Genesis 16:12

12. He will be a wild man Hebrews, a wild ass man, that is, a man like the wild, free, untamable creature described in Job 39:5-8, that makes the wilderness his dwelling, and “scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver . ” Hagar is to be the mother of a numerous and mighty race, but not of the chosen seed . Her progeny were to become the lawless rovers of the desert . “The character of the Ishmaelites, or the Bedouins,” observes Kalisch, “could not be described more aptly or more powerfully . They have preserved it almost unaltered during three or four thousand years . Against them alone time seems to have no sickle, and the conqueror’s sword no edge. They have defied the softening influences of civilization, and mocked the attacks of the invader. Ungovernable and roaming, obeying no law but their spirit of adventure, regarding all mankind as their enemies, whom they must either attack with their spears or elude with their faithful steeds, and cherishing their deserts as heartily as they despise the constraint of towns and communities; the Bedouins are the outlaws among the nations.”

His hand… against every man Such a wild and lawless race could never be at peace with a civilized community, and hence, whenever there is any contact with other peoples, there is continual discord. They are also known to have constant feuds among themselves.

In the presence of all his brethren The brethren here are doubtless to be understood of other descendants of Abram, especially those by Keturah, (see Genesis 25:1-4,) and the fact that the descendants of Ishmael have ever occupied the deserts south and east of Palestine is to serve in interpreting these words . Many critics understand the phrase in the presence of as equivalent to east of, a meaning which the words will bear . The persons of whom the words are thus used are supposed to be looking toward the sunrise . But the expression may with equal propriety be used in the sense of contiguity . The Ishmaelites occupied the country in front of the Hebrews, bordering on the south and east, and especially dwelt in immediate proximity to the Midianites, Edomites, and other descendants of Abram .