Chapter 36

1 Esau’s three wives. 6 His removing to mount Seir. 9 His sons. 15 The dukes which descended of his sons. 20 The sons and dukes of Seir. 24Anah findeth mules. 31 The kings of Edom. 40 The dukes that descended of Esau.

1. The generations of Esau. This chapter consists essentially of a number of name lists dealing with the descendants of Esau and of Seir the Horite, whose families had intermarried. The first verse is the title given by Moses to the collection as a whole.

2. Esau took his wives. The names of Esau’s three wives as here given differ from those of the previous list (chs. 26:34; 28:9). In one instance the father’s name and nationality vary also.

ch. 26:34

ch. 36:2

Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite

Aholibamah, daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon the Hivite

Bashemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite

Adah, daughter Elon the Hittite

ch. 28:9

ch. 36:3

Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebajoth

Bashemath, daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebajoth

Differences between the two lists are easily accounted for. (1) In harmony with an ancient Oriental custom still followed by the Arabs, a man may be known by different surnames at successive periods of his life, each name being based on some important experience or event. Abram, for instance, became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, and Esau became Edom (chs. 17:5, 15; 35:10; 25:30). As a rule women received new names at marriage, a custom that would account for the differences in the names of two of Esau’s wives. (2) In the case of Judith and Aholibamah, the name of the wife, together with that of her father and his nationality, differs. As a rule childless wives are not mentioned in genealogical lists. It is therefore to be inferred that Judith died childless and Esau married a Hivite woman in her stead (cf. ch. 34:2). Aholibamah means “tent of the high place,” Anah, “answering,” Adah, “ornament.” The name Zibeon may possibly be related to the Hebrew word for hyena, but since he was a Hivite, his name may not have been Semitic at all. For the meanings of the other names, see the references as li

4. Adah bare. Five sons (see 1 Chron. 1:35) were born to Esau in Canaan by his three wives named in Gen 36:2, 3. The names are distinctly Semitic and reveal, in part, that Esau still clung in some degree to the religion of his fathers. Eliphaz the name also of one of Job’s friends (Job 2:11; etc.), may mean “strength of God.” Reuel, meaning “friend of God,” was also one of the names of Moses’ father-in-law (Ex. 2:18). The meaning of Jeush, though somewhat obscure, may be “whom Jehovah hastens.” The same name was afterward given by King Rehoboam to one of his sons (2 Chron. 11:19). Jaalam may mean either “whom Jehovah hides” or “he ascends.” Korah means “baldness.” A Levite by this name became the father of a famous family of singers (see Ps. 42–49, title).

6. Esau took his wives. After subduing the Horites and occupying their territory, the land of Seir, Esau moved his family there and made it his permanent home (see Deut. 2:12, 22). It seems that he did so voluntarily, perhaps on the suggestion of Isaac, since he was either already settled there or at least subduing the region when Jacob returned (Gen. 32:3; 33:14–16). Isaac may have planned that Esau inherit his property, and Jacob the title to the Promised Land, as an arrangement for bringing Jacob home from Haran. After Jacob and Esau had settled their differences near the river Jabbok, this arrangement proved mutually satisfactory.

Into the country. Inasmuch as the words “into the country” or “into the land,” without an explanation as to what land or country is meant, seem a bit unusual, it may be that the name “Seir” or “Edom” (cf. Gen. 36:16) has been lost from the text. Some versions read, “into the land of Seir.” On the other hand, the following phrase may express all that Moses intended to say. The two phrases together would then read, “into a land away from his brother Jacob,” as in the RSV.

9. The generations of Esau. Through his sons and grandsons, listed in vs. 10–14, Esau became the father of the Edomite nation, whose home was the hill country of Seir. In the cases of Adah and Bashemath, who bore only one son each, the tribes were founded, not by the sons, but by the grandsons; but in Aholibamah’s case her three sons were considered the founders.

11. Teman. The name later given to a locality in Idumaea (Jer. 49:20), and borne by one of Job’s friends (Job 2:11).

Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. Nothing is known about these grandsons of Esau through Adah.

12. Timna. Timna was a sister of Lotan the Horite (v. 22); hence, it is apparent that the family of Esau intermarried with the Horites. This may have provided the sons of Esau with a pretext for seizing Horite land and expelling its ancient inhabitants (Deut. 2:12).

Amalek. Ancestor of the Amalekites, who attacked the Israelites at Horeb on their way out of Egypt (Ex. 17:8–16). Mention of “the country of the Amalekites” in Gen. 14:7 does not necessarily imply their existence in Abraham’s time, but may refer simply to the region inhabited by them when the book of Genesis was written. Balaam’s expression “first of the nations” (Num. 24:20) does not represent Amalek as the aboriginal or oldest tribe, but simply as the first heathen tribe to attack Israel, or perhaps the strongest or most warlike of the desert tribes. Had there been an Amalek—and Amalekites—previous to Edom, considering their important role in opposition to Israel at the time of Moses, we might reasonably expect to find him giving their genealogy, as he does of all others of equal importance to Israel.

At a very early period the Amalekites separated from the other tribes of Edom and formed an independent people, whose home was in the Negeb, in the vicinity of Kadesh (ch. 14:7; Num. 13:29; 14:43, 45). As a nomadic tribe, however, they roamed over the northern portion of Arabia Petraea, from Havilah to Shur on the border of Egypt (1 Sam. 15:3, 7; 27:8). One branch of the tribe even penetrated to the heart of Canaan, so that a range of hills in what later became the inheritance of Ephraim bore the name “mount of the Amalekites” (Judges 12:15; 5:14). Those who settled in Arabia seem also, in the course of time, to have separated into several branches, for Amalekite hordes sometimes joined the Midianites and the “children of the east” (Judges 6:3; 7:12), and at other times the Ammonites (Judges 3:13), on invasions into the land of Israel. They were defeated at various times by Saul (1 Sam. 14:48; 15:2–9) and by David (1 Sam. 27:8; 30:1–20; 2 Sam. 8:12), and were finally exterminated by Hezekiah (1 Chron. 4:42, 43).

13. Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. Nothing is known concerning these grandsons of Esau.

15. The dukes. The Hebrew word Хaluph, more accurately “prince” or “chief,” was apparently the title taken by Edomite and Horite tribal leaders. Since the related word Хeleph means “thousand,” some scholars have understood Хaluph to be a military title meaning “captain of a thousand” (see Jer. 13:21). In postexilic Hebrew the term came to be applied to Jewish chiefs or governors (Zech. 9:7; 12:5). The names of these “dukes” are not primarily place names as some commentators have suggested. They are, rather, the three sons and ten grandsons of Esau already mentioned in Gen. 36:9–14. In both lists (vs. 9–14 and 15–19) Korah appears as a son of Esau (vs. 14 and 18). In the second list (v. 16) Korah appears also as a grandson of Esau (a son of Eliphaz), but not in the first list (v. 11). Otherwise, the two lists are comparable. Korah’s name is not found in v. 15 of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which had a separate existence after the Babylonian exile, but does appear in the LXX, produced in the 3d century b.c. The fact that Korah is not listed as one of the grandsons of Esau in 1 Chron. 1:36, but is listed as a son (v. 35), confirms the accuracy of the first list of Gen. 36. It appears, therefore, that a copyist’s error has occurred in connection with the Hebrew of Gen. 36:16.

20. The sons of Seir. The original inhabitants of the land, the Horites, were not cave dwellers as some earlier commentators suggested. Until comparatively recent times it was thought that the word translated “Horite” was derived from chor, “cave,” or “hole.” Horite would thus mean “cave man.” In recent years, however, the Hurrians (Horites), known not only to the Bible writers but also to Egyptian (Charu), Hittite (Charri), and Mesopotamian (Churru) scribes, have been rediscovered as a nation. They were scattered far and wide wife over the ancient East during the second millennium b.c. The Mitannian kingdom of the upper Euphrates region was ruled by Hurrians in the time of Moses. Their language has recently been deciphered, and considerable is now known about Hurrian culture and history.

In the early part of the second millennium b.c. Hurrians must have taken possession of Mt. Seir, where they first appear in the Bible as a people (ch. 14:6). Later, they were partly exterminated and partly subjugated by the descendants of Esau (Deut. 2:12, 22). Seven sons of Seir, the “Horite,” or Hurrian, are listed once as tribal princes, and again as “dukes.” Seir’s grandsons and two granddaughters, Timna (v. 22) and Aholibamah (v. 25), are also named. Timna was probably the same as the concubine of Eliphaz (v. 12), and Aholibamah was the second wife of Esau (see v. 2).

24. Anah that found the mules. Moses supposes that the event here recorded was well known. We, however, know nothing more about the story than this verse tells. The meaning of the word yemin, translated “mules,” is uncertain. This KJV rendering follows an old Jewish tradition. Jerome, however, translated it in the Vulgate as “hot springs,” and some commentators concur in thinking that Moses here refers to the discovery of hot sulphur springs. Three such springs are known in the general region, one in the Wadi Zerqa MaФin, another in the Wadi elРAhsa to the southeast of the Dead Sea, and a third in the Wadi Hamad between Kerak and the Dead Sea.

29. The dukes. This list repeats the names of Seir’s sons, already given in vs. 20, 21. On the title “duke,” see on v. 15.

31. Before there reigned any king. This reference to kings of Israel has been pointed to as evidence of post-Mosaic authorship, or at least as a later interpolation from 1 Chron. 1:43. This conclusion is not necessary. It should be remembered that kings had been promised to Jacob, as Moses knew (Gen. 35:11). This promise had not been fulfilled in the time of Moses, whereas Esau’s house had already attained a high degree of political organization. It is therefore entirely consistent that Moses, in whose time eight kings had already reigned over Edom, make this remark.

The difficulty of finding room for 7 “dukes,” all grandsons of Esau (vs. 15–19), 8 kings (vs. 32–39), and 11 additional “dukes” (vs. 40–43) during the time between Esau and Moses, disappears if it be assumed that the kings and dukes were contemporary with one another. This is supported by a comparison of Ex. 15:15 with Num. 20:14. In the latter, Moses negotiated with a king of Edom for permission to pass through his land, but in the former the “dukes” of Edom are mentioned as trembling on account of the miraculous passage of Israel through the Red Sea. Furthermore, it is not necessary to assume that the 11 “dukes” of vs. 40–43 ruled consecutively. Since it is stated that they were dukes “according to their families, after their places,” all, or at least several of them, may have lived in different places at the same time. It is therefore necessary only to find room for 8 successive kings between Esau and Moses, a period of more than 200 years. This would allow an average of 25 years each as compared with 10 years for the kings of Israel and 17 for those of Judah.

It is apparent that the Edomite monarchy was not hereditary, since in no case did a son succeed his father. It was, rather, elective, with the kings chosen, perhaps, by the “dukes.” This would be similar to the situation in the Holy Roman Empire, where each emperor was elected by the princes and electors of the realm. Of the eight kings named, none is known from other sources. Although some of the names, such as Hadad (1 Kings 11:14), recur later, none refer to the individuals here mentioned. A few of the cities mentioned in connection with the kings can be identified, as follows:

33. Bozrah. A noted city that seems to have been the Edomite capital for a considerable period of time (see Isa. 34:6; 63:1; Jer. 49:13, 22; Amos 1:12). It was on the site of the present village El Buseira about 25 mi. southeast of the Dead Sea.

34. Temani. This region in northern Idumaea, with its city Teman, has not yet been identified. Jerome preserved a tradition to the effect that it lay only 5 mi. from Petra.

37. Rehoboth. Some scholars have identified this with Rehoboth-Ir in Assyria (ch. 10:11), which cannot possibly be correct. Others have located it elsewhere on the Euphrates, inasmuch as the Bible usually designates the Euphrates as “the river.” If this were true, the Edomite king Saul must then have been a foreigner. It is more likely that Rehoboth was either the Idumaean Robotha, whose location is uncertain, or Er Ruheibeh, 23 mi. southwest of Beersheba in a valley near El ФArйЖsh. In the latter case “the river” would refer to the brook on which the city lay.

39. Hadar. Hadar, the last of the eight kings of Edom listed by Moses, was probably the one with whom he dealt to secure permission for passing through his land (Num. 20:14). That Hadar’s wife’s name and the names of his wife’s mother and grandmother are given suggests that Moses was intimately acquainted with him. In contrast to that of the other seven kings, the death of Hadar, recorded in 1 Chron. 1:51, is not mentioned here. This constitutes additional evidence that he was still alive at the time Moses wrote Genesis.

40. The names. Not of localities, as some have suggested, but of individuals, perhaps of local chieftains contemporary with Hadar, in the time of Moses.

Ellen G. White comments

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