Génesis 25:18 Comentario: Rashi, Rashbam, Kli Yakar & Radak

נפל (literally, he fell) means ‘‘he dwelt”, as (Judges 7:12) “Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all children of the East dwelt (נופלים) in the valley.” Here it says “He fell” and there (16:12) it says “In the presence of all his brethren shall he dwell”. But it may be explained thus: before Abraham died it could be said “He would dwell in security: after he died, “he fell” (Genesis Rabbah 62:5).

THEY CAMPED [LIT.: FELL] ALONGSIDE ALL THEIR KINSMEN. They dwelt, as it is written (Gen. 16:12), "He will dwell alongside all his kinsmen."

“He fell before all his brothers.” Later it states he shall dwell (Genesis 16:12). Rashi explains that before Abraham died, he shall dwell, but after Abraham died, he fell. However, if we accept that Ishmael repented after Abraham’s death — since we don’t find that he repented except in the instance where he led Isaac before him — then logically it should have been the opposite: during Abraham’s life he should have fallen, not after his death, since he later repented, so why should he fall? Look to the right and observe:“fell [nafal]” refers to the past, while “shall dwell [yishkon]” refers to the future. Therefore, its true interpretation must be that fell refers to the past — before he repented, and shall dwell refers to the future — indicating that he would dwell after his repentance. We can also interpret “fell” as an expression of submission, as it is the way of all who submit to fall before others. Just as he began to fall before Isaac — even though Isaac was younger than him, he nevertheless led him and submitted to him — so too he submitted before all his brothers, which is the meaning of “falling.” This also resolves Rashi’s difficulty: before he repented, he shall dwell because he had not yet submitted, but after he repented, he fell — meaning he submitted before all his brothers, and this falling was his rectification.