Genesis 25:18

From Havilah unto Shur. The location of Havilah is uncertain (see on Genesis 2:11). For this reason the eastern extent of the Ishmaelite dominion in Arabia cannot be determined. Its western border was Shur (Genesis 16:7; 20:1), not far from the land of Egypt.

As thou goest toward Assyria. This does not mean that the Ishmaelite domain extended as far as Assyria, in Mesopotamia, but rather its extension in a general northerly direction. The Ishmaelites therefore bordered on Egypt in the west and Havilah to the southeast and extended some distance northward into the north Arabian Desert.

He died in the presence of all his brethren. Naphal, “to fall,” here translated “died,” may also mean “to encamp,” as an army (Judges 7:12, 13), and “to divide,” as an inheritance (Psalm 78:55). The expression, “He died in the presence of all his brethren,” should be translated in harmony with the prediction of Genesis 16:12, “he settled over against [close by] all his people” (RSV).