Smoodock's Blog

Esau was the father of the Edomites. He was the firstborn and favorite son of Isaac, but he lost his birthright and its accompanying blessings to his brother Jacob. At first, he sought to slay Jacob, because of his treachery, planning to fulfill his desire immediately after their father’s death. However, Isaac was 137 years old at the time, and he would live another 43 years. Nevertheless, Jacob fled to Haran from his brother, but after twenty years, Esau’s anger cooled, and the two brothers embraced, as Esau welcomed Jacob back to the Land of Canaan. Although both Esau and Jacob dwelt in Canaan, Esau also dwelt in the Land of Seir, south and east of Mamre, where his father, Isaac sojourned. Finally, however, the Land of Canaan couldn’t hold both Jacob and Esau, because the numbers of their cattle grew too large for the land to support. Therefore, Esau retired to Sier, and made that land his own (Genesis 36:6-8). So, although Jacob inherited both the birthright and the blessings of Abraham, Edom was blessed with riches also, and was satisfied (cp. Genesis 33:9-11).

Esau married at the age of forty (Genesis 26:34), as did Isaac, his father (Genesis 25:20). He chose his wives from the Canaanites, but they were offensive to both Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 27:46; 28:6). The names of his wives from Canaan were: Judith (called Adah in Genesis 36), the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Bashemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, but her name is Aholibamah in Genesis 36, and she is called a Hivite there.

Years later, when he discovered that Isaac wasn’t pleased with his wives, Esau chose a wife among the daughters of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, and her name was Mahalath (Genesis 28:8-9), but her name in Genesis 36 is Bashemath. The differences in names and tribes in Genesis 36 from their earlier appearances is explained in various ways. The women could have had two names, one appearing in Genesis 36, but the other in the earlier chapters. The differences in tribe could be explained in that mother and grandmother were of different tribes in Canaan etc. The point is, we aren’t given enough information to understand the whole picture.

We are given two records in chapter 36. The first takes up eight verses (Genesis 36:1-8), and the descendants of Esau are:

The second record begins in Genesis 36:9 and continues to the end of the chapter. However, it contains more than one genealogy. First, we have the descendants of Esau repeated:

Secondly, we have the descendants of Seir, the Horite listed. He initially inhabited the land in which Esau came to dwell. His descendants are:

Next, we are given the names of the kings who descended from Esau. These kings reigned in different cities in Edom, and they reigned before the children of Israel had a king (Genesis 36:31). The names of the Edomite kings are:

The names of the dukes or tribal leaders that descended from Esau were: Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, Aholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, Iram (Genesis 36:40-43). They dwelt in the land of Edom, the land of their possession. Esau is the father of the Edomites.

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[1] The name Korah among Eliphaz’s descendants (Genesis 36:16) may be in error. It is absent from the Samaritan text, but present in LXX and the Targum Onkelos. Nevertheless, he may be a tribal leader who arose out of Eliphaz’s sons, and, therefore, would not have been mentioned as a son of Eliphaz (Genesis 36:11-12).