Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 36:20-30”
Categories: Genesis“These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan and Shobal and Zibeon and Anah, and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho and Onam. These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah—he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon. These are the children of Anah: Dishon, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan and Eshban and Ithran and Cheran. These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan and Zaavan and Akan. These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, according to their various chiefs in the land of Seir.”
---End of Scripture verses---
“These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land...” (verse 20) “The territory of Seir was taken over by Esau. The information given in this chapter, taken in conjunction with the report of Deuteronomy 2:12, adds up to a picture of a violent invasion by the newcomers followed by a process of gradual absorption of the native Horites into the 'descendants of Esau.' We are now given a genealogy of Seir, who is regarded as the personified eponymous, or name-giving, patriarch of the leading native clans, numbering seven in all. The genealogy extends to a depth of three generations and is somewhat more detailed than the preceding lists.” (Nahum Sarna)
“In the midst of the genealogy of the Edomites is inserted the genealogy of the Horites, that were the natives of mount Seir before the Edomites took possession of it, Deuteronomy 2:12; Deuteronomy 2:22. This comes in here, not only to give light to the story, but to be a standing reflection upon the Edomites for intermarrying with them, by which it is likely they learned their ways, and corrupted themselves.” (Benson Commentary)
“These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah—he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.” (verse 24) “The memoir presupposes knowledge of the adventure on the part of the reader. There was obviously once a widely known tale about this person.... The hot sprints... Hebrew ha-yemim is unique and of unknown meaning... The most ancient and widespread Jewish interpretation is 'mules,' but apparently rests on nothing more than a similarity of ha-yemim to Greek hemionos. This tradition makes Anah a culture hero, the first to crossbreed the horse with the donkey to produce the hybrid mule.” (Nahum Sarna)
The other, and more accepted take on this verse is as follows: “Mules is the traditional rendering of the Jews; but as horses were at this date unknown in Palestine, Anah could not have discovered the art of crossing them with asses, and so producing mules. Jerome, moreover, says that 'the word in Punic, a language allied to Hebrew, means hot springs;' and this translation is now generally adopted. Lange gives a list of hot springs in the Edomite region, of which those of Calirrhoe, 'the stream of beauty,' in the Wady Zerka Maion, are probably those found by Anah.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)
“These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, according to their various chiefs in the land of Seir.” (verse 30) The King James Version of the Bible refers to these “chiefs” as “dukes”. “If Seir here mentioned be the original Seir, then he is the remote father of the seven Horite dukes who belonged to the time of Esau. If he be their immediate parent, then he is named after that earlier Seir who gave name to the mountain range... The sons of Seir dwelt in this land before the coming of the Edomites. Here follow the descendants of the then living dukes of the Horim. Hori, Lotan's son, bears the name of the nation. 'Hemam,' in Chronicles Homam, by a change of letter. 'Timna,' the concubine of Eliphaz Genesis 36:12. 'Alvan' and 'Shepho', in Chronicles Aljan and Shephi, by a reverse change of the same letters (see Genesis 36:11).” (Barnes' Notes on the Bible)
Please read Genesis 36:31-43 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
-Louie Taylor
