I would desire a request of you. — Not unfrequently the magnanimity which has just stood firm under a great trial succumbs to a weaker one. His case did not exactly resemble that of Abraham (Genesis 14:21-23), but it would have been better for his glory if he had acted in a similar spirit.
The earrings of his prey. — Nezem means a ring which, sometimes at least, was worn, especially by women, in the nose (Genesis 24:47; Isaiah 3:21; Ezekiel 16:12; Job 42:11). In the absence of any regular currency, these gold rings served as a sort of coinage.
Because they were Ishmaelites. — “Ishmael-ites” and “Midianites” occur as convertible terms in Genesis 37:28.