Let us begin by isolating the 12 sons according to the names they are given in Genesis 25:13-18:
"And these [are] the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael,
(1) Nebajoth
(2) Kedar
(3) Adbeel
(4) Mibsam
(5) Mishma
(6) Dumah
(7) Massa
(8) Hadar
(9) Tema
(10) Jetur
(11) Naphish
(12) Kedemah
These [are] the sons of Ishmael, and these [are] their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. 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. 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." Genesis 25:13-18
The same account is given here:
"These [are] their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael,
(1) Nebaioth
(2) Kedar
(3) Adbeel
(4) Mibsam
(5) Mishma
(6) Dumah
(7) Massa
(8) Hadad
(9) Tema
(10) Jetur
(11) Naphish
(12) Kedemah
These are the sons of Ishmael." I Chronicles 1:29-31
There are only two different renderings of spelling from the first account.
Nabajoth, which in Chronicles is listed as
Nabaioth and
Hadar, which in Chronicles is listed as
Hadad. Taking that into account, we're going to watch the Biblical record of each individual son as far as the Word will take us. Once that's complete, it will force us into asking a few extrabiblical questions that are necessary for figuring out both geography and modern relevance.
(1) Nebajoth/Nebaioth, First Prince and First Son of Ishmael
"Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife." Genesis 28:9
"Now these [are] the generations of Esau, who [is] Edom. Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth. And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;" Genesis 36:1-4
According to the text, we are introduced to two of
Nebajoth's sisters (i.e. - daughters of Ishmael). These two daughters,
Mahalath and
Bashemath, become the wives of Esau. Now, let's be clear about this. Ishmael is Esau's uncle (a half-brother to Isaac). In other words, when Esau takes Ishmael's daughters, he is taking two of his cousins to be his wives.
From
Bashemath (the second daughter), we follow the child
Reuel (Genesis 36:4). Keep in mind that while this particular lineage is from Ishmael, it is not exactly from the twelve sons. Since we are tracing lines from Ishmael, however, it's invariably worth our time to continue following wherever we can.
"And these [are] the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife." Genesis 36:13
"And these [are] the sons of Reuel Esau's son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these [are] the dukes [that came] of Reuel in the land of Edom; these [are] the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife." Genesis 36:17
Reuel, Ishmael's grandson, has four sons:
Duke Nahath, Duke Zerah, Duke Shammah, and
Duke Mizzah. This information can also be found here:
"The sons of Reuel; Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah." I Chronicles 1:37
Nahath, Ishmael's great grandson whose name means "rest," has very little recorded other than his part in the lineage.
Zerah, Ishmael's great grandson whose name means "rising," has the following written about him.
"And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead." Genesis 36:33
He was born in Bozrah, known as a fortress of palaces, which was located in one of two possible Bible locations: Moab or Edom. The reason we can narrow it down to one of the two geographic regions is because of the following two verses:
"Who [is] this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this [that is] glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Isaiah 63:1
"And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near." Jeremiah 48:24
Down the line, we see prophecy destine both Edom and Moab for an end of destruction. But Bozrah seems to be a primary location of such desolate intent.
"For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes." Jeremiah 49:13
"Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs." Jeremiah 49:22
"But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah." Amos 1:12
Earlier, in Genesis 36:33, we found
Zerah, this second son of
Reuel and great grandson of Ishmael, has fathered
Jobab.
Jobab was, by generations, the reigning King of Edom and likewise, Edom is the central region where Esau and his children eventually settled. Thus we know by lineage that
Jobab's great grandfather was Esau and his great great grandfather was Ishmael. So it makes more logical sense that Edom would have been the location of Bozrah (rather than Moab, the alternative).
For the sake of visualization, the following image should provide a fairly strong idea of where these major locations were:
Edom is quite a large land mass to the south of the Jordan River. Its capital is Petra. And by what we've just deduced, Bozrah in Edom is the birth home for Ishmael's great grandson Zerah. However, so we don't too quickly lose sight of Reuel's third and fourth son, let's get back on track and continue.
Shemmah, Ishmael's great grandson whose name means "astonishment" and/or "desolation," has nothing written about him.
Mizzah, Ishmael's great grandson whose name means "fear," also has nothing written about him.
While these do not trace the descendants of Nebajoth (or Nebaioth, first of the twelve princes mentioned as the son of Ishmael), they do offer a connection between Nebajoth and his closest sister. Nebajoth/Nebaioth comes from the Hebrew word, "nuwb," which means "to bear fruit and flourish." The exact translation of his name means "heights" or "high places."
"All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory." Isaiah 60:7
Other than that, we see very little in the direct lineage of Ishmael's firstborn beyond his two sisters. And without much more to go on, we can, at the very least, note the intermarriage of Esau with the daughters of Ishmael. Since neither Esau nor the daughters of Ishmael are, in themselves, relevant to the Hebrew geneology, it's fair to conclude that Edom is not necessarily the home of Ishmael's firstborn son and his children (for we really do not know where they went). All we know is that the sisters of Nebajoth/Nabaioth intermarried with Esau's family and thereby ended up settling in the land of Edom. Whether Nebajoth/Nebaioth went with his sisters is unknown.
(2) Kedar, Second Prince and Second Son of Ishmael
One might find that Kedar is most extraordinary because his name means "black skinned" or "dark" and comes from the Hebrew word
qadar, which means "to mourn or be dark." However, it's not unreasonable to consider the firm possibility that the darkness does not refer to skin tone, but instead refers to his state of mind. Generally, however, children are named upon their coming forth from the womb and it seems likely that Kedar was named for his appearance just as Esau was named for his (Genesis 25:25). Furthermore, it is likely that Solomon's beloved wife, for whom he wrote the Song of Solomon, was a descendant of Kedar. In the opening, she describes herself as such:
"I [am] black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I [am] black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; [but] mine own vineyard have I not kept." Song of Solomon 1:5-6
To be fair, the mention of Kedar in the above verses does not exclusively mean that Solomon's lover was of Kedar lineage. Based on the passage alone, the woman describes the "blackness" of her skin as the result of a beating sun when she was "keeper of the vineyards." She concludes this thought by saying that she has not kept her own vineyard... that is, her own body. It is for this reason that she wonders if Solomon would have cause to notice her.
So while the passage above is somewhat vague, we do know the following about Kedar and his descendants:
"For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:" Isaiah 21:16
Firstly, they were a glorious group. That is, they were quite a remarkable body of people to observe.
"And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it]." Isaiah 21:17
Secondly, they were mighty men. Archers of great number.
"Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up [their voice], the villages [that] Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains." Isaiah 42:11
Third, they inhabited the mountains with their villages. It is, however, the following two verses that lay out their location more geographically.
"Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east." Jeremiah 49:28
"Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these [were they] thy merchants." Ezekiel 27:21
Kedar and his sons would become the "men of the east" and thus the great nation of Arabia. Out of Arabia, we find a couple of Biblical truths.
"Beside [that which] chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon." II Chronicles 9:14
Israel and Arabia had an economic trading relationship.
"And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert," Jeremiah 25:24
The kings and princes of Arabia dwell in the desert.
So it's fair to say that while we cannot follow a list of names for whom Kedar's geneology might be traced, we can and do see a geographic placement for their settlement. They were in the desert mountains of the east and as such, became rather nomadic in their freedoms to trade, practice archery, and understand warfare enough to become great and mighty men.
(3) Adbeel, Third Prince and Third Son of Ishmael
Apart from being the third noted son of Ishmael, all we know is that his name means "chastened/miracle of God" and the latter "el" to his name suggests a man of great strength. One might assert that his lack of further mention indicates that he may have inhabited the land of a fellow brother in the same way that Nebajoth/Nebaioth may have resided near to the land of his sisters.
(4) Mibsam, Fourth Prince and Fourth Son of Ishmael
Apart from being the fourth noted son of Ishmael, all we know is that his name means "sweet odor" and that it stems from the word "besem" under which we recognize the spice that comes out of Balsam Trees. Interestingly enough, the Balsam Trees around today are a very grand fir tree through which we might think of the Christmas season. Mibsam is named, perhaps in theory, by the notion that he was born in the midst of these trees.
There is, at the very least, an interesting correlation between Balsam Trees and Mulberry Trees (though neither are even remotely identical) that can be found here:
"And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; [but] fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines." II Samuel 5:23-24
Resources indicate that the Baca Tree (Hebrew) is noted simply for the fact that when cut, it drips sap. As a result, we see the King James Bible translate this as Mulberry Trees while several other translations go in the direction of Balsam Trees. If indeed, these are the same, and we're seeing a tie between Philistine residence and such trees, then it's not horribly far-fetched to consider that Mibsam could have been born in midst of Balsam/Mulberry Trees in the region of the Philistines (that is, Philistia). The birth names of the ancient world were rarely chosen at random.
As you can see, Philistia is located to the southwest of Israel. But any reasonable student of Scripture should admit that this is nothing more than speculation and should not constitute the exact or even the remote location of Ishmael's fourth son.
(5) Mishma, Fifth Prince and Fifth Son of Ishmael
Apart from being the fifth noted son of Ishmael, all we know is that his name means "hearing" and comes from the same word which is understood to be referring "rumour" or the "thing heard." We have no further information on his lineage.
(6) Dumah, Sixth Prince and Sixth Son of Ishmael
Dumah offers a little bit more insight into territorial geography. His name means "silent" and stems from a Hebrew word,
duwmah, which means "a place of silence." This "place of silence" is referred to allegorically by David when he says:
"Unless the LORD [had been] my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence." Psalm 94:17
"The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." Psalm 115:17
An association is made between this
duwmah and the depths of Hades. But for the sake of
Dumah himself, it's more important that we isolate the primary city to which he was ACTUALLY associated.
"The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come. The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim." Isaiah 21:11-13
Quite possibly these are two different burdens and Arabia ought not be connected to Dumah, but unquestionably, Seir has a relevant consideration in the land of Edom...
"And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which [is] by the wilderness." Genesis 14:6
"And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom." Genesis 32:3
"Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir." Genesis 33:14
"So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir." Genesis 33:16
"Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau [is] Edom. And these [are] the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:" Genesis 36:8-9
"These [are] the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these [are] the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom." Genesis 36:20-21
"Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these [are] the dukes [that came] of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir." Genesis 36:30
"And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly." Numbers 24:18
"Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days." Deuteronomy 2:1
"And command thou the people, saying, Ye [are] to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau [for] a possession." Deuteronomy 2:4-5
"And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab." Deuteronomy 2:8
"The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them." Deuteronomy 2:12
"As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:" Deuteronomy 2:22
"(As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us." Deuteronomy 2:29
"And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery law for them." Deuteronomy 33:2
"[Even] from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them." Joshua 11:17
"And these [are] the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel [for] a possession according to their divisions;" Joshua 12:7
"And the border compassed from Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim, which [is] Chesalon, on the north side, and went down to Bethshemesh, and passed on to Timnah:" Joshua 15:10
"And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." Joshua 24:4
"LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water." Judges 5:4
Seir is the mountainous region that spans from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea creating the western border of Edom. Originally, the land had been inhabited by the Horites, but the Lord gave Esau the power to overcome them and take over the land. Thus, Edom became the new residence of the Seir Mountains. If you recall from the earlier map of Edom, the map below shows an estimated location of Seir and thereby indicates that they were close in proximity:
Based on Isaiah 21, we have every reason to believe that Dumah took residence with the Edomites and henceforth resided with his descendants.
(7) Massa, Seventh Prince and Seventh Son of Ishmael
Apart from being the seventh noted son of Ishmael, all we know is that his name means "burden" and could easily have been named because of the "burden" he caused his mother in childbirth. Again, this is purely speculation and offers little to no assessment on where he took his family.
(8) Hadar/Hadad, Eighth Prince and Eighth Son of Ishmael
Apart from being the eighth noted son of Ishmael, all we know is that his name means "honour" and "mighty." This follows suit with other brothers who were known as mighty men. Records indicate that he possibly fit the bill of yet another Edomite King among the twelve, but much of this is speculative.
(9) Tema, Ninth Prince and Ninth Son of Ishmael
Gesenius's Lexicon points out that Tema became known as a country and nation in the northern part of the Arabian desert on the borders of the desert of Syria. Tema's name, in fact, mean "desert" and we see such characteristics of his name here:
"The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them." Job 6:19
"The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled." Isaiah 21:13-14
In a desert land, the people of Tema are identified as troops and those who provided water to the thirsty. Of all the groups mentioned thus far, they seem to be the most civilized and prepared for the aid of their extended family.
(10) Jetur, Tenth Prince and Tenth Son of Ishmael
Jetur, by definition, means "enclosed." What's even more provocative is that his sons appear to have been erased, along with Naphish (the 11th son) during a God-supported raid against them by the Hebrew tribes of Manasseh and Reuben.
"The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, [were] four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war. And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab." I Chronicles 5:18-19
It's tough to figure out where exactly the family of Jetur were residing before they were abolished except for the possiblity that Manasseh took over the area where they had been previously located.
"And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baalhermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon." I Chronicles 5:23
If this is the former location of Jetur and his brother Naphish, then before they went to war with Manasseh and Reuben, they had resided from Bashan (east of the Jordan River) unto Baalhermon and Senir (both of a similar location to the northernmost border of the Promised Land).
So it would appear that Jetur had established himself along with his family in the midst of the promised land where the Israelites were told to inhabit. Thus, they were removed from their land and never returned again (at least, not according to our biblical records). By his very name, "enclosed," we might speculate that the tribes of Israel "enclosed" Jetur's descendants so that they could not escape or move on to another area.
(11) Naphish, Eleventh Prince and Eleventh Son of Ishmael
The same fate seems true for Naphish as it was for Jetur in that they resided in the same lands that Manasseh took over. The only contrast is that Naphish carries the name meaning of "refreshment" and perhaps offers some insight into the goings and comings of David's army in the following scenario:
"And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. And the king, and all the people that [were] with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there." II Samuel 16:14
The same Hebrew word,
naphash, is used in the text when David's men need to "refresh" themselves. The fact that they "refreshed" themselves in a specific location ("there") denotes the strong possibility that it may have also been a specific region named after the eleventh prince of Ishmael. This might give us an idea about the kind of land that Naphish would have inhabited before war was brought upon them.
(12) Kedemah, Twelfth Prince and Twelfth Son of Ishmael
Absolutely nothing is said of Kedemah other than his being the final addition to the family. His name means "original" and this may follow suit with his being either the first or the last born son in the family (or, at the very least, last mentioned in the list). Some might argue that if he is the original in the family, then he is the first. I suppose that's up for speculation.
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