| Subject: Genesis 25 vss. 11-18 Post 129 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 20:00:10 04/12/10 Mon
Genesis 25:11-18 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. 12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, 15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. 17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. 18 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.
Abraham now being dead the "baton" passes to Isaac but before the narrative turns to Isaac God sees fit to show the fulfillment of His promise to Hagar concerning her son Ishmael. Twelve princes come from the loins of Ismael (Gen. 17:20, 25:16) just as twelve "princes" (Num. 1:44) come forth from the loins of Jacob a few years down the road. Ismael lives to a ripe old age of 137.while Isaac will live to 180.(Gen. 35:28) Verse 16 tells us that the 12 princes of Ishmael were honored in that they had castles in their own towns. I would suspect that the nations mentioned would either be something like a fiefdom within a greater nation or the nations would be small like we would think of counties today. The Hebrew word itself is translated in three different ways in the Bible. These three are "people", nation and tribe. The latter translation would probably closer to our understanding today of what their nation consisted of. In verse 17 we are told that Ishmael gave up the ghost and was gathered to his people. His people would be those in line from Abraham back. The wording would imply that he died in favor with God just as Abraham died in favor with God and was gathered to his people in verse 8.
The dwelling places of the 12 princes of Ishmael is given as from Havilah to Shur, that is before Egypt. This would indicate Northwest Arabia to the Sinai. While the Arabians sprang from Ishmael we are given relatively little information that would let us nail down which nations today could be associated with certain of the 12 princes of Ishmael.
One other item of interest concerning the 12 is the number itself. There are 12 tribes, twelve apostles, and twelve princes of Ishmael. If you count the names of the sons of Adam (excluding Cain who was of that wicked one: 1 John 3:12) you have 12 names listed as sons of Adam in 1 Chronicles 1:1-4 1. Sheth (Seth), 2. Enosh (Enos), 3. Kenan (Cainan), 4.Mahalaleel, 5. Jered (Jared), 6. Henoch (Enoch), 7.Methuselah, 8.Lamech, 9.Noah, 10.Shem, 11. Ham, and 12. Japheth. These 12 are all born before the flood. Going down a little further in 1 Chron. we are given the names of those considered to be the "Fathers" or Patriarchs after the flood with the exception of Ishmael who is included as a son of Abram. When Jacob is added as a son of Isaac you have 12 Patriarchs. 1. Shem, 2. Arphaxad, 3.Shelah, 4. Eber, 5. Peleg, 6. Reu, 7. Serug, 8.Nahor, 9. Terah, 10.Abram (Abraham) 11. Isaac, and 12. Jacob which is not listed with these..
Jacob then has 12 sons which become the 12 tribes of Israel. They would be considered "princes" just as the 12 sons of Ishmael were. They are: 1.Reuben, 2. Simeon, 3.Levi, 4. Judah, 5. Issachar, 6. Zebulun, 7. Dan, 8. Joseph, 9.Benjamin, 10. Naphtali, 11. Gad, and 12. Asher.
Other "twelves" of note are: The 12 signs of the zodiac. There are 12 months in the year. Twelve foundation make up the foundations of the Holy City, New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14) and there are twelve Gates of Pearl with 12 angels at the gates (Rev. 21:12). There are twelve thousand of each of the twelve tribes sealed in the tribulation (Rev. 7) and there are over twelve legions of angels mentioned by Jesus at His disposal (Matt. 26:53). New Jerusalem is 12,000 furlongs (Rev. 21:16) and the wall of the city is 12 X12 cubits or 144 cubits high. The "molten sea" in the Temple had 12 Oxen holding it up (1 Kings 7:25).
I'm sure that if a thorough search of the scriptures was carried out you could find many more instances of the number 12. I don't profess to know what all this means but you can be assured that the number 12 has great significance with God.
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