And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.
They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria. Havilah [Septuagint, Euilat] was a country of great extent, the exact site of which, however, it is not easy to determine; but it lay along the borders of Arabia Felix and Arabia Petraea (see the note at Genesis 10:29). "Shur" probably denotes here the last Arabian town on the northeast of the Red Sea before entering Egypt, "as thou goest toward Assyria - i:e., in the direction of Assyria-so that the region principally frequented by the Ishmaelites was the whole of northern Arabia, from the Persian to the Arabian Gulf. 'Havilah and Shur formed the southeastern and southwestern boundaries of the territories of the Ishmaelites, from which they extended their nomadic excursions toward the northeast, as far as the districts under Assyrian rule, traveling the whole of Arabia Deserta' (Keil).
And he died in the presence of all his brethren. This version makes a needless repetition of what was stated in the preceding verse respecting Ishmael's death; and so also does that of Dr. Arnold ('Ishmael; or, Natural History of Islamism'), 'he fell opposing all his brethren,' implying that he was slain in some tribal contest. It is more accordant with the tenor of the first clause in this verse to render the last, instead of "he died," 'he settled,' or 'encamped' [since the verb naapal (H5307) signifies, Judges 7:12, "in the presence of all his brethren;" and this is the view taken by the Septuagint, kai kata prosoopon pantoon toon adelfoon autoiu katookeese], 'he dwelt in the presence of all his brethren. The clause is thus the recorded filfillment of the prediction (Genesis 16:13); while, as Havernick has remarked, 'it leaves us at liberty to suppose that Ishmael may have had other sons, who did not, however, attain to the rank of phylarchs.'