Genesis 36: 1 – 43
Okay, Let’s See, Next
36 Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom. 2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; 3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth. 4 Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel. 5 And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were 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 persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob. 7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom. 9 And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. 10 These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. 11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. 13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 14 These were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon. And she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. 15 These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, 16 Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the sons of Adah. 17 These were the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 18 And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, and Chief Korah. These were the chiefs who descended from Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah. 19 These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these were their chiefs. 20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. 22 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. 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: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon. 25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah. 26 These were the sons of Dishon:Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 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, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir. 31 Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel: 32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith. 36 When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 And when Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River reigned in his place. 38 When Saul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39 And when Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. 40 And these were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, 41 Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 42 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 43 Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Esau was the father of the Edomites.
I have had the opportunity to study the bible with some outstanding teachers. However, as I came upon chapter 36 I was looking forward to some great insight that these men of God could provide for me from this chapter in Genesis. To my dismay they all failed me. Some only read the verses and had nothing to comment about. Others read the verses and had a short comment on a point and that was all. Others just outright skipped the whole chapter altogether instructing us to just read it on our own. What I took away from their teaching were the words, ‘Okay, let see what this chapter says, and let’s go on to the next chapter.’
In chapter 25 we came across the generations of Ishmael. Like chapter 36 it is one chapter that you wonder why these words were ever included. We read of Esau’s descendents who lived over 4000 years ago. They have names that many have a hard time even pronouncing. Since the emphasis is on Jacob’s descendents which will lead to the birth of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we tend to think who cares about Esau.
Most important is the fact that our Precious Holy Spirit cares. If He does then so do I. He must have some important reasons for including Esau’s genealogy. So, tighten your seat belts for we are going to drive right into this scripture and hopefully you will come to appreciate even more how awesome our Holy Spirit Is.
36 Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom.
One of the major reasons why I believe Esau’s generations are listed is to honor our Great God. By identifying how Esau was blessed by God puts emphasis on the fact that God can be trusted to keep His promises.
In chapter 27 we read about God had ensured Isaac that his son Esau, despite the fact that he forfeited his birthright and blessing, would have his own identity, nation, and large family.
38 And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. 40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Our Holy Lord God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. He also changed his Brother Esau’s name to Edom. It means ‘red’ It refers to his foolish decision to trade away his birthright and blessing of his father for a pot of red soup.
It emphasizes that he lived for the physical things of this world instead of the spiritual. Esau lived for self gratification. He focused on what was in the world not realizing what he was missing out on with a relationship with our Creator.
2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; 3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
To keep a purity in the blood line in which ultimately the Messiah would come into the world the descendents from Abraham would keep themselves separated from incorporating wives from nations which came from Cain [ the man who killed his brother]
In chapter 26.34 Esau’s Canaanite wives are named Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. Ishmael’s daughter is called Mahalath, sister of Nebaioth (28.9). Thus Basemath has become Adah, Judith has become Oholibamah (Beeri the Hittite may well have been married to Anah), and Mahalath becomes Basemath.
One possibility we must consider is that on marriage Canaanite wives often took on another name indicating their change of status. Thus Judith may have become Oholibamah (‘tent of the high place’), a suitable marriage name due to its connection with the holy tent, and a name connected with her mother’s family, and Mahalath may have become Basemath (possibly ‘the fragrant one’). Basemath may have thus changed her name to Adah. As Basemath probably means ‘fragrant’ it is also very possible that this was a nickname regularly used by Esau. He may have called Adah this as a love name, and later applied it to Mahalath when his affections varied. Today men use the nicknames such as ‘honey’ or ‘sugar’.
Names were given then because they have some meaning. So, Esau’s wives were apparently quite beautiful. Look at how their name proved this fact.
Adah = ornament or the adorned one
Oholibamah = tent height or one who is tall and stately
Basemath = fragrant or the perfumed one
Please notice that each of these names focuses on some outward feature of beauty or sensuality. Esau was plainly a man who desired stunning women. A lesson that our Holy Spirit teaches us is that even though you can get a beautiful and successful family using pursuits outside of God’s direction and blessing, the outcome will not be as great as you might think. We can gain noticeable success by worldly standards but fail in what matters the most. Esau and his descendents will succeed in this world but lose out in eternity as El Shaddai was not part of their lives
4 Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel. 5 And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
We total the amount of children from these marriages as five. Each boy was blessed with leadership characteristics. They were talented and strong. Yet, what is not said is even more important. There is no indication that Esau raised them to know the Lord. In fact what is sad is that there are 81 names listed yet only two names hint of a relationship with God Almighty. In verse 10 Reuel means ‘friend of God’ and in verse 14 Oholibamah’s son means ‘the Lord helps’.
Can you see how the world would evaluate Esau? He represents the natural man who is strong, capable, independent, and able to cope with life’s problems. Why would anyone need to look to God when you can with your own planning and action get what you want? I see this point first hand in my life in dealing with my brother-in-law. He completed his medical schooling and went into radiology. As a result he wound up owning all the radiology clinics in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. One time he answered me in regard to my attempt at evangelizing him, ‘Why do I need God? I accomplished all my wealth without Him.’
The next truth our Precious Holy Spirit wants us, His children, to get down pat in our minds is that Material prosperity and Spiritual prosperity do not match.
6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob. 7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom. 9 And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
As we have seen Esau had divided his time between his band of warriors in Mount Seir and helping his father in Canaan. But now that his father is dead, and we cannot doubt that he left a generous legacy to Esau, he removes to Mount Seir permanently. This was necessary anyway because their joint possessions were so great that there was not room for both Jacob and Esau.
Esau moved for two principal reasons For one thing there wasn’t sufficient water and grazing land for both his flocks and Jacob’s. And I think secondly that Esau had finally come to accept the fact that the Promised Land was Jacob’s.
Please take notice again our Holy Spirit’s emphasis of ‘Esau is Edom’. We will see how He amazingly puts this all together for us shortly.
In the book of Proverbs 13 verse 7 we read, “There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.”
Esau had great riches yet never was guided by our Lord. He felt any land would be okay to go to. He had no spiritual vision. He was materially rich but spiritually poor. Proverbs 13 points out that we can be materially prosperous yet fail to realize our spiritual senses are dead. Our Great and Holy God warns the church in Laodicea in chapter 2 of the book of Revelation, “you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
10 These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. 11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. 13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 14 These were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon. And she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
Another reason I see why this information is included for perpetual reference is because of God’s Love. He lists Esau’s descendents in order to protect them in the future. In chapter 1 in the book of Deuteronomy we learn that the Israelites were about to cross over the Jordan River to possess the land of Canaan and to wipe out the people who live there. There were, however, some people who were not to be attacked or annihilated. Among those whom God protected were a people called the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. So, you can see that in order to prevent this command from being violated, it was essential for the Israelites to know who the Edomites were and to have a carefully documented record of Esau’s descendents.
15 These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, 16 Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the sons of Adah. 17 These were the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 18 And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, and Chief Korah. These were the chiefs who descended from Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah. 19 These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these were their chiefs. 20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. 22 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. 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: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon. 25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah. 26 These were the sons of Dishon:Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 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, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir. 31 Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel: 32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith. 36 When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 And when Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River reigned in his place. 38 When Saul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39 And when Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. 40 And these were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, 41 Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 42 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 43 Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Esau was the father of the Edomites.
So, okay Tom what can we glean from all these verses? I want you to take special note on the listing of these men as ‘chiefs’ and ‘kings’. We have learned that our Holy Father God had promised Abraham that these types of leaders would come to his descendants. He then made the same promises to Isaac and Jacob as we read in our last study of chapter 35, “Also God said to him: “I Am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.”
Esau and his descendants were men of great political power as they were also chiefs and kings. These men reigned as chiefs and kings before any king reigned in Israel. Esau’s sons had the distinction of being kings long before Jacob’s sons to whom it was promised. While Esau’s sons and grandsons would become rulers, Jacob’s sons remained lowly shepherds for many generations.
The lesson our Holy Lord God wanted Jacob and his descendents and for us in this matter to understand is that power over others in this world does not equal the power with God.
Doesn’t it often seem that the world is winning while we as His children are losing? Our hope and promise from God is that though we might seem to be losing now, we live in faith believing God that this will be switched for eternity. We are on the winning side if we are God’s kids.
True power is having power with God. In the short term the Edomites became rulers in this world, but in the long term Jacob’s descendents would become kings and priest of the most High God.
Another truth that we find here is that temporary fame does not equal eternal recognition by our Holy Master God. While Esau was out conquering the land of Edom and surrounding areas Jacob and his descendents stayed put in the land of Canaan until they were removed and sent to Egypt. Israel was a nation of slaves owning no land of their own. Edom was an established kingdom that had the power to refuse Israel passage back over to their land. But we see from this chapter that God, not man, writes the final chapter of history. These once famous names do not mean a thing to our world today, but Israel’s name is in the news almost daily. These men, successful by the world’s estimate passed off the scene and were soon forgotten as others took their placea. Today, we do not know anything more about them that is written here. Fame is a fleeting thing. The Edomite race endured until the time of Our Lord Jesus Christ, when they were knows as the Idumeans. They disapperared from history in AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed. So, we learn that what really matters is recognition by God, not by this world.
What do we make of all of this? The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12, “14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
We learn that wither you are a believer or not that it is possible to waster your life. This is why it is important to ask yourself the question, ‘what am I living for? While we still live, we all have a choice to join Jacob and his descendants and wait patiently for God to fulfill His covenant promises to us as we labor for his coming kingdom. The other choice is that we look over at Esau, prospering in this world and want the same things as he did in the pursuit of secular success. If we succeed by worldly standards but fail with God, we have failed where it really matters. If we succeed with our walk with God we will have true and lasting success.
I like the movie Indiana Jones and the last crusade. Towards the end of the movie Indy finds where the Holy Grail is hidden and which he finds is guarded by an old knight. When an evil guy takes a gold chalice and drinks from it he immediately turns to dust. The old knight’s comment is classic, ‘He chose poorly.’ When Indy picks out an old wooden cup and takes a drink the old knight responds ‘He choose wisely.’ So with all of these lives highlighted in this chapter put this question before you, Do you choose the success of this life like Esau who is Edom [red] or will you follow Jacob’s now known as Israel [Governed by God]?
