Genesis 37:28

37:28 So when the Midianite ¹  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ²  him ³  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ⁴  then took Joseph to Egypt.

Genesis 37:36

37:36 Now ⁵  in Egypt the Midianites ⁶  sold Joseph ⁷  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ⁸ 

Genesis 16:11-12

16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ⁹  pregnant

and are about to give birth ¹⁰  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ¹¹ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ¹² 

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ¹³  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ¹⁴ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ¹⁵ 

He will live away from ¹⁶  his brothers.”

Genesis 25:1-4

The Death of Abraham

25:1 Abraham had taken ¹⁷  another ¹⁸  wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. ¹⁹  The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants ²⁰  of Keturah.

Genesis 25:16-18

25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princes ²¹  according to their clans.

25:17 Ishmael lived a total of ²²  137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. ²³  25:18 His descendants ²⁴  settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next ²⁵  to Egypt all the way ²⁶  to Asshur. ²⁷  They settled ²⁸  away from all their relatives. ²⁹ 

Genesis 31:23

31:23 So he took his relatives ³⁰  with him and pursued Jacob ³¹  for seven days. ³²  He caught up with ³³  him in the hill country of Gilead.

Psalms 83:6

83:6 It includes ³⁴  the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites, ³⁵ 

[37:28]  ¹ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

[37:28]  ² tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).

[37:28]  ³ tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

[37:36]  ⁶ tc The MT spells the name of the merchants as מְדָנִים (mÿdanim, “Medanites”) rather than מִדְיָנִים (midyanim, “Midianites”) as in v. 28. It is likely that the MT is corrupt at this point, with the letter yod (י) being accidentally omitted. The LXX, Vulgate, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac read “Midianites” here. Some prefer to read “Medanites” both here and in v. 28, but Judg 8:24, which identifies the Midianites and Ishmaelites, favors the reading “Midianites.”

[37:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁸ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.

[16:11]  ⁹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ¹⁰ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ¹¹ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ¹² tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[16:12]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ¹⁶ 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).

[25:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “took.”

[25:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”

[25:3]  ¹⁹ sn The names Sheba and Dedan appear in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Ham through Cush and Raamah. Since these two names are usually interpreted to be place names, one plausible suggestion is that some of Abraham’s descendants lived in those regions and took names linked with it.

[25:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “sons.”

[25:16]  ²¹ tn Or “tribal chieftains.”

[25:17]  ²² tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”

[25:17]  ²³ tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.

[25:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[25:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “as you go.”

[25:18]  ²⁷ sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.

[25:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he fell.”

[25:18]  ²⁹ 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.

[31:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[31:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[31:23]  ³² tn Heb “and he pursued after him a journey of seven days.”

[31:23]  ³³ tn Heb “drew close to.”

[83:6]  ³⁴ tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[83:6]  ³⁵ sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.