Esau – Genesis 36

Lists like these are often boring to modern readers.  But to the Israelites who are being led by Moses through the wilderness to Canaan, this list is gold.  It explains to them the peoples they are going to confront when they get to Canaan and explains to them that they are distant relatives.

[1] These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). [2] Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, [3] and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. [4] And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; [5] and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

[6] Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. [7] For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. [8] So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)

[9] These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. [10] These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. [11] The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. [12] (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. [13] These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. [14] These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

[15] These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, [16] Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. [17] These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. [18] These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. [19] These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

[20] These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, [21] Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. [22] The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. [23] These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. [24] These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father. [25] These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. [26] These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. [27] These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. [28] These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. [29] These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, [30] Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir.

[31] These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. [32] Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. [33] Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. [34] Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. [35] Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. [36] Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. [37] Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. [38] Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. [39] Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

[40] These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, [41] Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, [42] Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, [43] Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. (Genesis 36, ESV)

Moses is finishing the genealogy of Isaac via his sons Jacob and Esau, and as he typically does, Moses starts with the least important, the non-elect branch of Isaac’s genealogy, first.  Esau (and Edom, which means red) is “hated” (as Malachi 1:1-3; Romans 9:13 say), not meaning God greatly dislikes him but that Esau is not the one through whom the promise comes, as Jacob is.  It is a comparison of blessing and generally of those who come to faith in Yahweh.  As is evident from this chapter, Esau is quite blessed economically and politically, but not like Jacob (even though, like Jacob, he has twelve tribes come from him).  His marriage to Canaanite women is an indication, most likely, of his lack of commitment to Yahweh and likely the entirety of his offspring being idolaters.

The chapter is either describing Esau’s move from Canaan to Seir before Jacob came back, or that he came back to Canaan when Jacob did, but then left again after the two herders expanded so much that they could not live in proximity.  If the former is true it means that even though Jacob was gone from Canaan for twenty years, his holdings in Canaan, overseen by his father Isaac, were too much for both his herds and Esau’s to find pasture in the same area.

This chapter also chronicles Esau’s ties to Seir and his offspring, the Horites, and the intermarriage that took place among them.  Several peoples stand out as of critical import to Israel, especially Amalek, “a people that later would trouble the Israelites (see Num. 14:39–45)” [NKJV Study Bible].  The people of Edom as a whole would cause trouble for Israel for generations.  The King James Study Bible notes, “the Edomites remained a constant threat to the Israelites until David conquered them (2 Sam. 8:13). In the time of the divided monarchy Edom regained its independence. Its constant hostility toward God’s people was frequently denounced by Israel’s prophets.”