Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 36:1-8”
Categories: Genesis“Now these are the records of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel, and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. For their property had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock. So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.”
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“Now these are the records of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).” (verse 1) “The notice of Abraham's death in 25:7-10 was followed by the detailing of the line of his elder son; the report of Isaac's demise conforms to the same pattern. In both cases the genealogy functions as a connective that links two series of narratives in which one generation gives way to the next.” (Nahum Sarna) As the elder son of Isaac, Esau is a major player in the patriarchal narratives and this entire chapter is dedicated to a detailed listing of his lineage and “the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel” (verse 31).
“Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan...” (verse 2) These first two wives are listed in a dispassionate fashion, but the inclusion of the term “daughters of Canaan” is, no doubt, intended to be a term of admonition. Abraham insisted that no Canaanite woman be taken for a wife for his son Isaac, and Esau's two Canaanite wives “brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah” (Genesis 26:35). When Esau saw that his marriage choices displeased his father Isaac, he “went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.” (Genesis 28:9)
“Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.” (verses 2-3) The names of Esau's wives vary between this account and those recorded in Genesis chapters 26 and 28. “There were three, mentioned under different names; for it is evident that Bashemath is the same as Mahalath (Ge 28:9), since they both stand in the relation of daughter to Ishmael and sister to Nebajoth; and hence it may be inferred that Adah is the same as Judith, Aholibamah as Bathsemath (Ge 26:34). It was not unusual for women, in that early age, to have two names, as Sarai was also Iscah (Ge 11:29); and this is the more probable in the case of Esau's wives, who of course would have to take new names when they went from Canaan to settle in mount Seir.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
“Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel, and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.” (verses 4-5) The Pulpit Commentary observes the following about the names of Esau's sons: The name Eliphaz means “the strength of God” and “afterwards the name of one of Job's friends” (Job 2:11; 4:1; 15:1). The name Reuel indicates “the friend of God” and also “the name of Moses' father-in-law (Exodus 2:18).” The name Jeush denotes “whom God hastens” and “afterwards the name of a son of Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:19).” The name Jaalam expresses “whom God chides” and Korah “baldness...the name of a family of Levites and singers in the time of David to whom ten of the psalms are ascribed.”
“Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob.” (verse 6) As was the case with Abraham and his nephew Lot, “ their property had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock” (verse 7), so it was time for an amicable parting of the ways. While wealth and prosperity can provide for a comfortable and opulent lifestyle, sometimes it can come between brothers and the best of friends and cause them to separate from one another.
“So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.” (verse 8) “This territory...lay southeast of the Dead Sea alongside the Arabah... Seir henceforth becomes the national territory of Esau/Edom. Deuteronomy 2:5, and later Joshua 24:4, have God declaring, 'I give Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession.' “Esau is Edom, so called from the red pottage he had of Jacob, which is repeated to fix the odium of that transaction upon him, as well as for the sake of what follows, showing the reason why his posterity were called Edomites.” (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)
Please read Genesis 36:9-19 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed Lord's Day!
-Louie Taylor
