Genesis 36:1

Now these [are] the generations of Esau, who [is] Edom. Who was surnamed Edom, from the red pottage he sold his birthright for to his brother Jacob, Genesis 25:30; an account is given of him, and his

Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom. These are the generations - history of the leading men and events (cf. Genesis 2:4).

GENESIS CHAPTER 36 Esau’ s wives and children born in Canaan, . They remove from Jacob to Seir; the reason, . His posterity, ; as also that of Seir the Horite, ; among whom is Anah, who first found out mules in the wilderness, . His children, . A catalogue of kings and princes in Edom, . 1796 They are here mentioned partly to show the effect of his father’ s blessing, ; partly that the Israelites might be admonished to treat the Edomites like brethren, and not to invade their land. See .

Genesis 36:1 Now these [are] the generations of Esau, who [is] Edom.Ver. 1. Who is Edom.] The name and note of his profaneness. A stigmatical Belialist. It were a happiness to the wicked, if they might be forgotten.

XXXVI. THE TΤLDΤTH ESAU.(1) The generations of Esau.—This tτldτth, consisting of Gen 36:1 to Genesis 37:1, is very remarkable, if it were only for the difficulties with which it abounds, and which have too often been aggravated by the determination of commentators to make Holy Scripture bend to their pre-conceived ideas as to what it ought to be, instead of dutifully accepting it as it is. It begins with an enumeration of Esau’s wives, in which the names are different from those given in Genesis 26:34; Genesis 28:9. Next we have the genealogy of Esau, upon the same principle as that whereby the tτldτth Ishmael was inserted immediately after the history of Abraham’s death (Genesis 25:12-18); but this is followed, in Genesis 36:20-30, by a genealogy of the Horite inhabitants of Mount Seir. Among these Esau dwelt as the predominant power, but nevertheless on friendly terms, for a reason which we shall see hereafter. We next have a list of kings who are said to have reigned in Edom “before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.” This is not a prophetical portion of the Bible, but a dry genealogical table, and the attempts made to evade the plain meaning of the words, namely, that at the time when this list of kings was written there were kings in Israel, are painful to read, and can have no other effect than to harden sceptics in unbelief. Of these Edomite kings, it is remarkable that they do not succeed one another by hereditary succession, nor have they the same capital, but seem to belong to a time of anarchy, like that which existed in Israel under the Judges. During this period the Edomites and Horites were fused together, chiefly by conquest (Deuteronomy 2:12; Deuteronomy 2:22), but partly also by the gradual dying out of the inferior race, just as the red man is fading away in North America, and the Maori in New Zealand. Finally, we have a list of the eleven dukes of Edom, “after their places.” As these dukes represented tribes or clans, this catalogue is geographical, and as such it is described in Genesis 36:43, and was intended to give the political arrangement of the land at the later date when this addition was made, and when considerable changes had taken place since the time of the first settlement. These last two documents, forming Genesis 36:31-43, were probably added at the time when the Books of Samuel were composed; but as we find the list of the kings given also in 1 Chronicles 1:43-50, and as at that date great activity existed in completing the canon of Holy Scripture, some suppose that the lists in both places are by the same hand. It is entirely wrong to describe them as interpolations; for it was the rule to add to and complete genealogies; and besides there existed in the Jewish Church a living authority in the prophets who had the right and power to make necessary additions to the Divine record.

CHAPTER XXXVI The genealogy of Esau, i.e., his sons, by his Canaanitish wives Adah, Aholibamah, and Bashemath, 1-3. The children of Adah and Bashemath, 4. Of Aholibamah, 5. Esau departs from Canaan and goes to Mount Seir, 6-8. The generations of Esau, i.e., his grandchildren, while in Seir, 7-19. Anah finds mules (Yemim) in the wilderness, 24. The generations of Seir, the Horite, 29-30. The kings which reigned in Edom, 31-39. The dukes that succeeded them, 40-43. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVI Verse 1. These are the generations of Esau] We have here the genealogy of Esau in his sons and grandsons, and also the genealogy of Seir the Horite. The genealogy of the sons of Esau, born in Canaan, is related Genesis 36:1-8; those of his grandchildren born in Seir, Genesis 36:9-19; those of Seir the Horite, Genesis 36:20-30. The generations of Esau are particularly marked, to show how exactly God fulfilled the promises he made to him, Genesis 25:29-34; Genesis 27:30-40; and those of Seir the Horite are added, because his family became in some measure blended with that of Esau.

1–5. Esau’s Wives and Children 1. the same is Edom] A gloss introduced here and in Genesis 36:8; Genesis 36:19.

- Section XII - Jacob - The History of Esau 2. <אהלבמה 'ohŏlı̂ybâmâh, Oholibamah, “tent of the high place.” ענה ‛ǎnâh, ‘Anah, “answering.” צבעון tsı̂b‛ôn, Tsib‘on, “dyer, colored.” 4.

ESAU’S WIVES AND , AND THEIR REMOVAL TO MOUNT SEIR, Genesis 36:1-8. A comparison of the names of Esau’s wives, as given here and in Genesis 26:34; Genesis 28:9, will show noticeable differences. Here we have:1.