Genesis 16:12

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ¹  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ² 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ³ 

He will live away from ⁴  his brothers.”

Genesis 24:10

24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. ⁵  He journeyed ⁶  to the region of Aram Naharaim ⁷  and the city of Nahor.

Genesis 24:54

24:54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. ⁸ 

When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” ⁹ 

Genesis 26:8

26:8 After Isaac ¹⁰  had been there a long time, ¹¹  Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed ¹²  Isaac caressing ¹³  his wife Rebekah.

Genesis 32:11

32:11 Rescue me, ¹⁴  I pray, from the hand ¹⁵  of my brother Esau, ¹⁶  for I am afraid he will come ¹⁷  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ¹⁸ 

[16:12]  ¹ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ² tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ³ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[24:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and every good thing of his master was in his hand.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, explaining that he took all kinds of gifts to be used at his discretion.

[24:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

[24:10]  ⁷ tn The words “the region of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:54]  ⁹ tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”

[24:54]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”

[26:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and it happened when the days were long to him there.”

[26:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “look, Isaac.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene through Abimelech’s eyes.

[26:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “fondling.”

[32:11]  ¹⁷ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

[32:11]  ¹⁸ tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

[32:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

[32:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

[32:11]  ²¹ sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.