Episode 305 - Esau's family - Genesis 36

Gen. 36:1 These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). 2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. 4 And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

Gen. 36:6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)

Gen. 36:9 These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 10 These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. 11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. 13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 14 These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

Gen. 36:15 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. 17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 18 These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. 19 These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

Gen. 36:20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. 22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. 23 These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father. 25 These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. 26 These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29 These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir.

Gen. 36:31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. 32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. 33 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. 36 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. 38 Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39 Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

Gen. 36:40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.

This entire chapter is dedicated to Esau’s life and lineage. I’ve chosen not to read this chapter in its entirety because I don’t see the purpose in reading all the names. Rather, let’s focus on some key points of why Moses has likely provided this detail.

First, Moses’ readers are reminded that Esau took wives from the Canaanites and another wife from Ishmael’s line. We should remember that Abraham specifically wanted a wife for his son Isaac, from his own family and not the Canaanites because the Canaanites were under a curse and worshipped foreign gods. Likewise, Rebekah told Isaac to send Jacob back to her family so that he would not marry wives from the Canaanites, like Esau had done. The bottom line is that Esau made unwise choices that were contrary to the wise and righteous decisions made by Abraham and Isaac.

The next thing Moses tells his readers in verses 6-9 is that Esau moved his family away from Canaan to the hill country of Seir (south of the Dead Sea) because “their possessions were too great for them (Esau and Jacob) to dwell together (v. 7). Does that sound familiar? This is similar to the situation between Abraham and Lot. Lot made a decision that did not work out well for him. I strongly suspect this detail is to suggest that this move is not going to end well for Esau’s family.

Moses provides great detail about Esau’s sons and greater family. If you have any feelings of empathy toward Esau, thinking that he got a raw deal, take note that Esau has done very well. He has so many possessions, he needed to move. We see here that, like Jacob, Esau had twelve sons. It looks to me like Esau has been quite blessed by the LORD despite his actions and bad choices. The LORD has been gracious to him.

But in verse 16, we read that Amalek is one of Esau’s family. We don’t see it here. But in Exodus 17, Moses records an event where Amalek’s people attack the Israelites unprovoked. It seems to me this is an outworking of Esau’s poor choices. In Deuteronomy 25, Moses reminds the children of Israel, as they are about to enter the promised land of what Amalek did to them, and that after they obey the LORD by taking possession of the land, they are to blot out the memory of Amalek. This is the LORD fulfilling what he promised to Abraham to bless those who bless him and to curse those who curse Abraham and the inheritors of the covenant.

The whole point of this chapter is to explain to the Israelites who are taking the promised land the history of their ancestors and distant relatives through Esau who are called the Edomites. It reveals that even though the LORD had originally blessed Esau, the actions in later generations in making themselves enemies of Israel, became enemies of God. In turn, this should be a lesson the Israelites should learn. They should be faithful to the LORD. Unfortunately, they too would have seasons of rebellion against the LORD.