Note: When doing a study on a book in the Bible you use a lot of resources. The major influence for me on this study of Genesis is The Genesis Record by Henry Morris.
Genesis 36:1-8 Esau's wives and their sons
Genesis 36
1. Now these [are] the generations of Esau, who [is] Edom.
So Esau is the same thing as Edom. Even their names are similar and interchangeable. Esau remember means? hairy and Edom means red. If you remember I told you that some people even say that Esau's name meant red.
This is important because now we see where the Edomites came from. Moses the author is writing this explaining this to the Israelites. He is giving them history.
Obadiah 1:1. The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation [is] high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Though thou exalt [thyself] as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
Here we see what happens to the Edomites. This is why they are so evil in the later chapters. Is this similar to our first reaction of Esau.
Now we know that Esau was changed by the Lord. We know that he even forgave his brother and they lived in peace. Why do you think that his nation turned out to be so bad?
Let us look at the next two verses.
2 Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
3 And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
He got daughters from the Canaanites. He got daughters from the Ishmaelites. We see these wives first mentioned in chapter 26 and then again chapter 28. But if you would notice their names are different. You will see this in scripture sometimes to where they are called one name in one place and another in another place. The custom was that when they got married they would change their names. Bashemath (26:34) is the same as Anah. Mahalath (28:9) was the same as Bashemath. Judith (28:9) is not similar to the name Aholibamah. Aholibamah may have been a replacement for Judith if she was barren or had died.
Now here is the reason why the Edomites were so bad. Esau married out of the chosen family. He married Canaanites and Ishmaelites. He married away from the family of God.
4 And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;
5 And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these [are] the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of Canaan.
6 And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.
7 For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.
8 Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau [is] Edom.
So now we see the children of Esau. We see how Esau grew. We also see another mention of Esau being Edom. What I would like us to notice is that is says that the land could not hold them. It was not big enough for the families. For God truly blessed both Jacob and Esau so much that they had probably began to interfere with each other. Do you remember any other two people parting company because of the vast amount of cattle? Lot and Abraham.
Let us notice where Esau went. He went to Seir which is out of the "promised land".
Genesis 36:9-14 Esau's sons and grandsons
9. And these [are] the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
10 These [are] the names of Esau's sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.
11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these [were] the sons of Adah Esau's wife.
Do you recognize Eliphaz and Timna's son? Amalek. Remember a group called the Amalekites. Oh what problems they caused the Israelites. And to think they were kin. Most everyone around were kin. They were Semites. They were from Abraham. But it was not in the blood of Abraham that made them good or bad but it was their relationship with the Lord.
13 And these [are] the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau's, wife.
14 And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.
Genesis 36:15-19 The prominence of Esau's Descendents
15 These [were] dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn [son] of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
Here we see the beginning of nobility. duke can be translated as chiefs. Where did they get these titles. They assigned them themselves. They assumed kingship. You know in England some of the duke name mean nothing they are just titles. I read in the paper the other day where a man went to England and paid I believe $50,000 for the title duke. He had no rights but he had the official name.
16 Duke Korah, duke Gatam, [and] duke Amalek: these [are] the dukes [that came] of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these [were] the sons of Adah.
17 And these [are] the sons of Reuel Esau's son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these [are] the dukes [that came] of Reuel in the land of Edom; these [are] the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife.
18 And these [are] the sons of Aholibamah Esau's wife; duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these [were] the dukes [that came] of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.
19 These [are] the sons of Esau, who [is] Edom, and these [are] their dukes.
So here are the dukes. Now let us read on and we will see some more royalty in the family of Edom.
Genesis 36:20-30 The sons of the cave dwellers
20. These [are] the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
Horite means cave dwellers. Probably their mode of living.
21 And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these [are] the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister [was] Timna.
23 And the children of Shobal [were] these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 And these [are] the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this [was that] Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.
25 And the children of Anah [were] these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
26 And these [are] the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
27 The children of Ezer [are] these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.
28 The children of Dishan [are] these; Uz, and Aran.
29 These [are] the dukes [that came] of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,
30 Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these [are] the dukes [that came] of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
Genesis 36:31-39 The kings of Edom
31. And these [are] the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
Not only was their dukes but also kings. And kings before the Israelites had kings. Did you know that it was not God's idea for Israel to have a king. No. It was Israel's idea.
1 Samuel 8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
Israel wanted a king like all other nations. They wanted to be the same. No longer did they want a theocracy (God rule) they wanted a monarchy (king rule).
32 And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city [was] Dinhabah.
33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
34 And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.
35 And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city [was] Avith.
36 And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
37 And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth [by] the river reigned in his stead.
38 And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
39 And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city [was] Pau; and his wife's name [was] Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
Genesis 36:40-43 Areas where the Edomites lived.
40 And these [are] the names of the dukes [that came] of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth,
41 Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
42 Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
43 Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these [be] the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he [is] Esau the father of the Edomites.
We could have just passed by this chapter and went on. We don't really hear much about Esau and his family anymore except when they come against the Israelites. But the chapter tells us where they came from. We now understand them better. Some people read scripture and think that God is so cruel for what he did. For choosing one nation to reign. But as shown here. They rejected God not that God did not chose them.
