Genesis 10:11

10:11 From that land he went ¹  to Assyria, ²  where he built Nineveh, ³  Rehoboth-Ir, ⁴  Calah, ⁵ 

Genesis 10:22

10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, ⁶  Asshur, ⁷  Arphaxad, ⁸  Lud, ⁹  and Aram. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 25:18

25:18 His descendants ¹¹  settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next ¹²  to Egypt all the way ¹³  to Asshur. ¹⁴  They settled ¹⁵  away from all their relatives. ¹⁶ 

[10:11]  ¹ tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.

[10:11]  ² tn Heb “Asshur.”

[10:11]  ³ sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.

[10:11]  ⁴ sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.

[10:11]  ⁵ sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.

[10:22]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.

[10:22]  ⁷ sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.

[10:22]  ⁸ sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.

[10:22]  ⁹ sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.

[10:22]  ¹⁰ sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.

[25:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:18]  ¹² tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.

[25:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “as you go.”

[25:18]  ¹⁴ sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.

[25:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he fell.”

[25:18]  ¹⁶ 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.