren, i.e., Hebrews, Edomites, and the children of Keturah. If we understand by Havilah the Chaulotans on the boundary of Arabia Petrea (Keil), we must assign a different meaning to these words. Keil: From southeast to southwest. Knobel: From southeast to northwest. Delitzsch: The capital of the Ishmaelitic tribes was Hezaz, situated south of Yemen. From this they spread themselves to the west side of the Siniaitic peninsula, and still further in a northerly and northeasterly direction beyond Arabia Petrea and Deserta to the countries under Assyrian sway. [He died. He had fallen into the lot of his inheritance. The Heb. word includes the idea of a deliberate settlement, and an assertion by force of his rights and possessions. Thus the promise uttered before his birth was now fulfilled.A. G.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Ishmael in his development precedes Isaac, as Esau precedes Jacob, as the world gets the start of the kingdom of heaven. It looks well for the development of Ishmael that he buries his father in company with his brother Isaac, though the latter had been preferred to him.
2. The twelve princes of Ishmael are also mentioned as witnesses that God has faithfully fulfilled his promises concerning their ancestor. The Arabs, too, count twelve sons of Ishmael.
3. The Ishmaelites, the germ of the Arabic people in its historic significance. The country of Arabia. Its history. Mohammed. The mission of the Mohammedans. The mission among the Mohammedans. Since Ishmael did not subject himself to Israel, he has become subject to the Turk.
4. Ishmaels genealogy seems to have been preserved in the house of Isaac, just as Therahs in the house of Abraham, or as the genealogy of the nations in house of Shem. The fathers house does not lose the memory or the trace of the lost son.
5. How the blessing of Abraham descends upon Isaac. The hereditary blessing in the descendants of Abraham, an antithesis to the hereditary curse in the descendants of Adam generally. The inclination to solitude in the life of Isaac. The nature, rights, and limit of contemplation. Contemplative characters. History of a contemplative life.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See Doctrinal and Ethical.Isaac the blessed son of a blessed father. The great divine miracle, that the blessing of a saving faith was preserved in one line (in spite of all partial obscurations) from Adam to Christ.Isaacs inclination to solitary contemplation.Perhaps he believed already that a special blessing was confined to that particular place, the well of vision.That Isaac selected Hagars well as a favorite spot, testifies to the nobility of his soul (for Hagar was the rival of his mother, and Ishmael was her son).Ishmaels death; or the robust often die before the feeble.From Ishmael, a child once languishing and perishing from thirst in the wilderness, Gods providence made a great (world-conquering) nation.We may in fact best comprehend the patriarchal triad by regarding Abraham as constituting especially an example of faith, Isaac an example of love, Jacob an example of hope. We have prominently presented to us the still more predominating features: the man of the deeds of faith, the man of the sufferings of faith, the man of the struggles of faith.
Starke: The temporal blessing (of Isaac) a prelude: a. As an earnest for the whole land of Canaan; b. as a type and pledge of the eternal and spiritual blessing of salvation in Christ.Misma, Duma, Masa. From these three names, meaning: hearing; silence, patience, the Hebrews formed the proverb: We must hear many things, keep secret many things, and suffer many things.(The Ishmael ites called Hagarites after Hagar. In later times they preferred to be called Saracens, after Sarah, as if dwelling in the tents of Sarah.)
Ver, 17. Some cite this to prove the happy death of Ishmael, some to prove the contrary. Luther does not wish to decide, but leaves it with God
Gen 25:18. (Psa 112:2.)What God promises he will surely perform. Let us only have faith in his promises (Gen 17:20; Gen 21:13).Bibl. Wirt.: People of no note may become eminent and distinguished persons if it is Gods will (Gen 41:40-43).
Lisco: Ishmael becomes the ancestor of the Bedouins of Arabia; these, therefore, and the Edomites descending from Esau, are the nations nearest related to the Hebrews,Calwer Handbuch: The fathers blessing descends upon the children.After Abraham, that hero of faith, had gone to his rest, Isaac appears in the foreground of the history. In his character love appears predominant, the less powerful and independent love, or love itself with its weaknesses. He appears as a gentle, pliable link between Abraham and Jacob, possessing neither the manly strength of the father nor of the son. Nevertheless, he wears an amiable aspect, which, when closely viewed, immediately wins our affections. He does not make his appearance as a fictitious and an artfully embellished personage, but as a historical character; so much so, that his faults appear in the foreground, whilst his good qualities fall into the background and lie concealed to the superficial observer. Isaac is of a predominantly kind nature, and therefore appears reserved, outwardly, but inwardly and really, frank.Schrder: As to the character of Abraham and Isaac, see pp. 442 and 443. With Abraham, who, as father of the faithful, was to begin the long line of believing souls, and in whose peculiar form of life their life was to have its way prepared, everything is vigorous and peculiarly independent. With Isaac, on the contrary, who only continues this line, everything appeared perfectly arranged, just as it is with Joshua in relation to Moses, etc.(Hengstenberg: However, we must not mistake the peculiar characteristics of Isaac, Joshua, Elisha.)It seems to me, one might know that he is the son of a dead body, but on this very account is he eminently a gift of God (Ziegler).Could the memory of the knife drawn over him by the hand of the father ever become extinguished in the mind of the son? Perhaps this affords us a partial solution of his life and character (Krumm.).Let us not overlook the fact that he was the only monogamist among the patriarchs, remaining satisfied with his Rebekah. Abrahams piety descends as an heritage to Isaac, therefore the grace of God also descends upon Isaac (Val. Herberger)The dwelling of Isaac at a place so important in the life of Ishmael (Hagars well), attests his friendly relation to his step-brother.Gathered unto his people. A beautiful and charming description of immortality. We are now living among the gross people of this world, who seek but little after God, yea, in the very kingdom of the devil. But when we depart from this wretched life, we shall die peacefully, and be gathered unto our people, and there will be no distress, no misery, no tribulation, but peace and rest. (Luther).
Footnotes:
[6][Gen 25:18.Lit., he fell down, or it fell to him.A. G.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 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, And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.
Ishmael’s children become heads of nations. See Gen 17:18 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 25:11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.
Ver. 11. Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. ] This had been his oratory, where he had formerly found God; Gen 24:62 and he loved it the better ever after.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
well. Hebrew. beer. See note on Gen 21:19.
Lahai-roi. Compare Gen 16:14; Gen 24:62.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
after: Gen 12:2, Gen 17:19, Gen 22:17, Gen 50:24
La-hai-roi: Gen 16:14, Gen 24:62
Reciprocal: Gen 24:35 – the Lord Gen 26:1 – And Isaac
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 25:11-12. God blessed Isaac For the blessing of Abraham did not die with him, but was perpetuated to his posterity, and especially to the children of the promise. The generations of Ishmael God had made some promises concerning him, and this account of his posterity is given that we may know the accomplishment of them. He had twelve sons, the names of whom are here recorded; two of them, Midian and Kedan, we often read of in Scripture. They are termed twelve princes, Gen 25:16, or heads of families, which, in process of time, became nations, numerous, and very considerable. And his posterity had not only tents in fields, wherein they grew rich in time of peace, but they had towns and castles, wherein they fortified themselves in times of war. Their number and strength were the fruit of the promise made to Hagar, concerning Ishmael, Gen 16:10; and to Abraham, Gen 17:20; Gen 21:13.