References (11)
And these are the names of Ishmael's [twelve] sons, according to their names, in the order of their birth. Ishmael's firstborn
Nevajot
and Kedar
and Adbeel
and Mivsam
This is their family tree:
Nevajot, Ishmael's firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, and Mibsam,
Woe is me, for I dwell in Meshech [far to the north],
I live among the tents of Kedar [in the Arabian desert southeast of Israel].
[Meshech is the name of the descendants of Noah who lived in the north, either in northern Israel or in the region of Armenia. Their names are often mentioned together with Tubal and Magog, see The word means to pull up like a fish from the water or a root from the ground, or to draw a track, to draw a line. But it can also mean a seed or a possession.
Kedar was Ishmael's son, see . The word means "dark." By specifying areas in the north and east, the psalmist shows how he is like a nomad, away from the land.]
I am black (sunburned) [having worked outdoors], but beautiful—you daughters of Jerusalem,
[black] like the [dark] tents of Kedar [woven from black goat hair],
[beautiful] like Solomon's curtains (tents).
For thus the Lord (Adonai) has said to me: "Within a year, as a hired [careful] counts years, the glory of Kedar [area in northern Arabia] shall fall,
and the remnant of the number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, shall be diminished, for the Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel (Elohim), has spoken."
Let the desert and its cities raise their voices,
the villages where Kedar dwells [a nomadic tribe in northern Arava between Edom and Babylon],
let the inhabitants of Selah [the capital of Edom, probably present-day Petra] rejoice,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
All the flocks of Kedar [in the Arabian desert, east of Syria] shall be gathered to you,
the deer of Nebaioth [east of Jordan] shall be available as sacrifices.
They shall be sacrifices that bring mercy (conditional mercy – Hebr. ratson) on my altar,
when I glorify my majestic temple.
[Both Nevajot and Kedar were sons of Ishmael, see . They were nomads and shepherds who settled east of the Jordan River. In Assyrian records of military campaigns, Kedar (called Qidri/Qadri there) is mentioned. In an account of a military campaign, Ashurbanipal (reigned 669-632 BC) boasts about the sheep, donkeys, and camels he took as spoils from Kedar, see also .]
Go [west] to the islands of the Kittim [Cyprus] and see [ask if this has happened],
and send [someone eastward] to Kedar [the Bedouin tribes in the desert of Syria, see ; ; ] and [ask them] to investigate carefully,
and see if such a thing has happened there.
To Qedar and to the kingdom of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, defeated. Thus says the Lord (Yahweh):
Arise, go up against Qedar
and destroy the sons of the east.
The Arabs and all the princes of Kedar were your merchants, with lambs, rams, and goats; in this they were your merchants.
