This verse tells what kind of person the child will be and what will become of him.

He shall be a wild ass of a man: the wild ass or donkey is described in Job 39.5-8 as being free, untameable, living in the open desert. Here it is Ishmael’s style of life as a free and fearless Bedouin tribesman that is pictured in the expression wild ass of a man. Good News Translation “your son will live like a wild donkey” expresses the thought well.

If this expression is translated literally, it is possible that readers will focus on some inappropriate feature of it, such as eating grass, or having hooves and long ears. Or they may understand some quite inappropriate figurative meaning from it, such as being stubborn or stupid. Also in some areas these animals are unknown. It may be possible to substitute another suitable wild animal; but perhaps it will be preferable to shift to a more general expression and say, for example, “He will live like a wild animal.” If this is inappropriate, it may be necessary to say, for example, “He will live with no one able to control him,” “Nobody will be able to tell him what to do,” or “He will be ruled by no one.”

His hand against every man: the use of hand in this clause and the following one suggests conflict, violence, opposition, or, as Good News Translation says, “he will be against everyone.” The sense may also be expressed in terms of fighting; for example, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch say “he will battle with everyone.” Other translations have “he will be an enemy to everybody” or “he will not be friends with anybody.”

This line is completed in Hebrew by the reciprocal and every man’s hand against him; that is, “and everybody will fight against him.” The manner of phrasing is due to the repetitive poetic structure and may require adjustments in some languages. For example, it may not be necessary to repeat that “everybody will fight against him.”

And he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen: this line is probably intended to be parallel to the two clauses before it. Here, however, kinsmen is a more limited term than every man (Hebrew “all”); literally it is “brothers,” but here again the term includes other relatives. Translations differ in their understanding of over against, which is literally “in the face of” or “in front of.” Furthermore, this expression as used in 1 Kgs 11.7 has the sense of “to the east of.” Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, interpret “in the face of” to mean “separated from,” and so Good News Translation has “He will live apart from all his relatives.” On the other hand New English Bible, Revised English Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt understand the expression to refer to living as an enemy of his relatives. New English Bible, Revised English Bible, New Revised Standard Version say “He will live at odds…,” New Jerusalem Bible “in defiance of,” New International Version “in hostility,” Moffatt “defying all his kinsmen.” The later group of translations has the advantage of making this line more parallel with what comes before it and is recommended to translators. One example of the way this is expressed in translation is “… and he will not stay peacefully with his relatives.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .