Decendants of Esau
June 10, 2024
Commentary
The first eight verses give us details about Esau and his family; his wives who he chose from the women of Canaan (vv. 1-3), his sons (vv. 4-5), and his enormous wealth (vv. 6-8). Esau was Edom and the Edomites were his descendants. He had three wives, Adah, Oholibamah and Basemath (vv. 2-3). A careful reader might notice that these three wives’ names and family relations don’t quite match up with Esau’s three wives from earlier in Genesis (Gen. 26:34; 28:9). Either the others had died, or he favored these three among his six wives. Esau had five sons who were born in Canaan (v. 5) before he moved to the mountains of Seir (v. 8). He took his family, his possessions, all his cattle, and everything he had accumulated in Canaan and went to this land away from his brother Jacob. They did this because they had too many possessions to live together. There wasn’t enough pastureland for all their livestock (v. 7).
In the remainder of the chapter there is a shift from the family of Esau to the nation of Edom (vv. 9-43). The inhabitants of this land were the Horites who the Lord disposed before Esau took possession. It is not certain how the kings of Edom were related to Esau, but they were kings who reigned in Edom. This list of Edomite kings indicated an elective office, where the chiefs appeared with special attention to geographical and administrative divisions (vv. 40-43). These chiefs appear to have descended from Esau according to their families. Thus, Esau was a great and powerful overlord, the father of the Edomites (v. 43) over clans and regions (v. 40). Isaac’s promises to Esau were thus being fulfilled and by being away from Jacob he was shaking the yoke of his brother.
Application
Esau, like Lot, left for the East and greener pastures, which brought jealousy, and bitterness in the families. I need to be on guard to help prevent this from ever happening in my immediate family.
Genesis 36:1– 43 (NET)
1 What follows is the account of Esau (also known as Edom).
2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to a land some distance away from Jacob his brother 7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together, and the land where they had settled was not able to support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau (also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir.
9 This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.
10 These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
11 These were the sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Adah.
13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.
15 These were the chiefs among the descendants of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 16 chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.
17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
18 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
19 These were the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs.
20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; Lotan’s sister was Timna.
23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah (who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon).
25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
26 These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.
27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, 30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir.
31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:
32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.
34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.
36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.
37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the River reigned in his place.
38 When Shaul died, Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
39 When Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.
40 These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, 41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.
Illustration: Fanny Crosby a Victorious Christian
Warren Wiersbe wrote a book called Victorious Christian about a woman named Fanny Crosby. Crosby was the author of over 8000 songs including several that we sing today. In fact she wrote so many that she had to write under fictitious names just so she could get more of her songs into the hymnbooks. At 6 weeks of age Fanny Crosby developed a minor eye inflammation and was taken to a local doctor for treatment. However, the doctor who treated her used the wrong medicine on her eyes and she became totally and permanently blind because of his carelessness. Interviewed years later, Fanny Crosby said she harbored no bitterness against the physician. In fact, she once said, “If I could meet him now, I would say thank you, over and over again for making me blind.” She felt that her blindness was a gift from God to help her write the hymns that flowed from her pen. (Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author)