“in hostility to.” This phrase in Hebrew has two meanings. It is literally more like, “over against,” and it means either “in close proximity to,” or “in hostility to,” or both. We think both meanings are meant, and that is certainly the way the history of the Arab tribes has played out. They usually live quite close to each other, and they have been at war off and on throughout history. The fact that they were at war fit better with the statement that Ishmael would be a wild donkey of a man, thus “in hostility to” is the better translation (Cp. commentary on Gen. 25:18).