And Jokshan begot Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
3. Sheba Dedan ] These places have already been mentioned by P in a different connexion (Gen 10:7). The identity of the names illustrates the fact, that there were different Israelite traditions explaining the relation of the different members of the Hebrew-speaking families.
Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim ] These plural names are noticeable as obviously denoting, not individuals, but peoples. The Asshurim are probably to be connected with the “Asshur” (R.V. “Assyria”) of Psa 83:8, and possibly with the mention of Asshur in the present chapter ( Gen 25:18) and in Num 24:22. In both instances, an allusion to obscure tribes on the Arabian borders of Palestine is more suitable than to the Assyrian empire.
Ephah ] Cf. Isa 60:6, “the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah,” a passage confirming the probability that the present group of names is Arabian.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. Sheba] From whom sprang the Sabeans, who robbed Job of his cattle. See Bochart and Calmet.
Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.] We know not who these were, but as each name is plural they must have been tribes or families, and not individuals. Onkelos interprets these words of persons dwelling in camps, tents, and islands; and Jonathan ben Uzziel calls them merchants, artificers, and heads or chiefs of people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan,…. Bochart o is of opinion, that the posterity of this Sheba are the same with the Sabeans who inhabited at the entrance of Arabia Felix, not far from the Nabathaeans; and who, by Strabo p, are mentioned together as near to Syria, and used to make excursions on their neighbours; and not without some colour of reason thought to be the same that plundered Job of his cattle, Job 1:15. From Dedan came the Dedanim or Dedanites, spoken of with the Arabians in Isa 21:13; Junius thinks Adada in Palmyrene of Syria had its name from this man, and in which country is the mountain Aladan or Alladadan. Bochart q more probably takes Dedan, a city in Idumea, to derive its name from him. There is a village called Adedi in the country of the Cassanites, a people of Arabia Felix, which Ptolemy r makes mention of, and seems to have some appearance of this man’s name:
and the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim; these names being plural are thought not to be proper names of men, but appellatives, descriptive of their places of abode, or of their business: hence the Targum of Onkelos represents them as such that dwelt in camps, in tents, and in islands; and the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call them merchants, artificers and heads of the people: however, Cleodemus s the Heathen historian is wrong in deriving Assyria from Asshurim, whom he calls Ashur; since Assyria and Assyrians are so called from Ashur, the son of Shem, Ge 10:22.
o Phaleg. l. 2. c. 9. col. 227. p Geograph. l. 16. p. 536. q Phaleg. l. 4. c. 6. col. 219. r Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 6. c. 7.) s Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. 9. c. 20. p. 432.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Of the sons of Jokshan, Sheba was probably connected with the Sabaeans, who are associated in Job 6:19 with Tema, are mentioned in Job 1:15 as having stolen Job’s oxen and asses, and, according to Strabo (xvi. 779), were neighbours of the Nabataeans in the vicinity of Syria. Dedan was probably the trading people mentioned in Jer 25:23 along with Tema and Bus (Isa 21:13; Jer 49:8), in the neighbourhood of Edom (Eze 24:15), with whom the tribe of Banu Dudan, in Hejas, has been compared. On their relation to the Cushites of the same name, vid., Gen 10:7 and Gen 10:28, – Of the sons of Dedan, the Asshurim have been associated with the warlike tribe of the Asir to the south of Hejas, the Letushim with the Banu Leits in Hejas, and the Leummim with the tribe of the Banu Lm, which extended even to Babylon and Mesopotamia. Of the descendants of Midian, Ephah is mentioned in Isa 60:6, in connection with Midian, as a people trading in gold and incense. Epher has been compared with the Banu Gifar in Hejas; Hanoch, with the place called Hanakye, three days’ journey to the north of Medinah; Abidah and el-daah, with the tribes of Abide and Vadaa in the neighbourhood of Asir. But all this is very uncertain.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(3) Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan.But Sheba and Dedan are also described as the sons of Raamah, the son of Cush (Gen. 10:7). We have here proof that these genealogies are to a certain extent geographical, and that whereas these districts at first were peopled by a Hamitic race, they were subsequently conquered by men of the Semitic stock, who claimed Abraham for their ancestor. Most probably, therefore, we ought not to regard Sneba and Dedan as the names here of men. As men they were the sons of Raamah, but when the sons of Jokshan wrested these two countries from the family of Cush, they called them sons of their progenitor, because the dominant portion of the population had sprung from him. They appear as countries in Jer. 6:20; Jer. 49:8; Eze. 25:13; Eze. 27:15; Eze. 27:22; Eze. 38:13, &c.
Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.These are certainly not the names of men, but of the three tribes into which the Dedanites were divided.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.
Was not this typical of Christ’s fulness? Joh 3:35 ; Col 1:19
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 25:3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
Ver. 3. No Text for this verse.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
am cir, 2180, bc cir, 1824
Sheba: 1Ki 10:1, Job 6:19, Psa 72:10
Dedan: Jer 25:23, Jer 49:8, Eze 25:13, Eze 27:20
Asshurim: 2Sa 2:9, Eze 27:6
Reciprocal: Gen 10:28 – General 2Ch 9:1 – Sheba Job 1:15 – Sabeans Psa 83:8 – Assur Isa 21:13 – O ye Isa 60:6 – all Eze 27:15 – Dedan Eze 27:23 – Sheba