What does Genesis 25:12 mean?
Genesis 25, coming at the end of Abraham's life and the beginning of God's blessing on and through Isaac, takes some time to establish the genealogies of all of Abraham's sons. The verses following this one will describe the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's son with Hagar. Hagar had been Sarah's Egyptian handmaid until, at Sarah's urging, Abraham had married her in hopes of finally producing an heir. The pregnancy that resulted, however, led to pain for all involved and not to the child of promise, as they had hoped (Genesis 16; 21:9–21).Still God blessed Ishmael in many ways, as He seems to have done for all the sons of Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3).